Night Warning is a 1982 exploitation horror film

Horror film

Horror films seek to elicit a negative emotional reaction from viewers by playing on the audience's most primal fears. They often feature scenes that startle the viewer through the means of macabre and the supernatural, thus frequently overlapping with the fantasy and science fiction genres...

 directed by William Asher

William Asher

William Asher is an American television and film producer, film director, and screenwriter. He was one of the most prolific early directors in the budding television industry, producing or directing over two dozen of the leading television series.With television in its infancy, he introduced the...

; it was nominated for a Saturn Award

Saturn Award

The Saturn Award is an award presented annually by the Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror Films to honor the top works in science fiction, fantasy, and horror in film, television, and home video. The Saturn Awards were devised by Dr. Donald A. Reed in 1972, who felt that films within...

 for the Best Horror Movie of 1982 by the Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy, and Horror. Its subject matter deals with homophobia

Homophobia

Homophobia is a term used to refer to a range of negative attitudes and feelings towards lesbian, gay and in some cases bisexual, transgender people and behavior, although these are usually covered under other terms such as biphobia and transphobia. Definitions refer to irrational fear, with the...

, incest

Incest

Incest is sexual intercourse between close relatives that is usually illegal in the jurisdiction where it takes place and/or is conventionally considered a taboo. The term may apply to sexual activities between: individuals of close "blood relationship"; members of the same household; step...

, in a classic Oedipus

Oedipus

Oedipus was a mythical Greek king of Thebes. He fulfilled a prophecy that said he would kill his father and marry his mother, and thus brought disaster on his city and family...

 tale.

Plot

The movie tells of bigoted police detective (Bo Svenson) Joe Carlson, whose homophobia leads him to try and frame high school basketball player Billy Lynch (Jimmy McNichol) for the murder of a television repairman when he becomes convinced that the killing was the result of a homosexual love triangle

Love triangle

A love triangle is usually a romantic relationship involving three people. While it can refer to two people independently romantically linked with a third, it usually implies that each of the three people has some kind of relationship to the other two...

. Unbeknownst to the detective, Billy's aunt Cheryl (Susan Tyrrell) is the real killer; having harbored incestuous fantasies towards Billy for years, his impending graduation has caused long dormant homicidal urges to resurface. Joe's continued plaguing of Billy causes Cheryl to become progressively more unstable, ultimately jeopardizing the lives of everyone around her.

Cast

Actor / Actress	Character
Susan Tyrrell Susan Tyrrell Susan Tyrrell is an American actress of Irish descent, known for her role as Ramona Rickettes in the film Cry-Baby.-Background:...	Cheryl Roberts (Aunt Cheryl Lynch)
Bo Svenson Bo Svenson Bo Svenson is a Swedish-born American actor, known for his roles in American genre films of the 1970s and 1980s.-Early life:...	Detective Joe Carlson
Jimmy McNichol	Billy Lynch
Bill Paxton Bill Paxton William "Bill" Paxton is an American actor and film director. He gained popularity after starring roles in the films Apollo 13, Twister, Aliens, True Lies, and Titanic...  (as William Paxton)	Eddie
Marcia Lewis Marcia Lewis Marcia Lewis was an American character actress and singer. She has been nominated twice for the Tony Award as Best Featured Actress in a Musical and twice for the Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Featured Actress in a Musical .-Biography:Lewis was born in Melrose, Massachusetts and raised in...	Margie
Julia Duffy Julia Duffy Julia Duffy is an American actress from Minneapolis, Minnesota, specializing in character roles, best known as the spoiled rich girl and Dick Loudon's inn maid, Stephanie Vanderkellen, on the 1980s sitcom, Newhart.-Career:Duffy's early caeer included parts in soap operas such as One Life to Live,...	Julia
Steve Eastin Steve Eastin Steve Eastin is an American character actor. He has appeared in nearly 150 television and film roles throughout his decades long career....	Coach Tom Landers
Britt Leach Britt Leach Britt Leach is an American character actor. He is best known for his role in the films Goin' South, Fuzz, The Last Starfighter, Weird Science, The Great Outdoors, Baby Boom, and Silent Night, Deadly Night...	Sgt. Cook
Caskey Swaim	Phil Brody
Cooper Neal	Frank
Gary Baxley	Craig Strang/Bill Lynch Sr.
Kay Kimler	Anna Lynch
Randy Norton	Student Tony
Alex Baker	Police Officer Westcott
Vickie Oleson	Lady Police Officer
Clemente Anchondo	Jail Arrestee
Kelly Kopp	Student
Steve DeFrance	Lab Man
Bill Keene Bill Keene Bill Keene was a television and radio personality who became famous in the Los Angeles, California market as a traffic and weather announcer...	Radio Announcer

Also known as

• Butcher, Baker, Nightmare Maker
• Momma's Boy
• Nightmare Maker
• Thrilled to Death
• The Evil Protege (UK)