The House on the Edge of the Park (1980)

One of the things I love the most about films from the other side of the world, particularly Italy, is that most of them come with reputations that have followed them throughout the years. If you’re a die-hard horror fan, you’re totally aware of a little list coming from the United Kingdom called the “British Board of Classification Department of Public Prosecution’s List of Video Nasties” (or “The DPP list” for short), a list of 74 films that were banned overseas for their graphic content and subject matter. If you’re a horror fan, you know exactly what I’m talking about. Some of them are upheld with gusto and others fall flat on their face, depending on your own individual tastes. If you know the list well, you’ll wonder why some of them were even banned since they’re pretty tame, making it obvious that the persons prosecuting said films never took the time to watch them in the first place. 

This particular list has been somewhat of a challenge for horror fans that spend their time – and sometimes, their hard earned money –  to collect every single film on the original list. Some of them are hard to find since they haven’t received proper DVD treatments and collectors sometimes have no choice but to hunt down hard-to-find out-of-print VHS releases. I, myself, have 37 of the 74 films on the list, but only because some of them on the list are either of no interest to me or are so hard to come by that they aren’t worth hunting down.

Growing up in rural Texas in the 80’s, I don’t recall ever seeing this title sitting on the shelf of any grocery store or mom and pop video house. I didn’t even hear about this film until the early turn of the decade just as I’d been starting my collection of Euro-shock films – I didn’t get into collecting them hardcore until about 2004 but I had to start somewhere, did I? I read an article online about it and was immediately fascinated by the film’s concept and knew that I needed to hunt it down. I looked at a few sites over the internet but couldn’t find it – since, at the time it hadn’t been released properly on the DVD in the States – and I found one NTSC VHS version on eBay but it was going for ridiculous money so I passed. About a year and a half later, I was living in Missouri and whilst shopping at a best buy in Independence I picked up a DVD compilation with the title, “Great Horror Classics vol. 8” released by a little company known as Echo Bridge Entertainment. It was being sold at a very low price and the reason I’d picked it up was because it had Don’t Look In The Basement!. As I was at the cash register, I took a look at the list of films on the DVD and I practically shit my pants to read that House on the Edge of the Park was included. So that night, whilst on the graveyard shift at the local Courtyard by Marriott, I finished my work as soon as I could, popped this into my laptop and sat back. And did I mention that the DVD case labeled the film as being uncut and unrated?

The first thing I was treated to after the prologue was a fantastic montage of New York City, Twin Towers and all, with one of – if not the – smoothest and most memorable disco tracks ever to be dubbed onto a horror film. As I said in my reviews of Cannibal Ferox and New York Ripper there is something just fantastic about Italian exploitation films and their soundtracks that just run a shiver of awesomeness down my spine. This one which I lovingly refer to as “Do It To Me Once More” – since I don’t know it’s original title – is so great that once you hear it for the first time, you’ll want to listen to it again and again. But before this review goes into controversial length, let’s get to the film itself.

Die-hard exploitation fans already know this one well. The film opens up with the great David Hess playing a thug named Alex who follows a girl home from a disco and rapes her in the back of her car and leaves her dead. From the start you’ll wonder if you’re actually watching The Last House on the Left – part 2 as the character of Alex is pretty much a doppelganger of Hess’ character Krug from the original LHOTL (Just as his character in Hitch-Hike is, in actuality, both of those characters). Once he leaves the girl for dead, he and his cohort Ricky (Giovanni Lombardo Radice (John Morghen) in his first role) are out to find a place “to boogie” and while in an auto repair shop come across and meet Tom (Christian Borromeo of Tenebre and The Pleasure Shop on 7^th Avenue) and Lisa (Annie Bell), a young couple who are having car trouble and come hoping that their shop is open and offer them money to give it a fix. When Alex and Ricky can’t get to the disco because of the inconvenience, they’re immediately invited back to the couple’s posh home to join a party that’s already underway. When they get there they meet Gloria (Lorraine Di Salle – Cannibal Ferox), her boyfriend Howard (Gabriele Di Guilio), and Glenda (Marie Claude Joseph).  After an icebreaker of some disco-dancing consisting of a horrible semi-strip tease for the ladies by Ricky and a poker game gone horribly awry, Alex pulls out a straight razor on the group and the fun begins.  Now, before I go on, I have to touch on the subject of Ricky’s dance. Seriously, this is one of the funniest and most preposterous full-body dry-heaves in horror history. It’s that hilarious that you’ll want to rewind it and watch it a few times. Though the top honor still belongs to Crispin Glover’s character in Friday the 13^th – The Final Chapter, but this one comes in very close second. If his intention was to induce any sort of arousal, it’s an epic fail of mammoth proportions, even on this end of the viewing spectrum. And that’s pretty bad, because Ricky is pretty darn cute.

