The House on the Edge of the Park
Encyclopedia
The House on the Edge of the Park is a 1980 crime/horror/thriller film from the Italian
director Ruggero Deodato
. It stars David Hess
from Wes Craven
's The Last House on the Left
(playing a similar character), and Giovanni Lombardo Radice
.
The entire film was shot in only three weeks, under a very limited budget.
) is a darkly sinister thug driving around New York City at night when he spots a young woman (Karoline Mardeck) driving alongside him. He follows the woman to a nearby park where he cuts her off, gets out of his car, and runs into hers where he throws her into the back seat and proceeds to savagely rape her before strangling her to death. He takes her locket as a trophy to another one of his many killings.
Some time later, serial killer/rapist Alex is with his working-class friend Ricky (Giovanni Lombardo Radice
), both of whom work in a local mechanic garage which is closing up for the evening. Alex is planning to go 'boogying' at a local disco and Ricky is tagging along. Suddenly, a large Cadillac vehicle pulls into the underground garage which contains a young, well-dressed yuppie couple named Tom (Cristian Borromeo) and his girlfriend Lisa (Annie Belle
) where they ask for assistance for their car's motor is making strange sounds. Alex refuses to help them saying that the garage is closed, and continues to refuse assistance even after Tom offers him money. But the slow-witted Ricky decides to help the couple and upon checking under the hood, finds a loose wire on the alternator and fixes it. Grateful, Tom tells Alex and Ricky that they are driving to a friend's house in New Jersey for a party, and Alex asks them if he and Ricky could tag along, and Tom agrees. Before closing up the garage for the night, Alex stops by his locker which is filled with various weapons he uses to kill people. Alex picks out just one; a straight-edged razor, before closing up and getting into Tom and Lisa's car with Ricky for the drive to New Jersey.
A little later, the four arrive at a large villa situated next to a large, dark, empty park where they are welcomed by the home's owner Gloria (Lorraine de Selle), and are introduced to her friends Glenda (Marie Claude Joseph), and Howard (Gabriele Di Giulio). But minutes after Alex and Ricky's arrival, there are signs of tension as it becomes obvious that the rich people are looking for kicks, as are Alex and Ricky. It first starts when Ricky is forced to make a fool of himself when Gloria asks him to do a striptease to some disco music, while he is further humiliated by forced to drink some hard liquor with each move he makes. But Alex stops Ricky before he can take it all off.
While Tom, Howard, and Glenda play a card game of poker with Ricky, which is obviously rigged, Lisa begins sexually teasing Alex with her come-ons, and goes further to invite him to an upstairs bathroom to shower with her, only to push him away. As Alex grows more frustrated and angry, he later sees that the hosts are cheating at playing cards with Ricky. Finally, Alex pulls out the razor he has, and a fight breaks out between him and Howard. Alex throws Howard outside the back door where he endures a vicious beating and thrown into the backyard swimming pool, and further urinated upon by the laughing Alex, who drags Howard back inside and ties him to a piano leg, while he proclaims that he is running the party now.
At this point, the movie descends into an unrelenting catalogue of abuse and humiliation as Alex and Ricky further beat on their hosts-turned-hostages with Alex slashing Tom's face with the razor, and beating his face into the poker table. Ricky holds the others at bay with a wine bottle and Alex corners Gloria and sexually fondles her. Lisa runs to an upstairs bedroom where she tries to escape, but Alex catches her and proceeds to rape her.
When Alex takes Lisa downstairs to rejoin the other hostages, the front doorbell rings. Alex forces Gloria to answer and it's a neighbor, Cindy, a local teenage girl. Alex grabs Cindy, while Gloria takes advantage of this to try to escape. Ricky, still holding the broken wine bottle, runs after her and catches up with Gloria on the perimeter of the grounds. Ricky shows Gloria that he means her no harm by throwing away the wine bottle. For no clear reason, Gloria responds to his simple nature by stripping off her clothes and seducing him.
