Massacre

In case half of this film's footage looks strangely familiar, it means you watch way too much of this gory Italian cult-crap! For you see, the notorious demigod Lucio Fulci did not only produce this movie, he also took the liberty of re-using the most sadistic killing sequences in his own (and more easily traceable) "Cat in the Brain". The opening scene already, in which a prostitute is brutally decapitated with an axe, features in Fulci's later film and so do another handful of killings and sleaze moments. Andrea Bianchi's "Masssacre" fails miserably as a giallo, since the search for the sadistic killer among a movie-crew shooting a horror movie is all but compelling and suspenseful, but it's still good entertainment if you're into cheap 'n shlocky horror trash. The incoherent script introduces a whole bunch of repugnant characters who're all potential maniacs, but none of the red herrings Biachi comes up with are plausible and you can point out the killer almost immediately. Whatever remains to enjoy are the truly misogynous make-up effects and the hilariously awful acting performances of the ensemble cast. Whenever there isn't any bloodshed on screen, like between the first and second murder, "Massacre" is a slow and almost intolerable with its inane dialogs and thoroughly unexciting photography. Thankfully in the second half, there are women getting impaled on fences and males being stabbed repeatedly with rusty spikes. The music is crap and the use of filming locations is very unimaginative. My advise would be to skip this puppy and go straight for the aforementioned "Cat in the Brain". That one features ALL the great moments of "Massacre", and then some.

Massacre is pretty bad film, but it is not impossible to watch, but the viewer has to be Italo freak in order to sit through this. Let's make it straight: During credits and awful music, we see one pretty nasty (and dull) axe murder as a mysterious driver stops his car and kills a hooker standing by the side of the road with an axe. Then, the film begins, and NOTHING happens for next 45 minutes or so. It is sooo boring, but during the end, body count rises again and the "plot" seems to tighten. The film follows a film crew which is shooting a horror film, and soon the members start to disappear as the mystery madman with an axe or other blades kills people. Doesn't sound too original, but it does not matter when we're talking about this kind of cinema.

There are unfortunately not many worth mentioning merits in this film. The music or other elements are not special and the over all look of Massacre is very dull and often stupid. But there are still few atmospheric moments in the forest and in the dark, and so we get that old feel of watching a really great Italian horror film, but this only reminds me distantly of those classics. The film could have been worse, but I must say that it should have definitely been much better! But I'm happy there are those mentioned moments, and I think that this is pretty rare title and thus collectable.

I will also mention, that (almost) all the gore scenes in Massacre were used in Lucio Fulci's Un Gatto nel Cervello (aka Cat in a Brain aka Nightmare Concert), too. Many scenes from Fulci's own Quando Alice Ruppe lo Specchio (rare!) are in Nightmare Concert, too! I viewed first Nightmare Concert, and so there were no new murder scenes for me when I viewed Massacre, and it also made me feel a little frustrated. I didn't know that these scenes are in Fulci's film, even though I knew that Fulci used scenes from other films. But it doesn't matter, because Italo fans are used to be very forgiving and understanding! Fulci's mentioned Nightmare Concert is one hell of a gore fest, and the murders from Massacre fit in there well among others. So if you have already seen Un Gatto nel Cervello (akas: Nightmare Concert, Cat in a Brain) and haven't seen Massacre, then there are no new gory moments to see, but I hope that fans watch these films not only for gore or violence, because the thing I love most in Italian horror cinema is the atmosphere never matched by other countries' efforts. Massacre definitely isn't a great example of Italian mastery, but the viewing is a curiosity for fanatics and for those interested in the disturbed cinema of writer/director Andrea Bianchi, whose other merits include Malabimba and weird and wonderful (?) Zombie 3 aka Nights of Terror aka Burial Ground.

Massacre earns 5/10 but only if one is as forgiving as I am, because watched as a "serious" (horror)film, Massacre fails miserably.

Massacre is a film directed by Andrea Bianchi (Burial Ground) and produced by legendary Italian horror director Lucio Fulci. Now with this mix of great talent you would think this movie would have been a true gore fest. This could not be further from that. Massacre falls right on its face as being one of the most boring slasher films I have seen come out of Italian cinema. I was actually struggling to stay awake during the film and I have never had that problem with Italian horror films.

Massacre starts out with a hooker being slaughtered on the side of the road with an ax. This scene was used in Fulci's Nightmare Concert. This isn't a bad scene and it raises your expectations of the movie as being an ax wielding slaughter. Unfortuanitly, the next hour of the movie is SO boring. The movie goes on to a set of a horror film being filmed and there is a lot of character development during all these scenes but the characters in the movie are so dull and badly acted your interest starts to leak away. The last 30 minutes of the movie aren't so bad but still could have been much better. The gore in the movie was pathetic and since Fulci used most of the gore scenes in Nightmare Concert there was nothing new here. The end of the movie did leave a nice twist but there was still to much unanswered and the continuity falls right through the floor.

This wasn't a very good film but for a true Italian horror freak (like myself) this movie is a must have since it is very rare. 4/10 stars

Pros: Goblin-style film score.

The use of fog is nice in a few scenes.

One of the first instances of a slasher movie within a slasher movie.

Cons: Acting, writing, directing, pacing, and just about everything else.

This is a painful watch. Stay far away from this one.

Prior to this film, I had only seen two films by director Andrea Bianchi: the trashy zombie flick Le Notti del Terrore (1981), famous amongst horror fans for its unforgettable performance from man-child Peter Bark, and the enjoyably sleazy giallo Strip Nude For Your Killer. Neither film was a particularly spectacular piece of cinema, but both were entertaining in their own special way (and the fact that they featured plenty of gore and nudity didn't hurt). Massacre, however, is dull, dull, dull, despite quite a bit of splatter and the odd spot of gratuitous bare flesh.

The story, about a series of murders in a hotel where the cast and crew of a horror film are residing during their shoot, is confusing and oh-so boring: when the blood isn't flowing and the skin isn't on show, the film is a real struggle to sit through (it took me four attempts to finish), with endless scenes of unlikeable characters bickering among themselves and doing very little of note.

The only point of interest about the film is that its producer, Lucio Fulci, used several of its death scenes to pad out his mega-gory movie Cat In The Brain (AKA Nightmare Concert). And if you've already seen that film, then there is very little reason to bother with Massacre.