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House on the Edge of the Park, a review by Jimmy

Title: House on the Edge of the Park (1980)

Genre: Crime
Director: Ruggero Deodato           
Rating: Unrated
Length: 1h31
Video: Widescreen
Audio: English
Subtitles: None

Stars:
David A. Hess
Giovanni Lombardo Radice
Annie Belle
Lorraine De Selle
Cristian Borromeo

Plot:
HOUSE ON THE EDGE OF THE PARK has no mercy. Right from the start, the evil and violence of Alex (David A. Hess) and his slightly retarded sidekick Ricky (Giovanni Lombardo Radice aka John Morghen), dominate the movie as they rape and strangle a young girl.

After helping a rich couple with their car, they invite themselves to a party. The people at the party seem bored and looking for kicks, unaware of the two madmen in their midst. When the tension is broken, the film descends into an unrelenting collection of repugnant moments of humiliation, rape, mutilation and murder.

I've decided to watch this one after Last House on the Left since it's essantially an italian version of Last House set in the city. I think the plot is honest for what this film is since this is exactly the movie, don't expect any comic relief or genre shifting. I will not comment on David Hess again since in this film he plays Krugg Stillo with a different name. Giovanni Lombardo Radice give the best performance of his career (not with his voice since the movie is dub, but with the gestuals and expressions he use to play a retard). The rest of the cast isn't better or worse than any others italian exploitation films made in this period. But you will see many familliar faces in it : Annie Belle (Bacchanales sexuelles), Lorraine De Selle (Cannibal ferox), Christian Borromeo (Tenebre) and Brigitte Petronio (Emanuelle Around the World) are all easilly recognizable. The movie is violent and some of the scenes are pretty realist (the effect for the slicing of Cindy is particullary well done). You have the same vibe from the beginning untill the end. The movie had a twist ending that make absolutly no sense when you think of it more than 3 seconds, but I can live with that. Riz Ortolani had written another good musical score for this one. My only problem with this film is the english dubbing that is ridicule by moment.

It's italian exploitation so you get a lot of nudity if you don't like the violence... 
 
Rating :

(From The little known movie review depot on February 1st, 2009)

The Seventh Victim, a review by Jon

THE SEVENTH VICTIM
4 out of 5

A woman is looking for her sister who disappeared some time before. As she traces her sisters movements, she becomes aware of a Satanic cult.

This one is possibly Lewton's most enigmatic film, Curse of the Cat People included. It is of the highest quality, especially in cast and photography, but the story is especially intriguing. Most of his plots so far have been relatively straightforward. Plenty to think about, but the core stories are typical horror staples.

Here it is less conventional. If not for the presence of the Satanic cult, it wouldn't even be horror, but actually Film Noir, complete with the suitably bleak ending and characters as shadowy as the streets they hide in.

But it is a horror in the best Lewton tradition (the "dark mirror" as Guillermo del Toro said in an interview) and several scenes stand out. A murder in a dark hallway, a shower scene that will remind you of Psycho (although no-one dies, the scary shadow on the curtain could easily have been an inspiration to Hitch) and a nerve-jangling ten minute walk home for one character at the end. I think it was about 10 minutes. Bear in mind like many of these films, The Seventh Victim is just 75 minutes long, so a fair portion of the screentime is rightly dedicated to this scene alone.

It sags in the middle, but I found the subtle religious tone compelling and this film will keep coming back to me over the coming days, more so than the others in this set I think. Ultimately it was a story about faith and will certainly reward repeat viewings. I'm not a religious person, yet I still found a sequence that quotes a line from The Lord's Prayer strangely moving. The whole final section is powerful and I hope some of you watch this film as I'd love to hear others thoughts on what you think it was trying to say.

Even though it was a downbeat end, I did like what seems to be a sick joke at the expense of Film Noir conventions! It's part of a naive romance sub-plot I'd otherwise found annoying, but typical of 40s Noir. Now I wonder if it was there just to set up a sly stab at what must have been a cliche even in 1943. Maybe I'm being too cynical, but after how Greyfriars Bobby was treated in The Body Snatcher, anything is possible!

As always with these films, I may have made this sound a bit weighty, but in fact, it's still a deceptively simple and powerful thriller that might have you treating the shadows in your bedroom with suspicion! And that's all we should ask of the best horrors.

(From Val Lewton Horror Marathon on October 5th, 2008)

Angel Marathon, a review by addicted2dvd

3. Unleashed
Original Air Date: 10/15/2003
As Angel tries to help a young woman bitten by a werewolf, Fred tries to help Spike who has begun to fade in and out of existence for longer and longer periods of time.

Guest Stars:
Jenny Mollen
John Billingsley
Heidi Dippold

My Thoughts:
This one I really liked a lot. Favorite episode of the season so far. I thought they did the werewolf really cool. And if I am not mistaken... we do see her again before the season is over.

My Rating:

(From Angel Marathon on March 22nd, 2010)