Meanwhile back at the house, Alex cuts Cindy's blouse off with the razor while singing. Ricky then returns to the house with Gloria just as Alex forces Cindy to strip off the rest of her clothes, and proceeds to savagely slash her nude body with his razor over and over again. At this point, Ricky makes the astonishing observation that things are getting a little out of hand and attempts to stop Alex. Upset at being "betrayed" by his friend, Alex turns against Ricky and slashes his abdomen wide open, and then breaks down at what a mess he made of Ricky.
Taking advantage of this distraction, the blooded and battered Tom runs into the nearby study and pulls out a 9mm pistol out from a desk drawer... and the tables are instantly turned. Tom shoots Alex a few times, then kicks him back out the glass back door and into the back yard. Gloria and the other women untie Howard, and the five hosts descend upon the fatally wounded Alex lying on the ground. Tom removes the locket Alex is wearing and reveals the reason for all this: the woman that Alex raped and murdered in the opening scene was Tom's sister and Tom wanted revenge, so he and Lisa wanted to lure them to Gloria's house so they can kill them and make it look like self defense. Tom shoots the wounded Alex in the groin, which causes him to fall into the backyard swimming pool. Tom and Lisa take turns shooting Alex, who thrashes weakly in the water, before a final shot to the head by Howard finishes him for good.
Returning to the house, Howard wants to shoot Ricky, but Gloria stops him. Glenda tends to the wounded Cindy. Tom and Lisa go into the study where they talk about this plan of revenge they had and if they went too far for it to work. Tom says that despite some mistakes and inconsistencies, that it worked out for the best, and then picks up the phone to call the police.
The USA Media Blasters
release is completely uncut at 91 minutes.
Once during an interview about the making of the film, Ruggero Deodato was asked about his initial thoughts of the script when he first read it. He responded:
"I thought it was too violent. I make violent films, but softer ones. But this film was full of violence, and that made me uncomfortable. When I met David Hess, I thought that with my direction I could make him do anything. But when I first read it, I found it quite disturbing."
In 2006, the BBFC commissioned a group of academics at the University of Wales
, Aberystwyth to conduct research into people's responses to films that include scenes of sexual violence. The House on the Edge of the Park is one of the films included in their remit to examine.
Italian people
The Italian people are an ethnic group that share a common Italian culture, ancestry and speak the Italian language as a mother tongue. Within Italy, Italians are defined by citizenship, regardless of ancestry or country of residence , and are distinguished from people...
director Ruggero Deodato
Ruggero Deodato
Ruggero Deodato is an Italian film director and screen writer, best known for directing violent and gory horror films. Deodato is infamous for his 1980 film Cannibal Holocaust.- Biography :...
. It stars David Hess
David Hess
David Alexander Hess was an American actor, singer, and songwriter.-Music career:In 1956, Hess recorded the original version of the Otis Blackwell composition "All Shook Up" under the stage name David Hill...
from Wes Craven
Wes Craven
Wesley Earl "Wes" Craven is an American actor, film director, writer, producer, perhaps best known as the director of many horror films, particularly slasher films, including the famed A Nightmare on Elm Street and Wes Craven's New Nightmare, featuring the iconic Freddy Krueger character, the...
's The Last House on the Left
The Last House on the Left (1972 film)
The Last House on the Left is a 1972 horror film written and directed by Wes Craven and produced by Sean S. Cunningham.The story is inspired by the 1960 Swedish film The Virgin Spring, directed by Ingmar Bergman, which in turn is based on the 13th century Swedish ballad "Töres döttrar i Wänge"...
(playing a similar character), and Giovanni Lombardo Radice
Giovanni Lombardo Radice
Giovanni Lombardo Radice is an Italian film actor, better known to audiences as John Morghen.Radice is mostly famous for the gruesome death scenes his characters fall victim to in films such as Cannibal Ferox...
.
The entire film was shot in only three weeks, under a very limited budget.
Synopsis
Alex (David HessDavid Hess
David Alexander Hess was an American actor, singer, and songwriter.-Music career:In 1956, Hess recorded the original version of the Otis Blackwell composition "All Shook Up" under the stage name David Hill...