But, as Alex watches from the sidelines, he looks like he doesn’t like one bit of Ricky getting all the attention. Hello, is that jealousy calling? So what does he do? He takes Lisa over to the kitchen to work his magic on her. When she rejects him, Alex grows tired of the situation not going in the way he wants it to so he turns the tables and makes the group pay. Acting as Ricky’s coach – since it’s apparent that he’s a few floats short of a parade and pretty naïve in the sex department – he coaxes his partner to cohort in sexually violent atrocities and acts of humiliation that terrorize the group.  

The rest of the film becomes scene after scene of humiliation and sexual titillation.  It does push envelopes but only manages to push them to just the end of the table. Why this was so outlawed and banned is still a question I’d love answered. Though the BBC had issues with glorified sexual violence, this one, in some respects, was more bark than bite. There were boobs-a-plenty and even male nudity to an extent, but it really doesn’t deliver in the exact manner that you think it’s going to. When you really sit down and analyze the film, it’s never explained why Alex goes on his rampage. It would have been great to see what his motivation would have been. And though you have to take it at face value – in other words, Alex did it because he could – there has to me something more in his backstory that would explain what would drive him to do the things he did to the group.

And it all reaches the boiling point once the character of Cindy is introduced. By no fault of her own, she is thrown into the vortex of Alex’s disturbed mind and sadly, she gets the brunt of it. This scene on its own is probably the most difficult to watch, as Alex disrobes her, humiliates her, and slices her naked body with the straight razor over and over again as the others watch in horror. For being the 70’s I could only imagine audience’s reactions to this. But, here is where the film takes its pivotal turn. Ricky sees what is happening and attempts to be the voice of reason to Alex’s disturbed mind. He tells Alex that one day he is going to go too far, that he is going to someday be unable to stop and tries to convince his friend that there is still time to turn around. But Ricky himself goes too far, by reminding Alex about “the girl from last year” – obviously referring to the start of the film and the altercation between Alex and the girl he followed from the discotech. This becomes the final straw for Alex and it is at this moment when everything goes awry. In a fit of rage, every ounce of Alex’s anger culminates into one strong swing of the razorblade and without even thinking (possibly) he slashes Ricky right across the chest, knocking him to the floor.   Ricky, in total shock and disbelief, lies there with blood on his hands and on his body and Alex slowly begins to break, and here is where everything unravels. Alex, instead of taking responsibility for his own actions, tries to pawn them off on Ricky as being the cause of what just happened. Why did you make me do this, Ricky?  And speaking of this scene, it’s here where Alex begins to show an emotional side not previously seen – In the scene where Ricky attempts to rape Gloria and Ricky barks back at Alex, Ricky apologizes for having yelled at him, and Alex accepts his apology and kisses him on the cheek, not once, not twice, but three times. He goes on by telling Ricky – as Ricky is lying on the floor covered in blood – that It’s always been just you and me, kid and You can’t leave me now, Ricky. It makes you wonder just what kind of a relationship they really had. Especially since it was hinted at in the beginning of the film, when Alex becomes jealous when Ricky dances for the group and gets all the attention.

But here is where the film finally reveals its twist. As Ricky lies there in his own blood, Tom secretly goes over to a drawer and pulls out a gun and pulls it on Alex, telling him that the entire night had been a setup and that the girl that Alex raped in the beginning of film was, in fact, Tom’s sister. Do you smell pre-meditated revenge? I think so! If you paid attention at the beginning, Alex takes a pendant that the girl was wearing and places it on himself. So it’s here that Tom takes up all of his nerve and shoots Alex in the leg, then the shoulder. But the best part of all, the coup de grace, is when he takes the final shot and shoots Alex in the groin! What transpires here is one of the most frightening, most disturbing screams in the history of horror cinema and you have to experience it for yourself to believe it. It will stay inside your head for hours after you’ve heard it and it’s one of the effective scenes in the entire film.  Alex, gasping his final breaths, manages to climb out of the pool and it is here where Tom rips his sister's pendant from the killer and reclaims it, tossing him back into the water. Once Alex is face down in the pool, Tom hands the gun to Lisa, who takes a shot at him. She, in turn, hands the gun to  Howard, who takes his chance in taking his own revenge for Alex having tied him up for most of the film. Once Alex is finally dead, Howard, offers the gun to Gloria, who refuses.

