HOUSE ON THE EDGE OF THE PARK
(LA CASA SPERDUTA NEL PARCO)

Directed by Ruggero Deodato
Written by Gianfranco Clerci & Vincenzo Mannini
Produced by F.D. Cinematografica
Director of Photography Sergio d'Offizi
Edited by Vincenzo Tomassi
Music by Riz Ortolani
Cast: David Hess, Annie Belle, Christian Borromeo, Giovanni Lombardo Radice & Marie Claude Joseph

1980/125 mins/Color/2.0 DD
1.33:1/Italy/English/PAL Region 2

Review from the EC Entertainment DVD

Released barely two months after CANNIBAL HOLOCAUST (also directed by Deodato), HOUSE ON THE EDGE OF THE PARK even surpass it in my opinion. Written by the same guys who wrote Lucio Fulci's THE NEW YORK RIPPER, HOUSE ON THE EDGE OF THE PARK is a film that director Ruggero Deodato wants to forget, especially because he doesn't like it! HOUSE ON THE EDGE OF THE PARK is without a doubt one of the ultimate "psychos taking people hostage to violate, humiliate, torture and sexualy abuse them" film ever made.

Within the first minutes we discover Alex (superbly played by David Hess reprising a role all to similar to the one he had a few years earlier, in 1972 Wes Craven's classic LAST HOUSE ON THE LEFT) driving around what looks like New York city. Then bang!... rape and strangulation! Holy shit, i sure wasn't seeing this coming in so early. Hess is the ultimate bad guy gone psycho.

Later that night Alex's friend, the slightly retarded Ricky, played by another genre favorite know as John Morghen (Giovanni Lombardo Radice is his real name). They plan to go "boogie" in some club but just they were about to leave come Tom and Lisa, a young couple who happens to have car problems. The couple are on their way to a party. After some talking, Alex invites himself and his buddy Ricky to the party.

It only takes a few minutes at the party for the rich folks to tease and make fun of Alex and Ricky... a bad idea if you ask me. Lisa (Annie Belle) teases Alex in the shower by showing it all but doing nothing while Ricky is encouraged to dance and strip in front of the others. But it is after a rigged poker game that things gets ugly. A fight breaks out, Howard gets the beating of his life from Alex, who throws him outside right in the pool and get pissed on! He is later tied under the table. Alex then rapes Lisa who at first fights back but then gets into it!

In one very illogical scene, Ricky is seduced by Gloria (the one Ricky likes the most but failed to rape earlier) who escaped from the house moments ago. As crazy as it may sound, they actually make love! In the meantime, a new person just arrived, Cindy. Alex discovers that she's a virgin. "They say you always remember the first time, and you will remember Alex won't you". Alex then cut her up everywhere with his razorblade in a very shocking scene.

Ricky ask Alex to stop and that things got outta hands. Alex feels that his friend his betraying him and cuts Ricky. Taking advantage of the situation, Tom gets a gun and shoots Alex in the groin. Everyone then takes the gun for some revenge on Alex. We then get to learn why this all happened... some folks goes for a lot of troubles let me tell you.

Made during one of Italy's most controversial film history moment, HOUSE ON THE EDGE OF THE PARK was made to shock. It did back in 1980 and still does today.

The film is presented in a 1.33:1 ratio, unfortunately i can't tell you if it is the original ratio of the film. The transfer feels rushed, the image has lots of artifacts and few scratches but the image remains watchable. From what i heard the EC Entertainment LD looks much better. The 2.0 DD English audio track sounds ok, nothing spectacular but does a nice job. The German audio track sounds much warmer but a little deaf, it also features background music not in the English audio track! There are optional Dutch and German subtitles. The menus have no music or animation and looks bad, no make that ugly. There is absolutely no extras, the film is separated in 14 chapters and comes in a keep case. The coolest thing is the very nice 8 pages fold out booklet with color photos and Deodato's filmography. Shriek Show have also released this as a region 1 DVD which i haven't got yet but plan to someday.

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 Review by Kim Dubuisson. All Right Reserved. 2003. ©

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