La Maison au fond du parc

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 ****

"The House on the Edge of the Park" has David Hess again playing a psychopathic murderer-this time, he's a New York City mechanic who canoodles his way into a private party alongside his friend, Ricky. At first his interests lie in bedding the women there, but things quickly unravel as his homicidal tendencies come to the fore.

This film is beloved by many fans of Eurosleaze, and for quite obvious reasons. It was Ruggero Deodato's follow-up to "Cannibal Holocaust," and while it's not nearly as interesting, it is just about as shamelessly gratuitous. There is little plot to speak of here, and much of the film's power hinges on Hess's ability to command the space he's in, using both his body and his voice; this is an easy feat for him as he was a natural charismatic, so the film can rest on that laurel alone to some degree.

The set pieces are gawdy and very much of the time period, which lends the film a period-piece feel, and there is a claustrophobic sensibility to the film because of its limited confines; that being said, it is noticeably dated, more so than many films of the '70s are today. The gore, when it hits, is ample and fairly well-designed. There is also plenty of gratuitous nudity, mainly of females, but even a hunky Hess shows the majority of his body during a pointless shower sequence with a female partygoer. The conclusion comes in a fashion that is fairly standard, but it ultimately satisfies.

Overall, "The House on the Edge of the Park" is a prime piece of grim and gruesome torture-horror from a filmmaker whose career has been in the art of violence. It's not nearly as good as some of Deodato's other films, but Hess provides a charismatic, appropriately sleazy villain (ala his turn s Krug in "Last House on the Left"), and there are some well-orchestrated scenes. A minor entry in the grand scheme of things, but a decently-made one, if not dated. 6/10.

This is interesting sleaze in a lot of ways, mainly because it's one of those movies that looks like nothing more than cheap, hateful sex trash when there are underlying ideas (even though I will not dare call this an intellectual film by any means). One thing I would like to say is that it is true that some of the things going on here can be viewed as romantic if you view it in a very unconventional way. One of the "rape" scenes definitely seems more like a rough, consensual sex game rather than a brutal, totally forced rape. At the same time, a lot of this can really be viewed more as about a guy (David A. Hess as Alex) who has had some serious female trouble at one point and is so terrified of a woman he loves leaving him that he responds animalistically with hateful, misogynistic acts of rape and abuse so that he can get close to all the women he likes in the only way he knows could work for him, no matter how cruel and damaging it is to anyone else. His companion Ricky is obviously someone who is mentally slow and hated by society, finding friendship only in scum like Alex, who he looks up to like a big brother/mentor type. He is shown to not know any better for the most part, but we know there is good in him when he not only can't bring himself to violate a woman, but he is also the one who tries to stop the terror from continuing. This leads to a twist ending that I thought was actually surprisingly clever for this type of film. This one's not quite as good as "The Last House on the Left" if you're going to compare movies with mean David A. Hess characters, but, despite similarities, this film stands up fairly well on its own, in my opinion.

Italian Horror maestros have always been revered, regardless of whether their films are really any good and by whom or what they've been, umm...influenced by. This pic is sort of a carbon copy of a few other flicks, given a discreet roll of the fluffy dice to change the story around here and there. However it was all enough to satisfy the new bloodthirsty and thrillseeking generation of filmgoers in the 80s and thus delivered the goods, earned its sleeper reputation for cult classic status in the next 30 years or so and got promptly banned on the UK Nasties List, sealing the whole deal. We come to worship at the alter, in as much as what we're actually expecting from a film like 'La casa sperduta nel parco' in terms of quality, enjoyment and originality. The film has dated, and badly. But Hess's disco stud is incredibly good value, along with the Dil's 'Class War' thrown in and a few psychological insights that 'may' have been pertinent at the time. A few neon drenched shots of NYC in the retro age are always welcome - a trademark found in Spaghetti Horror of this breed. You're either partial to this genre within a genre or you're not - I had fun with it and so did a whole world of other people. You know who you are.

A psychopathic rapist and his simple-minded companion brutalize a group of wealthy young people. Starring David Hess and Giovanni Lombardo Radice (in his film debut).

Deodato calls this film a "mistake" made only "to satisfy the producers". He says the "screenplay was really poor". So, if you think the movie is a failure, you would be in agreement with its creator. For me, there was little offered beyond a few cute naked women.

Taking place in the disco era with the appropriate music and outfits, this is a truly odd experience. Somehow a Radice striptease comes into play here.. which is, um, interesting to say the least. And then you have people who realize they are going to get tortured, so rather than fight they just accept it...

Luca Palmerini sums up the film as a "listless remake of Last House on the Left. Boring." Of course, it is not a remake, though it was clearly influenced by "Last House" and adding David Hess to the cast only calls that to our attention. Jim Harper calls the plot "paper-thin" and the characters illogical. Harper also believes the film "goes too far" in its treatment of rape. This may be due to the script being written by Gianfranco Clerici, who also wrote "New York Ripper" and "Nazi Love Camp 27", among others.