Once the denouement begins, we still see Ricky bleeding inside and Howard goes to finish him off, Ricky pleads for him to shoot him, to which Gloria convinces him not to do it. The film ends here but you are left to wonder about the deeper aspects of the film: Did everyone that attended the party know what was going to happen and know that Tom and Lisa had the entire night planned? Were the other members that were present family members/friends that had hoped to get revenge on the death of Tom’s sister at one point or another? If so, were they really willing to risk their own safety and lives for the sake of retribution? As interesting as those musing are, for me, the biggest question of all is: How did {Tom and Lisa] know who Alex was in the first place? Did they see the murder occur? Were they all at the same disco that night and just happened to remember his face? How was it that they knew exactly where to find them and how is it that they were so confident that the duo would actually accept their invitation? I know that your suspension of disbelief has to be in its highest mode if you’re going to pose these questions, but all in all the film works, even if it does on the smallest level. For the reputation the film has carried throughout the decades, it isn’t as bad as it’s made out to be. But don’t let that stop you from watching it at least once. It’s a great piece of cinema made in a style that isn’t made this way anymore. The Shriek Show disc was beautifully re-mastered – in Anamorphic Widescreen - in both picture and sound and it looks fantastic. The major difference between the version on the EB disc and this disc is that the EB disc has the original Italian title cards in place and the latter replaces them with ones in English. There is an interview with Hess himself that’s a little on the bizarre side – watch it and you’ll see what I mean – that is worth watching. And for those of you who are wondering, both prints are uncut.

This is one that is essential viewing if you’re a fan at all of Italian exploitation cinema. I’m not sure how available the SS disc is, as I haven’t seen it on store shelves for a least a year. I do know it’s on Netflix so if you get  a moment, seek this one out. It’s worth looking at and will remind you of the days when exploitation cinema was at its absolute best. Oh, and if you don’t know already, there will be a House on the Edge of the Park – Part 2 coming out either later this year or next year. 

Yes, you read that correctly. David Hess was originally attached to the project but sadly passed away a few years ago. From what I’ve read, HOTEOTP part 2 will take place thirty years after the original, with Ricky – Yes, Radice will be reprising his role -  having served his time in prison for the events that happened in the original and the film taking place just as he is being released. Ricky will once again get mixed up with the wrong people and repeat the cycle all over again. Surprisingly, Rugerro Deodato will sit in the director's chair for this sequel, which honestly, I'm excited about. If you’ve seen the original and love it as much as I do, you just have to be curious on how this is going to be pulled off. We’re not holding out breaths, though, since films like these always end up being duds. But for this one, I think I’ll keep my fingers crossed. 

Body Count (Camping del Terrore) (1987)

In my book, I have a theory that a horror film can sometimes be summed up on its obscurity factor alone. Though I don't have many films on my list that actually prove that, I like to believe that it's fathomable. For example, my previous post for the ultra-obscure Last House on Dead End Street. Had never heard of it until a few years ago, never laid eyes on it until just the other night and though it didn't completely meet my expectations, it came pretty damn close. 

Body Count better known as the awesomely-alternately-titled Camping del Terrore

(Oh, come on, where have you heard of another horror film with a name that is cooler that that?), was one of those films that I'd heard about back in the day but never saw that it really existed. It was one of those that I'd heard about and read about but never really knew if it was a film that was actually in print, or one those that was mere hype. The reason I felt that way was because in all of my years as a horror aficionado, I had never seen, nor to this day have I seen, this film in print be it on VHS or DVD. So I did what every collector would do in this situation: Hit up Ebay. And of course, no luck. And if I did see it for sale, of course it went for silly money.

I posted a note on iMDB about this film and I got an email several weeks later from a fellow collector in the lovely state of New Jersey who told me that he would be happy to forward me a (legitimate) copy of the film to screen for this blog. Of course, I accepted and within about two week's time, I was sitting in front of my big screen television, popping this one in. I will forever hold the grudge against him that he didn't pass along a word of warning about this little ditty.

The plot is quite simple: A gang of college kids take a trip to the dark woods of Colorado during their Summer vacation to sort of "get away" from everything. While scouting the area, they run across a young hitchhiker named Ben who will lead them to his father's campsite out in the country. The place is located in the middle of nowhere and it appears at first glance to be the perfect place to spend the weekend. What these kids don't know is that the camp sort of has a "reputation" that involves an old local legend of a Shaman- half-man, half-beast. to believe, As they spent more time there they all realize one by one that the Shaman is indeed real and it's ready to kill them. Seems like a plot we can all relate to, right? Wow, I couldn't have been more wrong. If you know my taste in old-school horror, there is nothing I love more than to sit with some popcorn, a cold Pepsi and watch a stalk-and-slash film. As cookie-cutter as all stalk-and-slash films are (with the exception of a few hidden gems out there like Curtains and Maniac), I can easily overlook that minor flaw and give the film I'm screening the benefit of the doubt. But this one, sadly, was an exception to the rule.

