Directed by:
Louis Ferriol
Journalist Miss Mason (Beverly Eaby), who's doing an investigative report on occultism, goes to interview Professor Canin (Bob Rose). Canin has already made a notorious Satan-themed horror film but now dedicates his time to running and starring in his "Theater of the Macabre," which depicts tortures and murder conducted by Canin's alter ego "Dr. Sadismo." Miss Mason expresses concern about "actresses lowering themselves in these exploitative put-ons" but next thing we knows she's swept up into the demented doctor's world of torture. She's first stripped to her panties, gagged, tied to a ladder and whipped bloody. Then she's nude on a table, where Sadismo slices open her stomach and pulls out her guts. That turns out to only be the making of a movie: Canin has either managed to talk Miss Mason into appearing in one of his gory horror films or (more likely) Miss Mason was an actress playing the role to begin with.
"Dr. Sadismo" then steps out for a minute as stagehands Billy (Jamel Elam) and Wes (Walter Epps) stop by to clean the blood off her stomach and adjust the camera so they can shoot "more inserts." Miss Mason whines about being tired and threatens to quit but Billy instead ties her to the table with a rope. She makes an aside about this ruining the continuity, which is hilarious if you've seen any of the other films from this particular company.
Now really tied to the table, Miss Mason is informed she'll be appearing in a snuff movie. She's gagged, has one of her appendages sawed, gets drilled in the crotch and has her throat cut while the mostly off-screen crew members address her, each other and us; the potential audience for such a tape. One of them says, "I think she's dead, folks. What do you say we cut off her leg?" and then it's all over.
I don't know if the makers of this 12-minute short attempted to pass it off as a real snuff tape (it keeps asking us if it's "real or fantasy?") back in the 80s but it's not particularly convincing and was clearly inspired by early torture flicks like The Wizard of Gore (1970) and BLOODSUCKING FREAKS (1976). It also could have been made in response to Guinea Pig: Flower of Flesh and Blood (1985), which was first distributed in the U.S. by the same company: Carlson International / Vidimax.
★1/2
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