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.

★★

Camping del terrore (1986)

...aka: Body Count

...aka: Bodycount
...aka: Camping della morte

...aka: Camping Ground

Directed by:

Ruggero Deodato

Italian-made imitation of FRIDAY THE 13TH et al has a few familiar faces in the cast and an excellent shooting location but is too predictable (and poorly made) to be of much interest to anyone other than very forgiving slasher enthusiasts. A little boy named Ben witnesses a young couple getting killed by an Indian shaman. Fifteen years later, a bunch of young folks arrive at the same location (rumored to have been built upon an Indian burial ground) to camp, fish, ride motorcycles, hike and generally goof off. They're greeted with hostility by camp owner Robert Ritchie (David Hess, star of the director's HOUSE ON THE EDGE OF THE PARK), whose wife Julia (Mimsy Farmer) is having an affair with the local fuzz, Sheriff Charlie Barnes (Charles Napier). A now grown Ben (Nicola Farron), the son of Robert and Julia, also comes back for a visit. As expected, the Indian killer - who is either a human in disguise or a supernatural entity - begins killing everyone off one by one.

One could easily pick at the recycled premise, terrible dialogue or bad acting, but all that is pretty much expected of an 80s slasher flick. This one still fails because the usual irritations are coupled with unimaginative and weak murders, horrendous editing and bad lighting. What the hell is the point of one of these things if you can't even make the kills out clearly? Futhermore, what's the point of one of these things when you actually can see the kills and all you get is yet another dull knife stabbing? It's not scary, suspenseful or tense. It's not gory. And it's not even unintentionally funny. Just really bland. I also would have appreciated being able to tell what happened when our hero (Bruce Penhall) and heroine (Luisa Maneri) faced off against the killer toward the end but alas it was so damn dark and badly edited I couldn't tell what the hell was going on.

All of the problems are a true shame too, because this has the foundation of a decent enough film, starting with Claudio Simonetti's very 80s (and very great!) theme music over the opening credits. The outdoor setting itself (in Abruzzo, Italy), with its nice fall colors and mountainous backdrops, is an excellent location for one of these things. There are some horror vets in the cast, too. Aside from those mentioned, John Steiner (as a doctor) and Ivan Rassimov (as a deputy) show up in small roles, and 'B' fans may even recognize some of the lesser-knowns, such as Nancy Brilli (DEMONS 2), Cynthia Thompson (CAVEGIRL) and Valentina Forte (CUT AND RUN). Unfortunately, the pluses aren't nearly enough to overcome the negligent direction and ineptitude constantly on display here. Every single FRIDAY THE 13TH film released during the 1980s is better than this.

★1/2

Un delitto poco comune (1988)

... aka: Off Balance
... aka: Phantom of Death
... aka: Squilibrio
... aka: Uncommon Crime, An

Directed by:
Ruggero Deodato

Thirty-five year old concert pianist Robert Dominici (Michael York) is stricken with "progeria," a rare genetic disorder which rapidly ages him. His hair falls out, his teeth rot, he coughs up blood and starts suffering from uncontrollable "behavioral problems;" psychotic, murderous episodes. This spells a violent end for the ladies (past and present) in his life and even more unfortunate for his French fashion designer girlfriend (played by well-preserved veteran Euro horror/sex star Edwige Fenech) that she becomes pregnant with the child he doesn't want to be born. Donald Pleasence (who was probably sick to death with the typecasting by this point) is the police inspector on the case and Mapi Galan is simply stunning as an early victim. Deodato is clearly trying to copycat the style of horror thrillers made popular by the likes of Argento and Bava in the 60s and 70s here, with flashy sets, costumes and backdrops, misty photography and some pretty gory murders, but his direction and the screenplay are unable to build much suspense, the editing is choppy and the dubbing of many of the supporting players is poor. The score (by Pino Donaggio) and make-up are good, though, and the lead performances are solid. Also in the cast are Carola Stagnaro as a doctor, Giovanni Lombardo Radice / John Morghen as a priest and Marino Masé as an aging expert. Deodato can also be spotted riding a moped.