First of all, the print I received was the darkest, murkiest thing I'd seen since Humongous, a film known for it's dark and almost completely unwatchable night footage. This was just as bad. Some of the death scenes occur at night and it was almost impossible to see what was going on. But that wasn't the most frustrating thing about this film. The pace is quite slow, the storyline wasn't able to keep my attention, but most of all: What a waste of David Hess! Every horror fan who has seen him in film like Last House on the Left or The House on the Edge of the Park knows and loves what this man can bring to a role. Forget Jason and Freddy, Krug was the man you loved to hate! There is brutal honesty when you put Hess in a role, especially as a villain. But to see him in one where he doesn't even play the bad guy? What the hell? I'm not used to seeing him as a passive father. But I digress. The only thing that was worse was knowing that this snoozer was directed by non-other than Cannibal Holocaust director Rugero Deotato who also helmed The House on the Edge of the Park. Let's not go there, shall we?

Long story short, the shaman does still exist (or does he?) and the kids get picked off one by one in bloody fashions blah-blah-blah. Usually in this genre of film there is always at least one thing that I can claim as a redeeming feature be it an actor who I can mark as the "eye candy" of the film (where in this case there was none), or a particular gore scene that caught my eye (where, also, in this case there was none). The only thing that came close was the film's final scene which left the view to decide if the shaman-beast in question really did exist. I can't go as far as to say that this is the worst slasher-in-the-words picture I've seen - that honor goes to The Prey - but it should have been a hell of a lot more than it was. For all the time I spent searching for this - no offense to Michael who was nice enough to send this film to me - there was absolutely no pay off. Unless you're a collector of Deodato's films or are a die-hard David Hess fan, there really is no point in seeking this one out solely on merit alone. As obscure and as hard to find as this film is, after seeing it, I've realized there's a reason...

The Last House on the Left (1972)

There was an H-E-B grocery store on old Highway 83 that we used to frequent in Weslaco,Texas back in the late 80's. As all these little places did at the time, they had a small video rental section at the front of the store and it seemed like all of them silently competed to see who had the latest in horror films. Some titles were at specific stores and not others and every store you walked into had it's own little variety of what to offer. I remember picking up the box - which had the alternate art than what you see on the left, the picture of the dead girl lying in the palm of a giant hand with a house lit up behind it - and didn't know what to think of it. I don't remember feeling frightened or uneasy and I found that strange, even back then. I guess it didn't appear to me to be all that interesting. Boy, was I in for a rude awakening.

Flash forward to the winter of 1997, the Spice Girls were still trying to hold on to the U.S. chart, Good Will Hunting had been a smash in theatres, and my kid brother had taken up the notion to date a girl significantly older than he was. Though I scowled at that idea, I got to know her and we became good friends. Around the time between Thanksgiving and Christmas, we all decided to go out and rent some movies and hang out and as we looked through the store shelves, my brother pointed this one out to me. I wasn't keen on the idea of taking that one home and reluctantly, I motioned him to go ahead and take it. I mean, I may as well give it a looksie, since at this time, I was still naive of many the horror classics. We got home popped it in the player. One hour and thirty minutes later, my life as a horror fan was changed forever. I was sickened, repulsed, and outright shocked.

I bought this DVD when it was released uncut by MGM in 2002 (or was it 2003?) when I was living in Missouri and showed it to a friend of mine. She, too, was completely appalled. It went back on the shelf and was never heard from again. Last night, this precious piece of horror cinema was playing on Fear Net and my cousin, her husband, and I decided to give it a play. Why not? It was a cold Monday night and we didn't have to be at work the next day. They had never seen it before so I didn't say a word about anything that was about to appear on the screen. When the last bit of the credits disappeared from the screen, I sat there with my eyes closed. I had completely forgotten how powerful this film really is and how in this modern day and age, it still packs a wallop that many of the Hollywood remake trash being churned out recently wish they had. I will expand on that later.

