Die Hinrichtung

Even though the Richard Speck student-nurse murders took place in America, most of the movies inspired by the incident strangely enough were foreign. These include the disturbing Japanese film "Violated Angels", the relatively shocking ending to the ho-hum Italian giallo/sex romp "Slaughter Hotel", and perhaps to some extent even the Canadian proto-slasher flick "Black Christmas". This movie, however, is probably the closest in circumstances to the actual incident. Not that it doesn't make some unusual choices, especially for what is basically an exploitation film. It's set in Belfast, North Ireland, for instance, during the height of "the troubles" when bombs were exploding and Catholics, Protestants, IRA terrorists and British troops were fighting in the streets. Also, the murderer (played by Mathieu Carrare)is an American Vietnam vet where the real Speck was merely a merchant marine. The movie doesn't do much with this though as the Speck character seems far more motivated by his wife's infidelities than any trauma he suffered in Vietnam, and any on-location realism that is achieved is ruined by the bad dubbing (the Irish and English nurses and American killer all speak in the same stilted continental accents of the usual gang of Euro-idiots that dubbed these things).

The movie was distributed mostly under the more lurid title "Naked Massace", and after a strangely large amount of character development of both the nurses and the killer, it lives up to that title when they finally meet and he ties them up and starts bumping them off one by one. The real-life Speck only raped one of the nurses (although far more graphically than what is shown here), but the guy here sexually abuses nearly all of them (one of whom, perhaps in a nod to Sharon Tate, is even pregnant). The most lurid scene is when he forces two closeted lesbians to have sex with each other. Although, it's hard to do such a scene sensitively, this scene is handled even less sensitively than the similar scene in the much more infamous "Last House on the Left".

The director, Denis Heroux, interesting enough, is French Canadian and got his start in superior "maple syrup porn" films like "Valerie" and "L'Initiation" but had his career ended when he was made the scapegoat for the failure of hack British producer Milton Subotsky's idiotic horror movie "The Uncanny". This film, made in the middle of his short career, shows an interesting but obviously declining talent. The cast includes Carol Laure and pretty Italian starlet Ely Galeani. I got this as part of a cheap 50 DVD horror collection. If you can find THAT, it's definitely worth watching. Otherwise, well. . .

Richard Franklin Speck (1941 - 1991), the killer of eight student nurses living together in a Chicago Community Hospital during 1966. It was to be the night of July 13th - 14th that Specks inadequacies were to come to resurface, killing them one-by-one throughout the night. This was to be another dark night in America's history that was to add his name to the list of serial killers that have tainted its name: Ted Bundy, the Hillside Strangler, the Boston Strangler and David Berkowitz etc, etc.

With typical relish the film industry around the world then immortalised his deeds, within a certain scope, onto celluloid; Chicago Massacre: Richard Speck (2007 V) by Michael Feifer, Okasareta hakui (Violated Angels) (1967) by K. Wakamatsu, Speck (2002) by Keith Walley and 10 to Midnight (1983) by J. Lee Thompson and starring Charles Bronson as the cop on his tail. The lesser known, and possibly the less seen, of these films portraying the acts of his crime is the actual war zone setting of Northern Ireland during the mid nineteen-seventies that is the Naked Massacre. Giving too, its conjunctive title Born for Hell, this latter title comes from a segment of a tattoo that was on Speck's arm, and in the end, was to be his undoing, the full tattoo reads: BORN TO RAISE HELL.

What is intriguing about Naked Massacre, with its West German production that whilst being shot in Hamburg and Studio Bendestorf, Germany, again, and being dubbed into English, it is the 1970's exterior Belfast locations that sets this film apart to give it an air of historical reference. Ironically, too or just sheer coincidence, as both, then, Germany and Ireland were divided by the political, and with Northern Ireland, religious beliefs. Seeing our protagonist wander the derelict war-torn streets of Belfast, with its IRA slogans and with the English army patrols and armoured vehicles setting an atmosphere of desperation and bleak overtones in an environment were faction Vs. faction and soldier Vs. stone throwing youths. An interesting reflective on harsh times in both English and Ireland's history.

German born Mathieu Carriere is the US' Vietnam vet' drifter Cain Adamson, reprising the role as Richard Speck, who, while trying to get back home, finds himself waiting for a passage back to the States. It is here, while waiting, kicking stones and hanging around the local pub, he finds the dwelling of the student nurses.

