Savage Weekend (1979)

Terrible acting, screenplay and direction.

disgusting, overrated, pointless

This is a coming of age storyline that you've seen in one form or another for decades. It takes a truly unique voice to make yet another one worth watching.

The film may be flawed, but its message is not.

Writer / director David Paulsen ("Schizoid") got something of a head start on the slasher craze with this offering. It predates Carpenters' "Halloween" by two years; it was filmed in 1976, but not released until 1980. It's just weird enough - and kinky enough - to be watchable, although it may not appeal to some hardcore devotees of the genre as it takes a long time to begin its murder spree, and even at that point there's really no gore to speak of. Instead, what we get is a lot of odd touches and interesting character details, not to mention a fair bit of humour.Marie (Marilyn Hamlin) goes on a weekend excursion to the country with her new husband Robert (Jim Doerr), her younger sister Shirley (Caitlin O'Heaney, "He Knows You're Alone"), and their openly gay friend Nicky (Christopher Allport, "Dead & Buried"). Soon, their good time is ruined by a psychopath wearing a goofy Halloween mask.While there are no real A-list stars here, there are certainly some very recognizable faces. O'Heaney has some seriously sexy moments (viewers will definitely appreciate the doses of nudity in this film). Allport is amusing, even if his character is somewhat stereotypical. It's great fun to see David Gale of future "Re-Animator" fame as a lumber man providing wood for a boat that Robert is building with some associates. Top notch character actor William Sanderson is a vivid, unkempt redneck / red herring. A very young Yancy Butler makes her film debut. It's not surprising that Hamlin never got much acting work, because she's simply atrocious here.There might not be enough here to completely satisfy some slasher fans, but it remains rather offbeat for its 88 minute time and it is worth a look.Six out of 10.

I think this is the first case of a slasher film taking a slight nose dive once the killing begins. Luckily, there's still a lot to recommend in this film. Instead of a bunch of teenagers running around arguing, drinking and having sex, you've got a bunch of adults, er arguing, drinking and having sex.Two couples whose names I've forgotten head out to the country to see how construction is going on a large schooner (being built by crazy hick William Sanderson). Also in tow is hard as nails gay guy Nick, who seems to get off on getting a into fights with the locals and basically flaunting it, baby. Our two couples are a bit less interesting. One is a divorcée (and her new boyfriend is having the boat built) the other is her sister, who's playing sexual games with the other guy, including having sex with him out in a field while Nick watches (and injures himself on a barbed wire fence).However, there does seem to be someone else hanging around. The first indication of this is a dead bat nailed to the door of where the couples are staying. We also see someone picking up a mask to wear while they do something. Is it Sanderson, who talks to a grave? Or David Gale, a local fisherman type with eyes for one of the chicks? Or is it someone else? Well, you have to wait almost an hour for the killings to start so a little patience is needed.The problem is, there are several folks in here that would have made perfect heroes, but a lot of them are dispatched by the killer, kind of reducing the cast to the less interesting ones. It's still worth a look if you're into proto-slasher films. There's little gore but a bit of atmosphere, although it's easy to peg who the killer is.This is usually found on 50 movies packs, one in particular also having another seventies slasher film, Creeper, on it too. I like that better to be honest.

Five people take a trip to a backwoods community where one of them is restoring a large boat, the ownership of which is a matter of considerable anger on behalf of local yokel Otis (Sanderson) whose father, and the original owner of the boat, has recently died. Otis is "none too pleased" that city folk are taking away his blood, sweat and tears and he plans to get even. Meanwhile, promiscuous Shirley (O'Heaney) sunbathes naked, has random sexual encounters with Jay (Goldenberg) while the new boat owner (Doerr) and his girlfriend Marie (Hamilin, essentially the central character) are also indulging their carnal desires at every given opportunity. Flamboyant queen Chris Allport minces about, making salads and peeping lustfully as the two couples cavort, all the while Otis is plotting his revenge by his late-father's grave-stone.It reminds me of a poor man's "Deliverance" in some respects and while at first glance, the cast may be unfamiliar, many of the faces are recognisable. Sanderson, Allport and Pomerantz have become better known actors, while Gale (pre "Re-Animator") appears in an early role as the sinister-looking Mac, all-purpose local man who could be a hero or a villain. Despite these names, it's Caitlin O'Heaney's presence that really emboldens this low-budget slasher flick. Light years before "Tales of the Gold Monkey", the brassy brunette is like a divine nymph and between Allport's colourful peacock like performance, the two make an odd yet engaging pair.If you can overlook the moments of despair (Hamlin's cow-milking scene or the irritating banjo music spring to mind), there's enough material in this low-budget shocker to make it worthwhile. And while the climax descends into little more than a killing spree, it's energetic, gruesome and the plot twists satisfying. I watched this film many years ago and found it underwhelming, but on second more recent viewing, there's more depth in the cast and sub-text than perhaps initially meets the eye.

Urbanites spend weekend at a country house where they are menaced by some weird locals and one masked killer.If it were not for the dragging pace of this B horror flick, it would have actually been a much more entertaining movie. As it is, there's about 50 minutes of set up but little pay off for this talky low-budgeter. The best thing about this early slasher is its gritty country atmosphere, but the creeping pace and tacky characters weaken this movie (seriously, what was with the ridiculous tango/striptease dance?). There's little blood and the murder sequences are poorly edited, censors to blame perhaps? The lousy music score doesn't help matters either.Still there's an enjoyable performance by William Sanderson as a strange handyman and an amusing scene involving a victim tied to a table saw. Plus, it's hard to stifle a laugh as our masked killer paces around outside for five minutes as he awaits to whack someone. Should I count that as a positive thing?A complete BOMB perhaps? Nah, there's much worse out there, but it's still pretty flawed. Definitely not the 'lost classic' that some folks build it up to be.* 1/2 out of ****