La casa sperduta nel parco (1980)

... aka: Der Schlitzer (The Slasher)

... aka: House at the Edge of the Park, The

... aka: House on the Edge of the Park

... aka: Ripper on the Edge, The

... aka: Trampa para un violador (Trap for a Rapist)

Directed by:

Ruggero Deodato

Car lights down a busy highway and small white specks in high rise windows are caught in a backdrop of deep blue night. A man following a woman pulls in front of her, jumps into her car, throws her in the backseat, rips her clothes off and rapes her while strangling her as a eerily chirpy pop song ("Sweetly, oh sweetly. Summertime is coming. Happy and carefree. Waiting just for you...") plays. The quick-cut editing choices and decision to keep fading to black during the attack are oddly rhythmic; interesting. One hopes this haunting and disturbing opening sequence is getting the ball rolling on a film that will continue on with visual inventiveness and shocks but sadly this ends up being is the best scene in the entire film.

We then cut to a garage in New York City where perverted greaseball Alex (David A. Hess) and his slow-witted buddy Ricky (Giovanni Lombardo Radice) are about to close down shop for the night and go "boogie" at a disco. Wealthy young couple Lisa (Annie Belle) and Tom (Christian Borromeo) stop by with car problems. It's a quick fix. Since it's getting late, the couple agree to let Alex and Ricky come along with them to a small get-together at a secluded, swanky villa with three of their equally rich and refined friends; Gloria (Lorraine De Selle), Glenda (Marie Claude Joseph) and Howard (Gabriele De Giulio). So what would these respectable folks want a couple of low rent working class miscreants around? As Lisa later confesses, "Anything to stop our boredom." She gets her wish.

The little party starts out with bad disco music, bad dancing, bad dialogue ("Hot diggity!") and bad manners as Alex can't keep his hands off of the sleek, short-haired beauty Lisa. She tells him he looks like he belongs in a cage but keeps teasing him and giving off mixed signals all the same; letting him caress her legs and then more or less suggesting he join her in the shower, where she lets him ogle her and scrub her back but then leaves him cold. During a poker game, Tom and the other rich folks cheat the semi-retarded Ricky out of what little money he does have. Naturally they don't need the money. This appears to be all about having a laugh at his expense, just as they did encouraging him to dance. When Alex calls them out on it, Howard attempts to punch him out but he doesn't know who he's dealing with. Alex is the same guy who murdered the woman in the opening sequence. And he's brought along his straight razor.

After taking all of their money, Alex decides to stick around to "have a little fun with the cunts." This involves roughing up anyone up who threatens him or tries to escape. The men are beat, sliced, have their heads beat against a table and one is thrown into the swimming pool and then pissed on as he tries to climb out. The women naturally get about the same treatment, only worse as they're women so their assaults are compounded with sexual violence. Their clothes are ripped off, they're constantly being groped, having their breast squeezed, forced into having lesbian relations with one another and, of course, getting raped. Poor Cindy (Brigitte Petronio), a late arrival to the festivities, is revealed to be a virgin so she has her breasts and nude body sliced up after she's stripped naked.

While there's plenty of violence on display, though not much blood or gore, this seems much more focused on roughie sexploitation and rape fetishism and fills up most of its running time with nudity and sexual assault. Four of the five actresses have full frontal nude scenes, a number of them more than one, while the fifth actress, the only black one, gets by with only showing her tits a couple of times. The "action" probably hits its nadir when one the captives willingly has sex with her attacker seemingly out of pity! It's all rather unpleasant to sit through but Park isn't particularly harrowing as a thriller either due to poor dialogue, moronic character actions, gigantic plot holes and endless annoying shots of the cast standing around posing like models and looking only mildly uncomfortable as they watch their friends getting roughed up, violated and potentially killed. A twist during the finale attempts to explain why the victims behave like morons the entire time but it only makes their actions during the rest of the film even more senseless and infuriating.

This was clearly made in response to the success of The Last House on the Left (1972), which must have been extremely popular in Europe at the time as there are a number of similar films with similar titles hoping to cash in on Craven's notorious shocker. This one has an edge over most of the others though due to the casting coup of actual Last House star Hess ("Krug Stillo") playing a similar role. There's even a direct nod to LHOTL during the finale, only it's an amusing reversal of the fate of Last House's Mari Collingwood character inflicted upon Hess himself! The actor had already done another of these films a few years prior called HITCH HIKE (1977), which was released under the alt title Hitch Hike: Last House on the Left in some countries. Both it and Craven's film are better than this one.

Due to its tasteless nature and gratuitous nudity, this landed itself on the UK's coveted video nasties banned list. Here in the U.S. it was released theatrically in 1985 (Hess / Last House were both heavily used as marketing ploys) and then made its way to home video courtesy of Vestron, who released it unrated and completely uncut. I distinctly remember one of the video stores I frequented as a kid having this in their "Hard R" section and refusing to rent it to anyone under 18. Strangely, this same place had already let 10-year-old me rent stuff like Mondo Magic and Make Them Die Slowly, both of which are far more graphic than this one. (Irregardless, I didn't let them stop me from watching this as I just went to another video store down the block and rented it there instead, no problem!)

