House on the Edge of the Park

source: House on the Edge of the Park

This is an Italian exploitation mess directed by Ruggero Deodato, and it stinks to high heavens. I can go for junk like this when it's done right and is disturbing, frightening, or somehow engaging. This was just boring and never-ending, with idiotic dialogue and a terrible lead "performance" by David Hess (who was in the overrated LAST HOUSE ON THE LEFT). He plays Alex, a garage mechanic who rapes and strangles a girl and enjoys going to discos to "boogie" during his more uneventful nights. When an upper-class snobby couple on their way to a posh party need their car fixed one evening, Alex and his dimwitted friend Ricky wind up being invited and Alex proceeds to hold all the guests hostage while taunting and raping the women and beating up the men. All of this is handled in a draggy and snail-like pace and with very little flair. What is continuously annoying is that Alex (armed only with a tiny razor whose blade resembles that of a small kitchen butter knife) and his stupid buddy are no match for their five or so hosts, and though they can easily be overcome, all the victims seem obliged to sit there and take all of their abuse. There is a lame attempt made to explain away all of this, but it didn't convince me. 0 out of ****

This film was a point of annoyance for me, as the obnoxious British censors have took it upon themselves to shave a depressing twelve minutes from the film. No film fan worth their salt would bother with that butchered version, so I had to import the proper film from the United States - and I've got to say that it really was worth it, as while this film is continually nasty and depraved - it's also an incredible achievement in exploitation cinema. The film starts as it means to go on, with a rape scene in the back of a car. From there, Cannibal Holocaust director Ruggero Deodato ensures that the rest of the film is thoroughly unpleasant throughout, and master tormentor David Hess is given a role that he knows exactly what to do with. The plot follows the rapist from the start and his friend, who invite themselves to a private party full of rich people. It doesn't take long for the pair to begin having their fun, which involves rape, grievous bodily harm and humiliation, as the pair frightens the party into submission. The film is an obvious rip-off of The Last House on the Left, but the director ensures that there is enough about this movie to make it work in its own right. Ruggero Deodato and David Hess seem to share a similar mentality for this sort of film, and the pair do well in ensuring the House on the Edge of the Park is arguably even more sick than Wes Craven's seventies classic. Most of the action takes place inside a lavish mansion house, and this ensures that the film benefits from a sense of claustrophobia as the villains keep their victims inside the house. It's not hard to see why the British censors went to town on this movie, as the violence isn't only gritty and mean spirited, it's also very realistic; and this makes it easy to believe that David Hess really is smashing someone's nose into the table and slicing up a young naked woman with a razorblade. Italian horror regular Giovanni Lombardo Radice stars alongside David Hess and their pair have great chemistry together. Riz Ortolani's score gives the film an edge of satiety, and there's more than enough gore and nudity here to satisfy any fan of wayward cinema. The DPP's Video Nasty list contains some real trash - but this film is up there with Nasty classics like I Spit on Your Grave and Zombie Flesh-Eaters. Highly recommended to the right sort of people!

The House by the Edge of the Park begins on shaky footing, with a too-explicit rape. However, I must say the next 60 minutes were intriguing and entertaining. The final 30 minutes, however, were there simply for shock value and for the ol' "twist for the sake of a twist." Too bad -- they had the makings of a good movie there for a while. *spoiler alerts* Think about this. If you had NOT seen the rape in the first scene, don't you think the scenes at the house for the first 45 minutes would have been a lot more interesting? We would have been guessing who was playing who, and what all these people's agendas were. Had they just had a reference to the rape in the opening credits (kind of like Identity did recently with its subject matter), it would have worked. Instead, we all know what is going to happen; and the "twist" at the end becomes ridiculous when you consider they could have gotten the gun when he was upstairs "raping" the hot one from the shower (man was she attractive). I put "rape" in quotes of course because she was obviously enjoying it, which was yet another feeble attempt to "shock" the audience. A mixed bag -- but overall I can't recommend it due to the major flaws. Any justification whatsoever to them not getting to the gun sooner is laughable, and let's face it -- if they get to gun sooner, there is no movie. By the way, David Hess was pitiful here -- people seem to think he was so good -- all he does is use a nervous giggle throughout that detracts from any good he is doing with the character. He seems like a super nice guy on his website, but that constant giggling has to go. Finally, a lot of people have used the word "disturbing" to describe this movie. That word for me has a subtle positive connotation to it that means the filmmakers achieved their goal artistically. Se7en was disturbing. THIS movie was merely unpleasant. 5/10

