House on the Edge of the Park (1980)

Dimension Films | Sony | United Artists
Theatrical Release Date: November 6, 1980
Home Release: December 17, 2002
Director: Ruggero Deodato

Review by James Klein

I love the Italian horror film. Sure, Mario Bava and Dario Argento are considered pioneers for their now classic films such as Black Sunday and Suspiria but I also love directors like Lucio Fulci or Luigi Cozzi, men who just ripped off American films by adding more blood and boobs. They were the Italian Roger Corman's. They have no shame and I love them for that. Director Ruggero Deodato fell in the middle. The man created the great cannibal craze in the last 70's - mid 80's with his notorious Cannibal Holocaust in 1979. After the troubled shoot and almost being thrown in jail out of belief that he shot a snuff film, he decided to take it easy and work with American actor David Hess, best known for the controversial Last House on the Left on a somewhat rip-off on that film. Now, you know you are in for a brutal film when a woman is raped and murdered before the opening credits begin.

David Hess brings it his all as Alex, a troubled parking garage attendant who is a little off his rocker. We get that out of the bizarre opening. He and his simple friend Ricky want to go out and "boogie" at a disco. When a rich yuppie at the parking garage tells Alex and Ricky about a party he is having and invites them, they agree to join them. At the party the partygoers laugh and mock at the lower class men which Alex quickly takes offense and turns the tables by holding everyone hostage by a razorblade. For the rest of the film we get more rape and torture and a finale that makes no sense at all despite the film trying for a "twist".

Despite its flaws, I can't help but hold a soft spot in my heart for this exploitation trash. Hess is so over the top and his lines are so hilarious that you can't help but enjoy watching him perform. Giovanni Lombardo Radice is great as Ricky and for all you horror fans, he is most remembered as the villain in Make them Die Slowly (he gets his penis cut off and brains eaten by cannibals) or The Gates of Hell (he gets a drill in the skull). Both men have good chemistry and help elevate the rest of the cast who seem dull and confused as to what they are doing in this film. The script is a rip-off on Last House on the Left, even going so far as to cast Hess. But the film doesn't hide behind any false morals, it knows it is trash and has no problem showing you the blood and full frontal nudity that we all love when watching these movies.

Deodato has done better films (Cannibal Holocaust, Cut and Run) and so has Hess (Last House on the Left, Hitch-Hike) but the film is worth a look for fans of late 70's/early 80's exploitation films. Just make sure after you watch it, you take a shower to wash away the filth.