Dir. Ruggero Deodato (1980)
Two mechanics receive an invite to a house party in the suburbs. They don’t have the best of intentions.
Ruggero Deodato is one controversial director, man. House on the Edge of the Park was his followup to Jungle and Cannibal Holocaust, two incredibly subversive exploitation films with legendary gore, after which he received literal murder charges because people thought his actors were actually being killed. He decided not to stray too far from his exploitation roots with this film, in which he tries to adhere as closely as possible to the formula established by Wes Craven’s Last House on the Left. He even reuses disturbing actor David Hess, who starred in both films as the worst person in the entire world. Unfortunately, HotEotP doesn’t have quite the impact of LHotL, for a very good reason.
Surprisingly, it’s not the hairdos.
David Hess is arguably as scary in this film as in his previous effort, as he plays the same type of psychopathic madman in both films. However, his character is much less effective in this one, and the film as a whole lacks a lot of the disturbing elements of Last House, largely because of the difference in who is helming the film. While Deodato is a pretty competent exploitation director, a category in which this film certainly falls, Wes Craven is one of, if not the, best horror directors of all time. Accordingly, HotEotP is serviceable, but ultimately falls flat in attaining the legendary status that Craven’s first foray into horror achieved. Yeah, Park is disturbing, and yeah, it’s hard to watch at times, but it doesn’t ever reach the nihilistic depths of Last House on the Left. That, and it’s dreadfully boring during a lot of its runtime.
The film also fails to make sense in a lot of ways. Hess plays a terrible character armed with a straight razor, but we’re never really given any indication as to why his victims can’t just rush him and take him out, especially once his partner in crime starts to doubt their efforts at keeping captives. In Last House on the Left, Krug and the gang outnumbered their victims, and they clearly were able to prevent Mari and her friend from fleeing simply by their strength and speed. In House on the Edge of the Park, Hess and friend are keeping five people captive in a home that they own, where they are most comfortable, and with only a knife as a weapon. Yeah, Hess proves to the men that he can beat them in a fair fight, when they square up one-on-one, but most of the time they are compliant victims. Even the twist at the end, which feels a bit jammed in to echo LHotL, doesn’t excuse these flaws in logic by the same reasoning. So much of the plot just fails to keep its foothold in either excitement or realism. The mutilation that Hess’ character performs on his victim may make the film worth a watch for those who are heavily into this type of film, but I absolutely love exploitation movies and felt this one was much more of a miss than a hit.
There’s more nudity in this one than in LHotL, but it’s used to titillate rather than horrify, a fact that makes this one a miss in the disturbing films category. There’s also only one kill (arguably) in the whole film. Don’t get me wrong, this seems like a god-awful party to attend, but a random snippet chosen from the film is just as likely to be boring as it is to be disturbing. The twist at the end is clever but misused, and by-and-large, if you’re going to pick a Deodato movie to watch, I’d stick with one of his cannibal classics.
What I can say though is that Severin’s three-disc Limited Edition bluray of the film is stellar, with a fantastic restoration that the horror films of that era so richly deserve. One disc is dedicated to a soundtrack, which I personally hate but I know some people love (because it always feels like a little bit of a letdown, content-wise), but the other disc contains a feature-length documentary on Deodato himself. He lived a fascinating filmmaking life, and I highly recommend checking out the special features on both movie discs for fans of his work. The soundtrack is kinda crap largely because the music in the movie is terrible, but again, that’s a get for some people. The documentary itself is well worth the price of admission, and this set is a must-own for any fans of Deodato’s filmography or anyone who wants to know more about the legendary exploitation filmmaker.
Who this movie is for: Hardcore exploitation fans; Slice-and-dice home invasion lovers; People who remember the 70’s extended until at least 1982
Bottom line: While the movie leaves a lot to desire, and the soundtrack is garbage for a film from this era, House on the Edge of the Park contains enough disturbing content and an ultra-violent David Hess that deserves to be seen by both horror and genre fans alike. The Severin three-disc set contains a fantastic documentary that is worth owning, and got a beautiful slipcover as well. Unfortunately, Severin’s restoration and the packaging are far better than the plot, so this one is only worth about one watch as a film.
