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 Director
Ruggero Deodato made a name for himself when he unleashed the
infamous and unforgettable Cannibal Holocaust in 1980.
That same year he accepted a job on House on the Edge of
the Park solely for financial reasons. He shot the film
in two weeks and probably forgot about it. Yet it remains one
of his finest films and probably one of the best rape/revenge
flicks in the pantheons of exploitation.
An offbeat mixture of Straw Dogs and Of Mice and Men,
Retro-Slashers fave, David Hess (Hitch-Hike) plays Alex, a cold-blooded
rapist who also likes to boogie! His idiot man-child pal, Ricky
(Giovanni Lombardo Radice from The Gates of Hell) is
bit kinder but is so under Alex's spell, he'd do just about
anything for him. About a year after Alex brutally raped and
strangled a pretty blonde, he's working at his car shop and
is approached by two yuppie types. Not only are they having
car troubles but they also appear to suffer from being very
rich and very bored. Beautiful Lisa (Annie Belle) gets the bright
idea to invite the two bohemians to a small party. What starts
out as some rich brats toying with their new lower class buddies
becomes a night of terror as Alex turns the table on the partygoers
and holds them hostage in their home.
What stands out most about Edge Of The Park is that though
it's quite brutal, it very seldom crosses the line of bad taste.
Sure, women are objectified left and right and there a few gruesome
moments, but except for the scene with a nubile virgin and a
razor, the proceedings are actually sort of fun.
This is thanks to the two leads. David Hess is the master of
sleaze. A hulking presence in this and Last House on the
Left, he's the quintessential rapist. I mean that in a good
way. Another actor might take a role like this and not try to
inject any fun into it (he is a rapist after all), but Hess
approaches his bad guys from a different angle and brings a
sort of sinister charisma that's difficult to duplicate. Giovanni
Lombardo Radice is the standout of this movie. His pathetic
yet lovable take on Ricky is nothing short of amazing. Check
out his mind-blowing disco number that is both hilarious and
sad. You want him to exact revenge on his teasers. He manages
to take out a fairly sympathetic character and makes the perfect
companion piece for Alex. The rest of the cast is full of Italian
exploitation faves. Annie Bell (Tiger Joe), Christian
Borromeo (Tenebre) and Lorainne Del Selle (Cannibal
Ferox) are very good in their respective roles and guide
this crazy film with ease.
Deodato, a king of exploitation, throws everything into the
pot. There's plenty of choice nudity and lots of nasty dialog
that you'll be quoting later ("Shut up or I'll make your chest
look like a checkerboard" is a favorite line of mine). Deodato
may have thought he was making another throwaway horror movie,
but Edge Of The Park remains one of the least offensive
and most entertaining movies featuring wall to wall rape. Well
done Ruggero!
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