Post by doomedbloodwork on Jul 26, 2004 7:33:21 GMT -5
How do you follow one of the most controversial films of all time? Well, if you direct something like CANNIBAL HOLOCAUST, you try and make something equally as such, if not more so.
HOUSE ON THE EDGE OF THE PARK combined Ruggero Deodato's no-holds-barred approach to exploitation with David Hess' trademark LAST HOUSE-type OTT performance. The end result, which I saw in cut form recently on the UK release version, is a strange affair.
The logisitics of the film leave a lot to be desired at times and one gets the impression that the film was improvised. Like most Italian offerings, the dubbing does tend to dilute the impact of what characters are saying and these look like rejects from SATURDAY NIGHT FEVER's auditions in 1976 when they were looking for people to fill the 2001 Odyssey nightclub. More the pity, because within this offering is the makings of an intriguing standoff and a sense of one-up-manship afoot here. There is also a clear intention to create a similar sense of shock as CANNIBAL HOLOCAUST did during the second half of the film.
The film opens, against the backdrop music of a song called SWEETLY (so out of character with the rest of the film, which belongs more in something like a romantic tearjerker) with Alex (Hess) pursuing a lady whilst driving, before cutting her off and assaulting her in her car. He meets up with his mate Ricky (John Morghen, known prior to this as the guy who got the drill in CITY OF THE LIVING DEAD) at an underground parking lot. A couple turn up to have their car looked at, but Alex is 'gonna boogie tonight' and offers to pay their fare home via a limo or alternative means. Instead the couple offer to drive Alex and Ricky to their house party where they encounter other guests......
What occurs after this has to be seen to be believed in the context of a film that is, at times, as brutal, as HOLOCAUST. It isn't the most comfortable of films to watch and along with the likes of LAST HOUSE ON THE LEFT, is as notorious for David Hess' performance. More a film for curiousity than posterity.
HOUSE ON THE EDGE OF THE PARK combined Ruggero Deodato's no-holds-barred approach to exploitation with David Hess' trademark LAST HOUSE-type OTT performance. The end result, which I saw in cut form recently on the UK release version, is a strange affair.
The logisitics of the film leave a lot to be desired at times and one gets the impression that the film was improvised. Like most Italian offerings, the dubbing does tend to dilute the impact of what characters are saying and these look like rejects from SATURDAY NIGHT FEVER's auditions in 1976 when they were looking for people to fill the 2001 Odyssey nightclub. More the pity, because within this offering is the makings of an intriguing standoff and a sense of one-up-manship afoot here. There is also a clear intention to create a similar sense of shock as CANNIBAL HOLOCAUST did during the second half of the film.
The film opens, against the backdrop music of a song called SWEETLY (so out of character with the rest of the film, which belongs more in something like a romantic tearjerker) with Alex (Hess) pursuing a lady whilst driving, before cutting her off and assaulting her in her car. He meets up with his mate Ricky (John Morghen, known prior to this as the guy who got the drill in CITY OF THE LIVING DEAD) at an underground parking lot. A couple turn up to have their car looked at, but Alex is 'gonna boogie tonight' and offers to pay their fare home via a limo or alternative means. Instead the couple offer to drive Alex and Ricky to their house party where they encounter other guests......
What occurs after this has to be seen to be believed in the context of a film that is, at times, as brutal, as HOLOCAUST. It isn't the most comfortable of films to watch and along with the likes of LAST HOUSE ON THE LEFT, is as notorious for David Hess' performance. More a film for curiousity than posterity.
