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Horrible (1981)
By lngway2go | June 23, 2010
(aka Absurd, Anthropophagus 2, Rosso Sangue)
Director: Aristide Massaccesi
Starring: George Eastman, Annie Belle, Charles Borromel
Aristide Massaccesi, or Joe D’Amato as he is more widely known, died in 1999 leaving behind a legacy in horror and exploitation cinema that has to be seen to be believed. D’Amato’s work was often not very well executed - it is a real stretch of the imagination to call any of his films masterpieces - most would probably label his work inept. But there was definitely a passion for the cinema he created, or a desire for the next pay check, either way, for those that enjoy European horror and exploitation he was something of a dream filmmaker. His output was filled with the kinds of scenes that would give the uninitiated nightmares, and the rest of us wet dreams.
Aristide began his career as a cinematographer, working on a handful of spaghetti westerns before trying his hand at direction. He continued as a cinematographer through out his career, working on Massimo Dallamano’s awesome What Have They Done to Solange? (1972) and performed the duty through the majority of his own work. As far as most of us are concerned his directorial career truly began with 1973’s giallo, Death Smiled at Murder, although he was directing films a year earlier. It should also be noted that he played a significant role in the development of Italy’s last best hope for horror, Michele Soavi (although even that seems to have fizzled out), producing Michele’s directorial debut Stagefright (1987). Although Aristide bestowed his talents on several different genre’s, the two he seemed too return his hand to the most were horror and erotica (or straight up pornography), blurring the boundaries between the two genres to varying degrees. Unfortunately, there was not enough straight up horror in his extensive catalog of directorial efforts, but what films we were graced with are not easy to forget.
A film that Aristide is perhaps best known for is the legendary Anthropophagus Beast (1980), featuring as it does a scene that goes beyond bad taste, and which has turned the stomachs of many an unsuspecting viewer. The scene in question is that of a towering Luigi Montefiori (aka George Eastman) who plays a character with cannibalistic tendencies that rips the baby from the womb of a very heavily pregnant woman, and then proceeds to chow down. This film also contains the climatic scene of George eating his own intestines. So, it is with little surprise that Anthropophagus Beast lives in infamy. That does not mean Anthropophagus Beast is a good film, it’s actually a fairly boring affair. It takes quite a while before anything of any significance happens. It is also a very flat, one dimensional film, much like Porno Holocaust (1980) and Erotic Nights of the Living Dead (1981), which were made around the same time and both featured George Eastman in the lead role.
As bad as Anthropophagus Beast might be, it’s still a memorable film which deserves a place on the shelf of any self respecting fans’ collection. There was much excitement when Beast was released by Shriek Show in it’s uncut form, and there should be much rejoicing once more, for Mya Communications have released the follow up to Anthropophagus Beast, Absurd (1981), or as it is titled for this release, Horrible (the title coming from the French language release).
When we talk about follow up films, we think of… a sequel. Absurd, is no sequel to Beast, it simply features George Eastman once again playing a homicidal maniac that likes to kill people. In Beast he was cannibalistic, in Absurd he has escaped an institution of some kind, the product of medical experiments which have left him an insane maniac who kills without reason. Absurd is often referred to as Anthropophagus 2, but this was a simple marketing ploy to cash in on the success of Beast, which was actually fairly successful upon its original release. In general, Absurd is a much better film than its predecessor, and even manages to build a little tension here and there (although tension could easily be confused with a bout of impatience).
Mikos Stenopolis (George Eastman) is on the run after escaping an institution where he was the test subject of some strange medical experiments which went horribly wrong. Mikos is now on the loose and is super human - his body can regenerate itself after any injury. While this doesn’t sound too bad, the real problem is that he doesn’t regenerate properly which turns makes him a little loopy! The only method to dispatch Mikos is with the old Zombie technique - something through the head.
After Mikos escapes the institution he quickly winds up in hospital after impaling himself on a gate and spilling his guts to a poor family in the house beyond. We all know what is soon to happen once his body regenerates itself on the operating table in front of the doctors. The doctors are obviously oblivious, although seriously impressed by his amazing healing powers. It’s not long before Mikos is up and about, making his escape and clocking up a body count.
