Yet Another "ID This Film" Request

September 22, 2011 8:42 PM

ID this horror film that featured a bunch of people trapped in a house, someone sliding down a rope bare-handed, and a hole in the ground that opened into hell?

This one has been bugging me for ages, and I don't watch horror films, so it may be a really easy one to identify. I was at a friend's house, in the early to mid eighties, I'd guess, and it was on TV. I remember that it was nighttime (in the movie), the people in this very big house died off one by one, and that there was this sliding down a rope scene that possibly ended in the death of one of the characters. I also think that the climax of the movie featured a hole or trapdoor outside on the grounds, that led to hell, and the devil was a fellow in a white suit.

Anyone?

posted by sillymama to Sports, Hobbies, & Recreation (5 answers total)

Best answer: The Evil?
posted by Foci for Analysis at 9:00 PM on September 22, 2011

The Evil (1978) discussed in this topic.
posted by plokent at 9:05 PM on September 22, 2011

Response by poster: That's got to be it. The electrocution sounds right, and the devil. Thanks! I wonder if there's a rope burn death too, or if I'm conflating two movies?
posted by sillymama at 9:17 PM on September 22, 2011

The other movie then would probably be The Gate (1987). Features kids trapped in a house full of stop-motion white demons (after playing a heavy metal record backwards). It features (through most of the movie, I think) a large hole in the ground in the backyard that leads to hell. I don't think any died, though I do remember one or two of them hanging in the hole from a rope.
posted by BurnChao at 2:34 AM on September 23, 2011

I second The Gate.
posted by reverend cuttle at 7:19 AM on September 23, 2011