Regina Mardek (billed as "Karoline Mardeck"), the real-life wife of the star, plays the victim in the opening sequence. The score is by Riz Ortolani and most of the main crew (writer Gianfranco Clerici, cinematographer Sergio D'Offizi, editor Vincenzo Tomassi) had been ported over from Deodato's notorious Cannibal Holocaust (1980), which was filmed just a few months prior for the same producers and production company. Unlike the much more potent Holocaust, this one has always been easy to find and widely circulated. There have been numerous releases over the years, including a Media Blasters / Shriek Show DVD in 2002 (which includes interviews with the director and two male stars), and Blu-ray releases from TC Entertainment out of Japan and Code Red and Dark Force Entertainment here in America. A sequel, to be directed by Deodato and star Radice, was announced way back in 2011 but nothing has come of it so far.

★★

La vergine di Norimberga (1963)

... aka: Back to the Killer

... aka: Castle of Terror, The

... aka: Horror Castle

... aka: Panic
... aka: Terror Castle

... aka: Virgin of Nuremberg, The

Directed by:

Antonio Margheriti

Max Hunter (George Riviere) and his wife Mary (Rossana Podesta) arrive in Germany from the U.S. to stay in a huge ancestral castle formerly occupied by Max's dead father, who presumably passed away during WWII. The home comes equipped with a butler named Fritz, a Mrs. Danvers-like maid named Marta (played by Anny Degli Uberti), a few servant girls and the mysterious, facially scarred Erich (Christopher Lee), who was a former colleague of the father's and runs a museum out of the castle dedicated to showcasing various torture devices. Their very first night there, Mary is awakened by a thunderstorm and screaming. She goes downstairs and finds a freshly-killed woman inside an iron maiden type contraption called a "Virgin of Nuremberg;" a sarcophagus with strategically placed spikes that gouge out the eyes when the door is closed.

Mary passes out and awakens the next day only to discover the body is missing and no one believes her story, despite the fact one of the servants has turned up missing. Everyone around her seems like they're hiding something, which only feeds her paranoia. The husband promptly goes away on business and a hooded figure tries to break into Mary's room later that night. She stabs him on the hand, escapes and later ends up catching the same figure kidnapping a woman (Lucile Saint-Simon) and dragging her to a torture chamber located underneath the castle. There, the woman has a cage strapped to her face, where a hungry rat is unleashed from the other side to gnaw off part of her nose! What's going on? Who's the cloaked figure? Why is he killing women? Why is an American FBI agent (played by Jim Dolen) lurking about? And why is everyone in the house acting so damn sneaky? Everything's conveniently wrapped up with some WWII flashbacks, which mixes newly filmed scenes with stock footage.

The art direction, sets and Riccardo Pallottini's lush color cinematography are all ace in this great-looking, nicely done Gothic horror. The pacing is much brisker than many similar films from the period and the film never really seems to drag. It's also quite grisly at times. There are some exciting moments in here too, such as when one of the men find themselves in an enclosed room quickly filling with water, while Margheriti is able to showcase a nice visual eye in scenes such as when our heroine is frantically running around outside and we see flashes of the trees illuminated by flashes of red or orange. Though the dubbing and dialogue are a bit annoying at times, the storyline itself is both fun and holds some surprise. The wrap-up is fairly well-done, and the unveiling of the identity of the hooded killer is one of those great Phantom of the Opera-esque horror moments worth waiting for. One thing I didn't care much for was Riz Ortolani's overbearing score, which is sometimes inappropriately jazzy, especially at the start.

It was based on a novel by Frank Bogart, which was adapted by Margheriti (who also did the special effects), Ernesto Gastaldi and Edmond T. Greville, (who directed the 1960 version of The Hands of Orlac which also featured Lee and Saint-Simon). It was originally released in the U.S. in a cut version titled Horror Castle. The 2004 DVD release from Shriek Show (under the original title The Virgin of Nuremberg) looks great and is uncut, though Lee has been dubbed by another actor even in this English-language version.

★★★

Sette orchidee macchiate di rosso (1972)

...aka: Puzzle of the Silver Half Moons

...aka: Sette volti per l'assassino

...aka: Seven Blood-Stained Orchids

Directed by:

