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David Hess, Annie Belle, Giovanni Lombardo Radice, Lorraine De Selle, Christian Borromeo ... see more see more... , Brigitte Petronio , Marie Claude Joseph

Filmed in 1979 but not released in Italy until 1984, this softcore story involves two New York street thugs, Alex (David Hess) and Ricky (John Morghen), who crash an upscale dinner party in a New Jers... read more read more...ey mansion, only to have the tables turned on them. A part of the clash between the classes involves domination and submission sex games that reveal the party-goers to be much worse than the two toughs who sought to have some fun at their expense. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, Rovi

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42% liked it

3,106 ratings

Unrated, 1 hr. 31 min.

Directed by: Ruggero Deodato

Release Date: February 1, 1985

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DVD Release Date: February 20, 2004

Stats: 212 reviews

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Flixster Reviews (212)

  • SirPant
    October 25, 2011
    SirPant
    This was a bit of a surprise, not really knowing anything about it but expecting ghost/demons/undead etc. A sort of remake of Last house on the left but a pre-cursor to Funny Games, one thing It has to its credit is the standout performance from David Hess as the unhinged and unp... read moreredictable Alex. The use of music was pretty well done, the creepy intro not really matching the visual or at least not for your typical horror film but then, this isn't a typical horror film but a blend of Exploitation and horror. The twist end was unexpected, a little silly but all the better for it. Not for everyone but a pleasant surprise for me. The shots of 70's New York are also beautiful.
  • cancercapricorn2002
    August 12, 2011
    cancercapricorn2002
    Known by all who are into exploitation cinema, The House on the Edge of the Park is a testament to Ruggero Deodato's savage cinema. This is the idea I had coming into it. So, obviously, I had prepared myself in advance to watching this, thinking this would be some pretty damn bru... read moretal stuff. Ninety one minutes later, I was surprised at what I had seen. It was pretty damn brutal, alright, but, sadly, the movie never accumulated. Just to clarify, The House on the Edge of the Park has some of the most violent and disturbing images ever committed to film. Some scenes I thought about leaving the room for because of how nasty they really are, but while these individual scenes were horrifying, the movie as a whole didn't match the hype of what I had heard. Why is simple: Deodato didn't seem to be trying to make a serious and brutal thriller. Instead, it was almost a dark (extremely dark) comedy, as well as a soft core rape/porn flick, with a few thrilling elements on the side. Because this is mostly sexploitation, the brutality angle is weakened, making it merely a sleazy, trashy movie, instead of being a dark and serious revenge thriller.

    The movie opens to Alex brutally raping and killing a young socialite he had met earlier at a disco-tech. The next night, he's ready for some boogieing with his best friend and slightly retarded Ricky. Just before leaving, some rich young folk, Annie and Tom, drop into his garage with a bad engine. Ricky fixes it in no time, and Alex says there'll be no charge if the two could join the little shin-dig they were heading off to. Once at the "House on the Edge of the Park," they meet Glenda, Gloria, Susan, and Howard, and they all proceed to make an ass out of Ricky, who, being retarded, enjoys the attention. Alex can't take seeing his buddy being made a fool, and proceeds to get the hots for Annie. After a nice shower, Alex comes back to catch the rich bastards now cheating his best buddy out of a poker game. This is when Ricky and Alex begin their "fun." Alex holds everyone hostage with a straight razor, and Ricky gets his money back. Then Alex goes berserk, slicing, dicing, and beating anyone who tries to stop him. Ricky thinks Gloria is cute and tries to rape her, but he has morality and can't bring himself to. Alex thinks this as weak, and proceeds to have his own fun with everyone else in the house. Slowly, the rich folks get the upper hand, and it all ends in a rather good twist to the whole night.

    Wes Craven once said that in horror, you have to hit the audience at the start, and not hit them again as hard until the end, and The House on the Edge of the Park does exactly that. The opening comes out of frickin' no where, and had me going that this was going to be one hell of a ride. The problem was during the middle, no scene came nearly as far as the sudden opening came. Most displays, in fact, were disgustingly trashy shots of soft core rape. While sometimes this can benefit a thriller atmosphere, this instead has obvious zoom-ins to "naughty bits" throughout. It's shocking and disgusting at the same time, and the brutality is set off when it seems that the director's intention is for your sexual gratification. The other aspect that isn't present is any sympathy for the characters. I couldn't feel at all for the victims, as they were mostly snobbish, arrogant pricks, the same kind of people I feel like beating the hell out of. Their ulterior motive revealed at the end justifies this feeling. It makes them no better than Alex. The one person I did sympathize with, however, was Ricky. He's trapped between his morals and his loyalty to Alex. It's very sad to see this innocent man turned wicked by a rapist, and then begin to breakdown in the middle of the film. He tries to do what's right and end Alex's rampage, creating one of the most touching scenes I've ever seen, when Alex comforts his friend when he accidentally stabs him in his onslaught. I think this (plus the fact that there's no slow point) prevents the movie from being a total failure. Then, as promised, the hard-hitting ending is present, when new comer Cindy is kidnapped, raped, and tortured with a straight razor by Alex in a scene that's one of the most disturbing of all-time. Based on content alone, this is extremely disturbing, yet highly ineffective overall.

