Film Excess - Free Ukraine - Stop Putin - End the war NOW!!: The House on the Edge of the Park/La Casa Sperduta nel Parco (1980) - Hess horrifies in another rape-and-revenge sexploitation

1/21/2022

The House on the Edge of the Park/La Casa Sperduta nel Parco (1980) - Hess horrifies in another rape-and-revenge sexploitation

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The Grim Reaper is transparent and brandishes a razor knife on this poster for Ruggero Deodato's The House on the Edge of the Park

Alex and Ricky are two degenerate auto-mechanics in New York, who go with a pair of women to a party in New Jersey, where they take the guests hostage, torture and rape them.

The House on the Edge of the Park is written by Gianfranco Clerici (Miami Golem (1985)) and Vincenzo Mannino (The Antichrist (1974)) and directed by Italian master filmmaker Ruggero Deodato (Fenomenal and the Treasure Tutankamen (1968)). It is his 13th feature.

Deodato has a certain style, and the eerily contrapuntal music (by Riz Ortolani (Killer Crocodile (1989))) quickly puts the viewer in the filmmaker's shadow land (as his hostages?) The question is whether this place is horrific, arousing, and/or suspenseful?

Certain scenes of the film are truly sadistic, and yet The House on the Edge of the Park is miles away from the horrors of Deodato's preceding masterpiece, Cannibal Holocaust (1980). David Hess (The Last House on the Left (1972)) is frightening as an ultra-psychopath, and so is Giovanni Lombardo Radice (The Soul Keeper/Prendimi l'Anima (2002)) as his psycho chum. SPOILER The film's ending is grotesque: All the guests seemingly let themselves be tortured, just so they in the end can take their revenge...!

Ruggero Deodato: Hostel: Part II (2007) - Roth's return to Eastern Europe is a wicked horror blast (actor)

Cannibal Holocaust (1980) - The uncompromising, violent, sensationalistic cannibal debate masterpiece

Listen here to 26 minutes of Ortolani's original score for the film

Cost: Unknown

Box office: Unknown

= Uncertain

[The House on the Edge of the Park was released 6 November (Italy) and runs 91 minutes. Deodato has said in an interview that his initial thought about the script was that it was "too violent." The filmmakers reportedly wanted Hess so much for their central villain part that they offered him half the rights to the film. Shooting took place in September 1979 in New York and in Rome, Italy. Details as to the film's cost and box office gross are regrettably scarce online. It did enrage the harsh British censors, who rejected it and put it on their 'video nasties' list, when they discovered in 1981 that it had been released on video in the country nonetheless. It was allowed a heavily cut release there in 2001, losing 11 minutes, and finally in 2011 with only about 40 seconds missing. Since 2011 a sequel titled The House on the Edge of the Park: Part II with Deodato and Radice involved has been 'in development'. Deodato returned with Atlantis Interceptors/I Predatori di Atlantide (1983). Hess returned in Jacqueline Susann's Valley of the Dolls (1981, miniseries) and theatrically in Swamp Thing (1982). 5.1k+ IMDb users have given The House on the Edge of the Park a 5.8/10 average rating.]

What do you think of The House on the Edge of the Park?

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William Friedkin has died

Born in Chicago, Friedkin accrued TV credits prior to his advance to the big screen as the director of Good TImes (1967), The Birthday Party (1968), The Night They Raided Minsky's (1968) and The Boys in the Band (1970) before his major breakthrough, The French Connection (1971), for which he won his only Oscar. He followed it up with the even bigger smash, The Exorcist (1973), arguably the best horror film of all time, for which he was Oscar-nominated. Later credits include Sorcerer (1977), Cruising (1980), To Live and Die in L.A. (1985), Rampage (1987), Rules of Engagement (2000), Killer Joe (2011) and The Devil and Father Amorth (2017, documentary). Friedkin passed away at age 87. R.I.P.

Louise Fletcher has passed away

Born in Alabama to deaf parents, Fletcher got her first credits in late-1950s TV-series.She took a 10 year-long sabbatical to devote her time to motherhood after the release of A Gathering of Eagles, but then came back and soon saw her career's most important part, as Nurse Ratched in One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975), for which she won her sole Oscar. Later credits include Exorcist II: The Heretic (1977), The Lucky Star (1980), Brainstorm (1983), Two Moon Junction (1988), Cruel Intentions (1999), A Perfect Man (2013) and many more. Fletcher passed away at age 88. R.I.P.

Jean-Luc Godard has passed away

Born in Paris, France, Godard lived much of his life in Switzerland. He wrote for French film criticism magazine Cahiers du Cinema and became foundational for the New French Wave that inspired new waves in scores of other countries across the world with his Breathless (1960). Later credits include A Woman Is A Woman (1961), Vivre Sa Vie (1962), Le Petit Soldat (1962), Contempt (1963), Alphaville (1965), Pierrot le Fou (1965), 2 or 3 Things I Know About Her (1967), Weekend (1967), Every Man for Himself (1980), King Lear (1987), Century of Cinema (1995, documentary), Goodbye to Language (2014) and many more. Godard died of assisted suicide at age 91. R.I.P.

