Horror Movie Review: Night of the Dribbler (1990)

Night of the Dribbler is a comedy slasher shot in 1990 that remained unreleased in the US until 2009. In a stunning turn of false advertisement, the company behind its eventual release (Code Red DVD) describes it as a ‘lost classic’. Which tells you one thing…they did not watch this abysmal movie that can hardly even be called a horror.

A smiling, basketball masked assailant is killing members of the Watergate Plumbers basketball team. Anyone who is named Captain seems to be on the killers hit list and the police are baffled even though clues point to several possible suspects.

Is it the wannabe player Stanley? The coach of the opposing team? Or maybe it’s the coach of Watergate Plumbers?

It doesn’t matter as the film makes it painfully obvious just who is under the mask quickly. While it’s not confirmed until the final moments it’s easy to work out thanks to the characters insistence that Stanley will make the team eventually!

Gregory Calpakis’ Stanley is the movies main star but its selling point is the American comedian Fred Travalena, who plays three characters in total, each one less funny than the last. Considering the most he’ll get out of you is the occasional awkward chuckle you can see the problem.

With almost no gore & very little horror, the film needed to make up for that by being funny & it’s not. Travalena’s Leslie Nielsen-style delivery as the coach is as close as you can get to maybe smiling at some of his sillier moments.

Unfortunately, the list of just what makes this such a horrendous watch is long.

We have a paper-thin plot that is often forgotten about in favour of rubbish gags. Horrid performances from actors playing college students even though they are clearly too old. Dated jokes that fall flat in an instant. Terrible pacing & bad editing.

Simply put, Night of the Dribbler is a very bad movie.

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