THE HOUSE ON THE EDGE OF THE PARK

(Ruggero Deodato, 1980)

Violent rapists and murderers Alex (David Hess) and his dimwitted sidekick Ricky (Giovanni Lombardo Radice) invite themselves to a swank party they hear of after helping a wealthy couple with their car. The idle rich at the party intend to amuse themselves with the declasse party-crashers, only to find the tables turned as they are imprisoned, beaten, raped, and tortured by the demented duo.

I know what you're thinking, "Oh, yet another rape 'n revenge flick!", but in Ruggero Deodato's hands it's something more. As would be expected, it's excessively violent, and there's a lot of skin on display. And there's a nasty, cringe-inducing scene towards the end. I won't say what it is, but they play the sweetest, most inappropriate music while it transpires.

THOTEOTP is a competently made thriller. There's a lot of suspense and exploitation, which should satisfy most Italian horror fiends. The camerawork is so-so, and the acting not half bad. The soundtrack by Riz Ortolani complements the goings-on fairly well. And the ending is incredibly satisfying, if not a little improbable. Recommended for thriller enthusiasts. Buy it here.

BODY COUNT aka Camping Del Terrore

(Ruggero Deodato, 1987)

The plot for this by-the-numbers Italian slasher is threadbare and derivative, to say the least. Simply put, a group of young people take a trip into the woods to stay at their friend Ben's parents' cabin. There they learn of an old legend about a shaman who cursed the grounds and still roams the woods in search of victims. Then they are systematically slaughtered, and their corpses hidden in a run-down washroom/ change room near the house. There's also a subplot concerning the mother, Julia (Mimsey Farmer), who is cheating on her husband Robert (David Hess) with a police officer.

Like I said, the story is simple and tired. Deodato does, however, provide a few genuine surprises along the way as the shaman can teleport and manipulate objects by means of magic. This isn't related to the viewer until the end of the film, so many of the murders seem nonsensical or implausible, an opinion that is only reinforced by the characters' completely unrealistic reactions to the situations in which they find themselves.

Don't write off Body Count too soon though. Being an Italian horror film, it does possess a fair amount of visual style and some decent scare scenes, not to mention a fair amount of blood. The score, performed by Claudio Simonetti, is eerie and quite appropriate. Finally, I should mention that the cast is full of Italian horror regulars, including Mimsey Farmer (Four Flies on Grey Velvet, Autopsy), John Steiner (Shock, Tenebre), David Hess (House on the Edge of the Park), and Ivan Rassimov (Spasmo, All the Colors of the Dark). Sadly, only Farmer and Hess are given sizable roles as most of the film concentrates on the younger cast members, who play soulless teen stereotypes.

In all, I would recommend this, but to intermediate viewers only. It IS one of the better Italian horror films of the late 80's, but that's not necessarily saying much. It's not yet been released on DVD in North America, so happy downloading!