Wolfgang Petersen has died

James Caan has died

Caan was born the son of Jewish immigrants from Germany in New York. He got his start on TV in the early 1960s. His credits include El Dorado (1966), The Rain People (1969), Brian's Song (1971, TV movie), The Godfather (1972), - for which he earned his only Oscar nomination, - Slither (1973), The Gambler (1974), Funny Lady (1975), Rollerball (1975), Silent Movie (1976), Hide in Plain Sight (1980), - the only film he also directed, - Thief (1981), Misery (1990), Honeymoon in Vegas (1992), Bottle Rocket (1996), Eraser (1996), Dogville (2003), Elf (2003), Las Vegas (2003-07), Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs (2009) and many more. Caan passed away at age 82. R.I.P.

Jean-Louis Trintignant has died

Born in Vaucluse, France, Trintignant's theatrical debut as an actor was in If All the Guys in the World... (1955). Later credits include ...And God Created Woman (1956), The Seven Deadly Sins (1961), Inferno (1964), A Man and A Woman (1966), My Love, My Love (1967), A Man to Kill (1967), The Great Silence (1968), Z (1969), The Assassination (1972), Three Colors: Red (1994), Amour (2012), Happy End (2017) and many more. He also wrote and directed two films in the 1970s. Trintignant passed away at age 91. R.I.P.

Ray Liotta has died

Adopted from an orphenage at a young age, Liotta got hooked on acting in high school. He had various TV credits in the late 1970s and early 80s, with his film debut in The Lonely Lady (1983). Later credits include Something Wild (1986), Field of Dreams (1989), Goodfellas (1990), Cop Land (1997), Hannibal (2001), Blow (2001), Narc (2002), John Q (2002), Identity (2003), Observe and Report (2009), Youth in Revolt (2009), The Details (2011), Killing THem Softly (2012), The Place Beyond the Pines (2012), Shades of Blue (2016-18), The Simpsons (2018, TV-series), Marriage Story (2019), The Many Saints of Newark (2021), Black Bird (2022, TV-series) and many more. Liotta passed away at age 67 in his sleep while on production in the Dominican Republic. R.I.P.

Philip Baker Hall has died

Born in Ohio, Hall didn't start acting until he was 30. His long list of credits include Zabriskie Point (1970), Miami Vice (1987, TV-series), Midnight Run (1988), Ghostbusters II (1989), Cheers (1993, TV-series), Hard Eight (1996), The Rock (1996), Air Force One (1997), Boogie Nights (1997), Seinfeld (1991-98), Rush Hour (1998), The Insider (1999), Magnolia (1999), The Talented Mr. Ripley (1999), Bruce Almighty (2003), Dogville (2003), The Zodiac (2005), Zodiac (2007), Curb Your Enthusiasm (2004-09), Mr. Popper's Penguins (2011), Modern Family (2011-12) and many more. Hall passed away at age 90. R.I.P.

William Hurt has passed away

Born in Washington D.C., Hurt's first film role was the lead in Altered States (1980). Later credits include Body Heat (1981), The Big Chill (1983), Gorky Park (1983), Kiss of the Spider Woman (1985), for which he earned his only Oscar as Best Actor; Chilrdren of a Lesser God (1986), for which he was also Oscar-nominated; Broadcast News (1987), for which he was again Oscar-nominated; Smoke (1995), A.I. Artificial Intelligence (2001), A History of Violence (2005), for which he was again Oscar-nominated; The Good Shepherd (2006), Into the Wild (2007), Robin Hood (2010) and many more. Hurt passed away at age 71. R.I.P.

Ivan Reitman has passed away

Born in Chechoslovakia, now Slovakia, Reitman's family fled the Soviet regime to Austria, then Toronto, when he was 4 years old. Reitman broke into movies as a director with Foxy Lady (1971). Later credits include Cannibal Girls (1973), Meatballs (1979), Stripes (1981), Ghostbusters (1984), Twins (1988), Ghostbusters II (1989), Kindergarten Cop (1990), Junior (1994), Father's Day (1997), Evolution (1998), No Strings Attached (2011), Draft Day (2014) and more. Reitman's son Jason Reitman is also a great filmmaker. Reitman passed away at age 75. R.I.P.

Film Excess - Free Ukraine - Stop Putin - End the war NOW!!

Eagerly anticipating this week ... (6-24)

1/21/2022

The House on the Edge of the Park/La Casa Sperduta nel Parco (1980) - Hess horrifies in another rape-and-revenge sexploitation

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