While Mikos is making his escape the police, or rather, Sgt. Ben Engleman (Charles Borromel), is investigating the case in an attempt to figure out the identity of this strange man. After questioning the family who’s house Mike spilled his guts in, the Sgt. finds a weird looking Greek guy wondering the streets. When the Sgt. sees the man at the hospital a short time later, and finds a Greek coin in Mikos pocket he quickly brings the man in for questioning. It turns out that the strange man (Edmund Purdom) is a Priest, and he proceeds to tell them all about Mikos.
While the shifty Priest and the Sgt. are having a nice chat, Mikos is up and about putting a drilling device through the head of an attending nurse - in one side and out the other! Then he stumbles on some guy cleaning floors and goes in for the attack. In the other room Mikos happens upon a bandsaw, and as if he were remembering his days in wood shop class he turns on the saw and pushes the poor cleaners head towards the blade. Much blood splatters, so don’t sit too close.
The Priest is a very unconventional Priest. Not only is he a mad scientist, but he’s a little sadistic too. He thinks Mikos is some demon type thing, and wants a gun to blast his head off - doesn’t seem like he’s into the old holy water gig. The police are happy to oblige, seemly believing all the drivel the Priest has been sprouting. Since the police are short staffed they will stoop to just about any lengths, even providing him with a vehicle. And so the search begins…
As we journey alongside Mikos’ and witness his trials and tribulations the film quickly travels full circle, ending up as it does, at the house that Mikos arrived at in the first few frames of the film, but this time there are just two lone kids inside, ripe for the plucking.
Unfortunately, even though there are some interesting and gruesome murders in the final part of the film, it is also the point at which things go awry. When Mikos is blinded by one of the kids he stalks around the house searching for the little devils, and it just seems like a ploy to increase the running time of the film while he lumbers around for what feels like an eternity - it feels as if we are watching the film in slow motion. A good portion of the films finale takes place in the house, and sticks heavily to stalk and slash territory, taking it to its limits. This is an inherent problem with stalk and slash films in general, and perhaps the fault should not be rested solely on the shoulders of Absurd. Even the highly regarded Halloween (1978) is painfully slow at times, lacking as it does the complexity often associated with the giallo films of Italy.
Although, Absurd is firmly planted in stalk and slash territory, it’s inspiration seems to be heavily weighted by Lucio Fulci. The early 80’s output from Fulci was is a high point in his career, and wasn’t ignored by other Italian filmmakers. The structure of City of the Living Dead (1980), House By The Cemetery (1981) and the masterful Beyond (1981), is disjointed and lacking a firmly coherent plot. Absurd, is fairly similar in this manner, in that plot devices seem to just occur without explanation, and the gore sequences don’t sit snugly with the plot devices. City of the Living Dead seems to be perhaps the heaviest influence here. The murder by table top power tool - even though a saw in this film rather than a drill - seems to be a little more than a pointer to City. The two protagonists investigating the crime also seem a familiar Fulci device, something which is featured in all of the previously mentioned Fulci films. The similarities continue with the same kind of visual atmosphere.
So all in all this is a second rate Fulci movie, but it’s an enjoyable effort, and manages to keep the viewer engaged; far more so than Anthropophagus Beast which relies solely on the promise of over the top gore. Absurd, while has it’s moments is a much lighter affair, and stays clear of any of the more controversial or stomach turning elements that made Beast a classic of European horror cinema. It’s surprising that Absurd has taken so long see the light of DVD, as it is far from a low point of Massaccesi’s career - you can all decide what that actually means.
Even though Mya Communications should be commended for getting this film out, it’s a fairly bog standard release - as most of Mya’s releases are. The film is presented full screen, with an English and Italian mono language track, but no subtitles. There are no extras on the disc. Some of the footage in the film was restored from a different source and the quality is a lot lower than the rest of the film, which does look very nice. So while a not great release, we finally get to see the film, it’s a shame Mya didn’t do more with it - like using it’s proper title a if nothing else creating a decent sleeve.
Topics: Italian Horror, Slasher Films |