    In the end, some smart and disturbing angles are present, but there are some parts that are too corny, sleazy, or even funny to make this a good movie. For instance, there's a close-up, slow motion wail from David Hess when he's shot in his manhood that had me in hysterics. It was almost like comic relief, which is disappointing to see in Deodato. To an extent, it's well acted, but these genuinely silly directing decisions pull this way down. Also, when making a brutal thriller, if there's any exploitation present, it shouldn't be sexploitation. I'd hate to compare this to I Spit on Your Grave, but I'd say that was so shocking because their were very few (if any) sexploitation angles present. Better movies like Last House on the Left aren't exploitation at all. That's why The House on the Edge of the Park doesn't work as well as I hoped. However, there are still extremely brutal moments, and the lack of sympathy from every character is truly chilling. Being a Deodato fan, I have to praise this for those extreme and disturbing angles that are present.
  • matertenebraum
    April 14, 2011
    matertenebraum
    HOUSE BY THE EDGE OF THE PARK, for all it's on screen ugliness, is shot in a manner of rare beauty.To look at the plot synopsis, it reads as(and sometimes is) a sickening and at times, unwatchable movie. Yet it stays with you long after you've watched it. A feeling that you've ju... read morest witnessed a gruesome fairytale, is felt by the viewer, and the final plot twist is quite unexpected as well!

    PLOT; Sadistic rapist/murderer, ALEX and his (slightly) retarded buddy, find themselves at a party for spoilt rich kids. Our two villains are there to be purely mocked, for their apparent lack of 'class'...However, ALEX doesn't like to be laughed at, so with his straight-razor, he and his friend begin turning the party into a seige, and subject the rich kids to a night of humiliation and rape.

    Perhaps it's the direction, that takes no prisoners, or maybe it's RIZ ORTOLANI's music score (that 'cindy-oh-cindy' theme is forever stuck in my mind)...but the one lasting image is that of DAVID HESS After playing a similar character in LAST HOUSE ON THE LEFT, HESS really pulls out all the stops in this one. His character, although a ruthless psychopath, is in turn, fleshed out, sensitive, and in (minor) terms provoked, by a a group of morally ugly rich (young) adults. The (supposed) good guys (and gals) in this movie are, in their own way, just as repulsive as ALEX and his dim-witted partner (MORGHEN) Supprisingly enough, the movie is almost murder free, so it seems that the whole plot is two-thirds poetic justice, for all concerned...That is, until, young Cindy turns up at the party. Then, the movie (and HESS's character) take an extremely nasty turn.

    Any technical faults, this unrelenting movie has, will soon be wiped away in the memory, but the underlining feeling of gut-wrenching savagery will remain for many night(mares) to come
  • WrenchLT
    January 9, 2011
    WrenchLT
    Another shocker from Ruggero Deodato with John Morghen and David Hess starring - two actors I do enjoy. Contains some really perverse scenes of rape and sexual theat that may be too much for some, but there's a twist in the plot at the end to even the odds. It isn't a great film ... read morethough, no gore neither. But if you like controversy filled movies than this is one to experience.
  • thefog1331
    November 7, 2009
    thefog1331
    Boring, over-bearing exploitation sleeze with a decent little twist at the end. I expected more from Deodato and I'm kinda surprised at the amount of Flixster friends that actually liked this drivel.
  • harrycaul
    October 16, 2008
    harrycaul
    One of the better video nasties, the UK version of which has a whopping 11m43s cut out of it! David Hess and his simple-minded friend terrorize a house full of rich kids. The most interesting thing about the film is the way it manipulates the audience's sympathies. Because the vi... read morectims are just as loathsome as their attackers, when Hess gets his razor out and starts doing his nutter act we don't necessarily side against him, at least not immediately. The acting is surprisingly good, the performances surviving the post-production dubbing process, very common in Italian cinema, remarkably well. There's even a nifty little twist at the end, though it does take some swallowing. Difficult to watch in places, it's no masterpiece but it's worth seeing, if you can find the full version.
  • rodriguesmatthew
    February 10, 2011
    rodriguesmatthew
    Every so often you'll get to see a film so crazy, so sleazy and so out there that it really leaves a permanent mark on your psyche. Films like Cannibal Holocaust, A Clockwork Orange (though I have not seen both of these in its entirety), Antichrist, and Funny Games have done it ... read morefor me in the past, but to be honest I don't think anything lives up to this one. Director, Ruggero Deodato has absolutely surpassed himself here, creating one of the most horrendous sexually violent films I've ever seen.