Let's be honest here: you didn't come to this for an elaborate mise-en-scene (such a horrible word) that reveals an allegory on the displacement of modern man. Hell, you don't even know what a mise-en-scene is. You don't care. It sounds like something you would like to punch a hole through. Do you like balloons or ribbons? No, you're a guy who likes guy stuff: dynamite, karate, trucks, kickass movies. No, you came to this because you know David Hess is going to hole up in a fancy cottage house holding hostage a host of snotty New York characters who think they are too good to boogie down with disco. Because he's going to be wearing a lemon yellow jacket and something close to an afro and he's going to oogle and leer at women in that perverse way between rapist uncle and protective big brother. Giovanni Radice is going to be his imbecilic sidekick. Girls are going to get undressed whether they want to or not, a razor is going to be put in use. So by all accounts this must be the brutal, intense, grueling experience other viewers describe. Deodato is involved and that used to mean something back in the day. But it's not, not really, and I'm not just preening with aloof jadedness here. No, it's glorious exploitation as the term used to have meaning. Hysterical, cheesy, dirty, but so enjoyable. There are no politics here, just one long sexual fantasy about forceful sex and degradation that can be enjoyed equally well from both ends. David Hess exudes raw animal magnetism and gets to have his way, that is until the mandatory moral denouement. The ladies get to enjoy being had or play along for the game. That is all. Now the guerrilla shots from inside a moving car at the beginning of the film that capture night rolling down on New York, these are pure film poetry to my mind. As far as a film New York off the beaten track is concerned, I rate these highly and next to Jean Rollin's cold cityscapes from Lost in New York.

I saw this the other night and thought it was a very well made film. It is mostly set around the one location but it doesn't get bogged down thanks to the twists and turns in the characters. David Hess acts well and you can see he really is carrying this film, with support from the other actors. There are some great twists with characters being good but really evil and vice versa, not to give to much away. Although it does suffer a little for the fact it really was essentially an excuse for lots of nudity it is all quite varied in locations and depictions around the house and all serves the story as a whole. This is a well made film but not for the squeamish or easily offended. This is a film I can imagine watching again a good few times. 8/10

To call LA CASA SPERDUTA NEL PARCO (a.k.a. HOUSE ON THE EDGE OF THE PARK) trash would be an insult to trash. Comparing it to Wes Craven's LAST HOUSE ON THE LEFT would be an insult to that not-so-great film, as well. Even writing a review of it requires more energy than it deserves, but I'm going to anyway, so potential viewers will be forewarned and forearmed. "PLOT" SYNOPSIS: The "plot" basically is a synopsis: A pair of thugs are invited to a soiree at the titular abode, and wreak havoc for most of the 91-minute running time, raping, maiming, and just generally being bad buggers. Leading the circus of bad behaviour is Alex, a boorish garage mechanic whose idea of consensual sex is raping young women at razor's point, and his dopey sidekick Ricky, who meekly follows wherever Alex goes, and does pretty much everything Alex tells him to do. This includes the aforementioned treachery at the party, easily the most unpleasant party ever captured on film, and that's before all the bad stuff happens. There are no characters in this film, only bad actors wearing bad costumes, spewing dialogue so bad it rarely even approaches unintentional comedy (although there are mercifully a few moments of that, as well). It is clear what the filmmakers were trying to do: shock and disturb the audience. The only thing shocking and disturbing about the film is that it was ever made in the first place. Implausible from the get-go, with wretched dialogue ("It's too late to boogie") and abysmal performances, especially the lead, David A. Hess, who looks like the love child of Tom Jones and Telly Savalas, and who tries to chew the scenery, but only manages to bite. When he tries to be scary, he's almost funny, and when he tries to be funny, he's just scary. His performance wants to be over-the-top, but in the end, just wants. Why anyone would invite him to a party is a good indication of the collective I.Q. of the partiers, who pretty much deserve everything that happens to them, because they clearly outnumber their captors, and have ample opportunities to disarm and even disembowel them, but blithely allow Alex to terrorize them in lots of nasty ways. *SPOILER* Their acquiescence is explained in easily one of the dumbest "twist" endings you're likely to see. *END SPOILER* What else can be said about a party no one would want to attend, peopled by characters no one would ever want to meet? To call the film dreary would be too complimentary. It is a waste of celluloid, with all the style and substance of a 70s home movie, ninety minutes you will never get back, and the only thing you may take away from the experience is the dubious pleasure of giving this turkey a vote of 1.