Denis Heroux the Montreal born film director, producer and here, writer and director, has our woman hater disturbing these residents with his grudges and psychosis that are brutal and disturbing. While, in general, a film of female degradation, with its grainy film stock and basic environment, these European writers' too, have given us a tale of woes from the perspective of an eroding mind of a war vet' who questions his own existence while very easily blames others for his predicament. This downward spiral of sanity leads to a very claustrophobic and tense world of hate and retribution to those he finds responsible most: the female of the spices.

Whilst being a work of fiction here, one has to remember that the narrative is, loosely, based around fact, and the reality is that this film is hard-hitting and plays testament to the weakness of this male mind and its overpowering of the enduring "weaker sex". As the night progresses, we see the completeness of his insanity; vile, ruthless and completely out of control.

We can see violations of the fairer sex in films as I Spit on Your Grave (1978), Last House on the Left (1972) and in hindsight, Salo; 120 Days of Sodom (1975), this too, Naked Massacre, is not pleasant viewing. One should not fall into the trap of thinking this as macabre entertainment but it being a visual nightmare of a state of mind that in one summer's night in a nurse's dormitory, in the USA, a little piece of it died. Most mercilessly.

This could have been some sort of "Taxi Driver". Could, if they just could have pulled it along with Scorcese's skills. After all, low-budgeter "Taxi Driver" had all it took to make an exploitation movie. This one has the gritty realism, the context (Visions of some overall violent world from Ireland to Vietnam, even more relevant nowadays), the disturbing elements… But does not seem to know what to do with them. We had an understanding of what Travis Bickle was up to, even if we were not in his head, we had enough to go with and sympathize (just like in real life actually), which makes even the botched attack on a political candidate an anti-anticlimax. Here, despite Mathieu Carrière's excellent acting, we have only disjointed things : he's a Vietnam vet, his wife cheated on him, he might be impotent and might have a death wish (though his actions denies it). How did it all comes together in one long, violent episode is anyone's guess. M. Carrière manages to keep the character's desperation obvious, but to what end ? It's not really a chain of events that leads him to his horrific deeds. The cheesy dialogue does not really helps, like a reference to lesbianism, fortunately without any moral tut-tutting, that leads nowhere. The whole things feels just like an experience in exploitation with some hints at social comment, or the other way around, if you feel so inclined. It's not bad, but it's one movie that could have been so much better if its various interesting elements have gelled into something coherent.

I sometimes question the motivations of a director who chooses subject matter such as this as material for a film. There is such a sadistic vent to this that it has kept me thinking for days. This is obviously a retelling of the Richard Speck story where a psychotic ex-Vietnam vet terrorizes and kills a group of nurses in a residential house in Northern Ireland. The movie is pretty well done in that it gets us involved with the women and with their assailant. They are real people with prospects; one is even pregnant. I think that's why this so affected me because when you see those teenage slasher movies you say to yourself that no one could be so stupid. The violence is amplified and unrealistic. This one is so close to home. The business of why people don't defend themselves is an issue, but when you see the connection to terror and to humanity, you see why this could happen. Still, I could never watch this again and I'm not sure it needed telling.

"Naked Massacre" is pretty strong stuff; a disturbing thriller definitely NOT for squeamish or faint-hearted people! It's not that gory or exaggeratedly sleazy, like the two key words of the title lead you to believe, but it's truly intense and filmed in such a sober way that you'll feel VERY uncomfortable. The story is something like Agatha Christie's "Ten Little Indians", only in this case it's Eight Pretty Nurses. Actually, that's not funny since this movie is inspired by the murders committed by real-life madman Richard Speck in 1966; Chicago. The setting of this notorious case has been moved, very ingeniously I may add, to Ireland in the mid-70's, when there was the post-Vietnam depression as well as the Irish civil war and bombings. On his way home from Vietnam, a young American soldier ends up in Belfast with no money or acquaintances. He's traumatized, has a very nihilistic world perspective and a petrifying hatred for women. It doesn't take long before he breaks into a mansion and starts terrorizing the eight young nurses that live there. "Naked Massacre" is obviously cheap and poorly edited, yet the atmosphere is constantly grim and the murders are genuinely shocking. The girls are physically abused, emotionally tortured and eventually stabbed to death with a BIG knife. There are no morals, comic reliefs or happy endings here, so only people with an iron stomach will be able to sit through this movie without suffering from nightmares afterwards. The acting performances are pretty decent, despite some of the dialogs being extremely inept and cheesy. Highly recommended in case you're searching for a horror/thriller that will really get under your skin.