Horror buffs know the premise: Two young girls, Mari and Phyllis are on their way to see their current favorite band, Bloodlust, in concert. While on their way, Phyllis gives the idea of scoring a bit of weed to make the whole night all that much better. They approach a young mentally challenged young man who takes them upstairs into an unknown building that is harboring a group of recently-escaped vigilantes led by horror villain, and fan favorite, Krug (David Hess). The two girls are taken out into the woods and humiliated and tortured on camera in ways never before seen on film. When I first saw this film, I was shocked. I'd never seen anything so brutal before, so unredeeming of itself. The scenes are so realistic in many ways and you have to actually tell yourself that you're watching that was created by someone else. The scene where Phyllis is disemboweled remains one of the most horrific I've ever seen in a film from that period of time. Most people who watch the film now argue about it's potency but always compare it to the films that were produced years after this was first shown. Nothing had ever been shown on the big screen like this back in the early 1970's. It was so controversial and yet groundbreaking at the time and you have to really imagine what it would have been like to sit in a theater in those days and watch the atrocities that were given to you here in a very visceral, full-force way. You actually feel sympathy for the girls - although it was their hunt for grass that got them into the predicament in the first place - and you could actually feel every cut, every drop of blood, every scream, every cry for help.

The filmmakers give the film a sense of doom that you don't find in motion pictures these days. Take for instance the scene where Phyllis appears to have outwitted Krug and his gang and comes up to the road at the end of the woods. Within yourself you feel a sense of relief and you really think the poor girl is going to make it. But when it all comes around and the gang of ghouls mount their violence on her with all they have, there is a sickening sense of dread that you feel within the pit of your stomach. And not many films have ever gotten me to feel that way. The scene where Mari is shot in the lake gives you that same sense of dread, like something or someone could have come to rescue them from an awful demise. But, keeping that in mind, let's move on to Act II.

The gang make their way to a house up the road from where Mari's body was left behind. They meet a husband and wife who, after playing on their sympathies, allow them to stay in their house. Little do they know they are the parents of poor Mari, and soon enough, Mom and Dad put two and two together and figure out just who these people are. The second half of the film is perhaps darker than the first act in many ways, seeing that now Mari's parents have vowed to take revenge. Everything leads up to the parents offing each of their daughter's assailants one by one in really surprising - and horrific - ways. It all comes down to the moral being that you never know what you're capable of in this life unless you're really put to the test. So many people have their opinions about this film and I've spoken with horror fans each with their own perspective on this one. There is a sheer brilliance behind everything seen on the screen if you really think about it. Craven himself knew that he was pushing buttons that people back in that day and age and hitting subject people probably weren't going to swallow very easily. You have to commend the man, though, for showing us real life and risking his own name - and the names of future horror-icons like Sean S. Cunningham and Steve Miner - and staying true to the message in the film.

What did it for me, though, was the brilliance and panache that David Hess brought to the picture. This man didn't play the part of Krug, he was Krug! There has never been a horror villain so brutal, so macabre, so fucking evil as this character and there hasn't been one ever since. This man is amazing in this movie and it makes you wonder how he prepared for the role of horror's most beloved and enduring villain. I've seen him in The House on the Edge of the Park, where he echoes Krug in a thousand and one ways, but this one will remain his magnum opus, the pinnacle of shallow, senseless, over the top brutality and hostility. If you get the MGM DVD, watch his on-camera interview and listen to him how he talks about not being able to go out into the streets for people pointing at him and actually thinking he was the real-life Krug. There was a realism and a frankness to his character and when he evil reaches the point to where he has his own son kill himself on camera, you can't help but love the bastard and loathe him at the same time. Others have tried to mimic the nuances of this character, but nobody has ever come close.

Did I enjoy this film? Absolutely not. Was this a good film? Positively, without a doubt, this is one of the most powerful films ever released. It is one of those films that drains the life out of you and causes you to have a sigh of relief once the end credits roll. It's overwhelming in some areas and it isn't for the faint of heart. Many films in this genre try to pass themselves off as 'the real deal', where in this case, this film can. There is a realism and a truth to it that you can't shy from. It's almost like watching a snuff film. You watch the screen and just can't believe what's going on. This is a true piece of horror history. I honestly feel that if this film hadn't been made and released, horror films as we know them just wouldn't exist. Someone had to push that envelope. Someone had to get the message across that life can be terrifying and horrific and I'm glad that Wes Craven and his pals had the gumption and the audacity to release this. I remember being deeply disturbed by this film when I first saw it. It stayed in my head for weeks and weeks and it was really hard to get it out of my brain. Now, tell me the last horror piece you saw that had that kind of effect on you?

I didn't think so.

Every horror connoisseur should already have this in their collection. The only version I own is the MGM DVD, but I'd really like to find the VHS version with the woman's body in that great big hand. If you haven't seen this, please see it before you go and watch the upcoming remake. Yes, there is going to be a remake. With that said, take a gander at this. You won't be sorry.

"Blow your brains out!"