Umberto Lenzi

Don't be surprised if you pick up strong feelings of déjà vu (or even find yourself starting to nod off) while watching this standard-issue murder-mystery based on an Edgar Wallace story. The 'Orchids' of the title are a bunch of inexplicably attractive young women (plus an elderly one who is done in at the very beginning without nary a line of dialogue) being targeted by a leather-gloved-wearing serial killer who wants them all dead. The only thing linking the victims together is that they all stayed at the same hotel during the same weekend, right around the same time a man was killed outside the place in a car accident. The killer sometimes calls his victims up prior to killing them and also tempts the cops on the case by leaving behind a calling card; silver crescent half moon medallions. I guess George Hilton wasn't available, so Antonio Sabato gets to headline this one. He's pretty bland as Mario, husband to one of the targets; cute, wide-eyed new bride Giulia (Uschi Glas). While the two are aboard a train headed to their honeymoon destination, the psycho attacks Giulia and slashes her shoulder with a knife, but he's forced to flee before he can finish the job. The police stage a bogus funeral and run a bogus obituary in the newspaper so the killer thinks she's actually dead. Annoyingly, instead of staying in hiding, Giulia accompanies her hubby as he goes to the hotel to look at the register, then later reveals to the press she's actually still alive in an effort to bait the killer. All the while, other women filter in and out of the movie every ten minutes or so, a few (including giallo regular Marina Malfatti) flash their breasts and all are killed in unexciting ways in scenarios that fail to shock, scare or build up any kind of tension or suspense. The only bloody kill involves a woman whose chest gets drilled. It's all gets a little monotonous and redundant after awhile, with dullard Sabato going from place to place and talking to various suspects.

The killer in this movie has no clue who was responsible for the accident, so instead he decides to just kill them all. Fair enough, but this poor nutcase seems to have pretty bad luck. He's not very proficient, seeing how he botches two different kills. The first botch is Giulia's (hard to believe he actually thought she died from the scratch he inflicted on the train); the second is a very silly twist that involves twins. He's trying to kill Anna Sartori and... Oops!... He accidentally kills her identical twin sister Maria instead! The police run another fake article and also urge Anna to just hide and keep quiet. Meanwhile, the police (led by Pier Paolo Capponi) prove to be the most thick-headed people around. When one of the main suspects commits suicide, the police assure the two surviving ladies they can now breath easy. Oops again! I won't divulge the identity of the killer here, but let's just say the final revelation is one of those incredibly lame pulled-out-of-thin-air "shock" endings that make you groan in disbelief. Besides, it's the same exact twist used for at least three other major gialli that were released the same exact year! That definitely puts a damper on the proceedings.

So in short Seven Blood-Stained Orchids sure ain't no masterpiece. It's also not terrible. It just kind of is. Average plot, average execution, average acting and average production values, with too few surprises and not enough style and panache to elevate it above the pack. Lenzi's direction and the visual presentation are acceptable, but both are a little on the flat, unimaginative side. The usually estimable Riz Ortolani's sleep-inducing, repetitive score certainly doesn't help either. Also in the cast are Marisa Mell as the twins, Renato Romano as a priest, Rossella Falk, Bruno Corazzari, Franco Fantasia and Tom Felleghy.

.

The Shriek Show DVD extras are decent, including liner notes, an art gallery, interviews with the director and actress Gabriella Giorgelli (who has a tiny role as a topless prostitute), plus the trailer and additional trailers for Eaten Alive (1980) and Spasmo (1974).

★★

Non si sevizia un paperino (1972)

... aka: Don't Torture a Duckling

... aka: Don't Torture Donald Duck

... aka: Fanatismo

... aka: Long Night of Exorcism, The

Directed by:

Lucio Fulci

In a small, picturesque Sicilian village, someone is brutally killing young, sexually curious boys. The local police force keep busy trying to track the killer and whittle the list down to five or so main suspects, including voyeuristic village retard Giuseppe (Vito Passeri) and an elusive, grungy, voodoo doll-poking backwoods "witch" named Maciara (Florinda Bolkan). There’s also Don Alberto (Marc Popel), a handsome young priest who runs the local boy’s school, Andrea (Tomas Milian), a journalist helping to aid the police, and Patrizia (Barbara Bouchet), a gorgeous, but seriously screwed-up drug addict who seems to have a thing for very (and I mean, very) young boys. As typical with the giallo subgenre, the killer's identity won’t be fully revealed until the last few frames. However, unlike the majority of other gialli, this film has a stronger screenplay than usual and doesn't even fully rely on stylish set-pieces, nudity or violence to be a success. The script (which was written by Fulci, Gianfranco Clerici and Roberto Gianviti) keeps red herrings to a minimum and works dually as a statement on Catholic/ religious hypocrisy, pack mentality and the group hysteria it can cause (keep in mind Bouchet's character, as well as the fate of Maciara and why it occurs). The story is ably supported by excellent location work, cinematography (by Sergio D’Offizi) and musical score (by Riz Ortolani). The performances, particularly Bolkan, are also very good. All in all, it's one of the very best of this style of film.

Fulci fans who were weaned on his 80s grotesqueries like Zombi 2 and The New York Ripper will find more artistry and less gore / exploitation on display here than they might anticipate, but they’ll still enjoy a particularly nasty chain whipping scene and a long tumble down a rocky embankment. Scenes of the children being killed is mainly kept off screen (except for a brief strangulation), but the camera doesn’t hesitate to linger on their corpses. Because of the controversial storyline (and no doubt, the religious criticism), the Catholic Church blacklisted the movie back its day and it received only a very limited theatrical release in Europe. It also never reached American theaters and wouldn't even receive a home video release here until twenty-five years after it was made.

★★★