Synopsis: Alex (Hess) is a hard working mechanic by day and a rapist by night. One night as he steps out to `boogie' with his dimwitted buddy Ricky (Radice) he is met with a stranded couple in need of his skills (mechanical that is). One thing leads to another and Alex and Ricky are off with the rather snobbish couple to boogie at their pad with some friends. As the party progresses Alex takes to terrorizing the partygoers with a smile on his face. Acting: The acting is very good. Hess and Radice make a great pair of psychos. Hess as always comes off as being absolutely cold-hearted and Radice actually manages to generate some sympathy for his character. The remainders of the cast play their parts with just the right flavor to make you think something is going on under their cold eyes. Direction / Writing: Deodato's direction is good, on occasion you get a little shaky camerawork but it doesn't detract from the experience. Scenes are set up well and he never dwells to long on things. The script is good. Not very detailed, but you get what you need to figure out the characters and their motivations. Photography / Editing: The photography is good. A decent atmosphere is created by the last act that works in the films favor. Most of the violence occurs in medium length and close-up shots and might be a little much for those of you who are not into exploitation flicks. The editing is good. It flows well without getting slow or boring. Pretty standard photography nothing that is all that flashy. Cheesiness / Music: Not too awfully cheesy. The music does betray its' age along with the clothes and hair styles (bald women?). On the music end you get some last hurrahs out of the disco era. But I got to admit the song sweetly that pops up during Alex's violent outbursts is really eerie. Sex / Nudity: *****Spoilers****** As expected from this type of flick the nudity and sex is rather abundant. We begin with the rape that starts it all to Alex's seduction and Radice's attempted rape and sex scene. Particularly brutal is the slashing of the naked virgin by Alex. ******End / Spoilers****** Sleaze: Rape, sex and plenty of nudity are combined with violence that will put people off to the film. There is a lot of female violence. So be warned if that gets to you. Overall / Parting Remarks: I like the film. Unfairly considered a rip-off of Last House on the Left, I think the film works fine on its' own with ample help from Hess. Let's face it Hess plays the heavy well. Coupled with some relatively intense sexual violence and capricious amounts of nudity you get a better than average exploiter from actors and crew that have done the sort of thing before.

The only good thing about this movie was the ending, and by that I mean that it was good because it was finally over. The acting was ridiculous, the fight scenes even more so. As for when Alex cut up the blonde guy's face, and later the virgin, I think I've seen more malice and emotion in a butcher slicing salami. I guess I was supposed to be repulsed or moved by the red liquid spilling up as the knife passed through, but I wasn't. In fact, I didn't even know why the hell I should even hate Alex and his companion. Sure, he raped the girl at the beginning but apart from that he was just a disco-dancing jerk who got ***ed that his retarded friend was getting cheated at poker by a bunch of rich wusses. So they started to terrorize the rich wusses. And that's a bad thing??? If the movie is good for one thing, it's to make fun of the ridiculous aspects of it. For example, when Alex decided to bring a straight edge razor along instead of the switchblade. Apparently he had aimed to shave everyone to death. Certainly the party of rich wusses were scared enough of it not to jump him, even though they outnumbered him.

Perhaps one of the most infamous violence-exploitation films ever made, and for good reason! Slick rapist and his simple-minded buddy get invited to a snobbish get-together, where they quickly take over the house. Disturbingly dark, oddly erotic, and subtly directed, Deodato's House on the Edge of the Park is an unforgettable tale of lust and violence. While the violence of this film is extreme, Deodato is careful not to let any of the characters become uninteresting. Even as the story is a somewhat convoluted, the occurrences on screen between the villains and their victims keep the audience well on edge. Also of note is the haunting music of Riz Ortolani, the song 'Do It To Me Once More' being especially appropriate for the film. The cast is fairly good, the best is undoubtedly David Hess. Hess is no stranger to playing sleazy B villains, as he brings such fierceness to every character. If you're seeking a sleazy exploitation film, or just a strong guilty pleasure, House on the Edge of the Park may just work! Definitely not for all (or even most) tastes. ** 1/2 out of ****