★★

Ultimo mondo cannibale (1977)

...aka: Cannibal

...aka: Cannibals

...aka: Carnivorous

...aka: Horror Cannibal

...aka: Jungle Holocaust

...aka: Last Cannibal World, The

...aka: Last Survivor, The

...aka: Mondo cannibale 2

Directed by:

Ruggero Deodato

Part old-fashioned jungle survival picture, part stomach-churning mondo animal slaughter movie and part standard issue gore-fest, this nasty little import will probably please fans of Deodato's Cannibal Holocaust, even though it still comes off as a lesser cousin and is nowhere near as gruesome, disturbing or thought provoking. Robert Harper (Massimo Foschi) and Rolf (Ivan Rassimov, star of the original cannibal exploitation film MAN FROM DEEP RIVER) are a pair of oil company researchers who stay out on their scouting trip a little too late and have to land their plane deep in the jungles of South America. Spotting some debris from a previous plane landing and other warning signs they shouldn't be there (i.e. human skulls), the men, plus their pilot Charlie (Sheik Razak Shikur) and his companion Swan (Judy Rosly) decide to spend the night inside the plane. Swan unwisely goes outside to piss and doesn't return.

The next morning, the men go out looking for her, Charlie is impaled by a booby trap and Robert and Rolf catch sight of a stone age cannibal tribe feasting on the remains of young Swan. Trying to get back to the plane, the two build a raft and end up crashing by some rapids. Rolf is washed downstream and Robert is left lost and all alone in the big bad jungle to fend for himself. Starving, he eats some (poison) mushrooms, gets sick and passes out and next thing he knows he's being held prisoner by the tribe. They rip his clothes off, flick his genitalia, hoist him up in the air and drop him (thinking he's a bird), throw rotten food at him, deny him water and even piss on him. From his cell he also gets a pleasant view of fire ants slowly eating a stray man's arm off and the tribe killing (yeah, really killing) a snake and a alligator; both clubbed, skinned and hacked up in loving detail. He also catches on to the fact that they are plotting to sacrifice him to a gator god, so first chance he gets, he high tails it out of there, taking along the inexplicably hot and well-endowed native babe Pulan (Me Me Lai, who was also in Man from Deep River, which I'll have to get around to watching one of these days) as his prisoner.

Pulan is resistant at first, but Robert shows her who's boss by leading her through the jungle like a dog on leash, slapping her around a bit and raping her doggy-style. The next day she's a Stepford Wife off the chain and offering him a buffet of raw fish, berries and plant roots on a shiny green leaf. Robert and Pulan eventually find Rolf, leg badly injured and hiding out in a cave, and the three live it up Swiss Family Robinson-style for a few minutes before heading back out to search for a plane. Barely making it through the alligator and snake infested land, the two finally spot the plane and head out toward it, only to be ambushed once again by the tribe. They spear Rolf and capture Pulan and drag her back to the camp, where she's promptly stripped, speared, decapitated, gutted and filled with fire-roasted hot rocks. After all this, Robert finally regresses back to his primitive side and fights back with a venom-dipped spear; showing them he means business by killing a native warrior and gnawing down on a still-beating raw human heart. Will he make it back to the airplane? Or is one of the popular alt titles called The Last Survivor for no good reason?

There's loads of gore and full male and female nudity plus a scene where a snake kills a komodo dragon (it was actually filmed in Malaysia; not South America) and a tasteful scene of a native woman feeding her newborn baby to a crocodile. The Shriek Show DVD has an introduction by Deodato (he claims the natives used in this film were actual natives and that the animal slaughter was added by the producer against his wishes), Deodato commentary and some trailers. The film (originally titled Ultimo mondo cannibale and also known as Cannibal, Carnivorous and Last Cannibal World; the title of this print) claims to be based on a true story.

★★★