    It's not so much the subject of the film that is the problem, but the way it is presented. The frequent scenes of sexual violence are filmed and presented as pornography, and there is no doubt about that. Far more of a problem is the behavior of the victims throughout the film. The women are permissive to the extent that they allow rape and attacks to occur with little or no resistance, and even worse is that in almost every case the woman begins to enjoy her assault half way through. There are some deeply surreal and glaring examples of this throughout the film, and it is exactly this kind of worrying message that has earned the film the reputation it deserves. The movie descends way further though, providing one sequence that on so many levels is by far the most shocking and deplorable depiction of on-screen sexual violence that I've ever seen within the genre.

    (***SPOILER***)One of the protagonists, Ricky, had been constantly attempting to assault one of the female guests throughout the film, but every time had bailed out. Finally, she leads him into the garden of the house and has consensual sex with him- almost in sympathy. Meanwhile, inside, a young babysitter has called at the house and David Hess's character, Alex, has begun to terrorize her. She is forced to strip and is humiliated not only by Alex but by the camera of Deodato itself. She looks very young and the scene is shot in such a way that she is in middle-frame, totally on display for the audience. Alex gropes her before proudly announcing that she is a virgin, a fact that leads to further humiliation. Finally, after telling her that she'll never forget the first time, he takes his razor to her breasts and slices them repeatedly. His obvious sexual satisfaction from this act is contrasted with the sexual encounter that his friend is enjoying in the garden, whilst the camera voyeuristically lingers on the young girl's wounds. There are very few ways that this passage can be read; this is flat out sexual sadism presented in a deeply explicit way. The very depths of exploitation are plumbed at this point, and this sequence is truly disturbing. (*** END OF SPOILERS***)

    Throughout the film, Alex, played by David Hess, performance is superb. He is totally believable as a sleaze ball psycho and for me; he's one of the more disturbing character's I've witnessed. Everyone else, I can't say I really know who they are but performed their roles admirably, especially Gloria (the braud who kips with Ricky). In the end, some may call this a sleaze-fest, some might call this repulsive, some might call this beyond exploitation, and they all in my book are correct. There are few redeeming qualities exhibited by "House on the Edge of the Park". David Hess clearly is in full sociopath mode, winning women through intimidation. Lurid and sadistic, with Hess carrying the film pretty much alone, as the uninvited guest to a swinger's party, acceptable entertainment for the shock crowd, others beware. I can't say I enjoyed it but it was well made for what it was. The ending scene, well let's just say what goes around comes around.

    Story: C
    Acting: B+
    Direction: C+
    Visuals: D-
    Overall: C

    ** out of 4 stars
  • shitfaced8
    June 14, 2010
    shitfaced8
    I really enjoyed this slab of mid 80's exploitation sleaze. Ruggero Deodato is most well known for Cannibal Holocaust, and I have to admit that until now I hadn't bothered to watch any of his other works, and I am glad that I eventually did. This movie isn't as gory as Cannibal ... read moreHolocaust (what is?) but at times is equally disturbing. It is Deodato's unqiue take on the Rape Revenge genre, and stands apart from the other movies I've seen in this genre, as there seems to be a theme of classism underneath the surface of the plot . While it does suffer from some bad acting at times, and the surprise ending was difficult to believe, part of the charm of exploitation flicks is their flaws so these are minor complaints. While comparisons to movies like Last House on the Left or I Spit on Your Grave are unavoidable I would recommend this movie to fans of the genre.
  • John2223
    May 14, 2010
    John2223
    Well made and acted flix directed by Ruggero Deodato (Cannibal Holocaust). Interesting and disturbing with some relatively intense sexual violence and capricious amounts of nudity. Fans of violent exploitation should not miss this film.
  • patrickdol
    October 16, 2008
    patrickdol
    When I first saw this film I didn't like it. And really if you aren't met with distaste while viewing this sucker, there's something wrong with you. I kept thinking in my head "this sure ain't so Last House on the Left". But upon watching it a second time, I realised that it's no... read moret trying to be Last House on the Left, but one that stands out in the home invasion genre as one with no protagonists. This film is essentially a study on a group of antagonists as victimizing shifts around. Some thing you just might expect from the director of Cannibal Holocaust.

View All La casa sperduta nel parco (House on the Edge of the Park) Reviews

Critic Reviews

Tim Brayton
August 8, 2010
Tim Brayton, Antagony & Ecstasy

Deodato's control over the movie is incredibly precise, the sign of a much better filmmaker than the material arguably deserves. Full Review

Emanuel Levy
October 1, 2005
Emanuel Levy, EmanuelLevy.Com

No review available.

Scott Weinberg
July 26, 2002
Scott Weinberg, eFilmCritic.com

No review available.

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