) is a darkly sinister thug driving around New York City at night when he spots a young woman (Karoline Mardeck) driving alongside him. He follows the woman to a nearby park where he cuts her off, gets out of his car, and runs into hers where he throws her into the back seat and proceeds to savagely rape her before strangling her to death. He takes her locket as a trophy to another one of his many killings.
Some time later, serial killer/rapist Alex is with his working-class friend Ricky (Giovanni Lombardo Radice
Giovanni Lombardo Radice
Giovanni Lombardo Radice is an Italian film actor, better known to audiences as John Morghen.Radice is mostly famous for the gruesome death scenes his characters fall victim to in films such as Cannibal Ferox...
), both of whom work in a local mechanic garage which is closing up for the evening. Alex is planning to go 'boogying' at a local disco and Ricky is tagging along. Suddenly, a large Cadillac vehicle pulls into the underground garage which contains a young, well-dressed yuppie couple named Tom (Cristian Borromeo) and his girlfriend Lisa (Annie Belle
Annie Belle
Annie Brilland is a French actress and social worker. Her acting career began in 1974 and throughout the seventies, has had a series of varied roles in both French and Italian cinema, working with such directors as Jean Rollin, Ruggero Deodato and Joe D'Amato.-Early life:Belle was born in Paris,...
) where they ask for assistance for their car's motor is making strange sounds. Alex refuses to help them saying that the garage is closed, and continues to refuse assistance even after Tom offers him money. But the slow-witted Ricky decides to help the couple and upon checking under the hood, finds a loose wire on the alternator and fixes it. Grateful, Tom tells Alex and Ricky that they are driving to a friend's house in New Jersey for a party, and Alex asks them if he and Ricky could tag along, and Tom agrees. Before closing up the garage for the night, Alex stops by his locker which is filled with various weapons he uses to kill people. Alex picks out just one; a straight-edged razor, before closing up and getting into Tom and Lisa's car with Ricky for the drive to New Jersey.
A little later, the four arrive at a large villa situated next to a large, dark, empty park where they are welcomed by the home's owner Gloria (Lorraine de Selle), and are introduced to her friends Glenda (Marie Claude Joseph), and Howard (Gabriele Di Giulio). But minutes after Alex and Ricky's arrival, there are signs of tension as it becomes obvious that the rich people are looking for kicks, as are Alex and Ricky. It first starts when Ricky is forced to make a fool of himself when Gloria asks him to do a striptease to some disco music, while he is further humiliated by forced to drink some hard liquor with each move he makes. But Alex stops Ricky before he can take it all off.
While Tom, Howard, and Glenda play a card game of poker with Ricky, which is obviously rigged, Lisa begins sexually teasing Alex with her come-ons, and goes further to invite him to an upstairs bathroom to shower with her, only to push him away. As Alex grows more frustrated and angry, he later sees that the hosts are cheating at playing cards with Ricky. Finally, Alex pulls out the razor he has, and a fight breaks out between him and Howard. Alex throws Howard outside the back door where he endures a vicious beating and thrown into the backyard swimming pool, and further urinated upon by the laughing Alex, who drags Howard back inside and ties him to a piano leg, while he proclaims that he is running the party now.
At this point, the movie descends into an unrelenting catalogue of abuse and humiliation as Alex and Ricky further beat on their hosts-turned-hostages with Alex slashing Tom's face with the razor, and beating his face into the poker table. Ricky holds the others at bay with a wine bottle and Alex corners Gloria and sexually fondles her. Lisa runs to an upstairs bedroom where she tries to escape, but Alex catches her and proceeds to rape her.
When Alex takes Lisa downstairs to rejoin the other hostages, the front doorbell rings. Alex forces Gloria to answer and it's a neighbor, Cindy, a local teenage girl. Alex grabs Cindy, while Gloria takes advantage of this to try to escape. Ricky, still holding the broken wine bottle, runs after her and catches up with Gloria on the perimeter of the grounds. Ricky shows Gloria that he means her no harm by throwing away the wine bottle. For no clear reason, Gloria responds to his simple nature by stripping off her clothes and seducing him.
Meanwhile back at the house, Alex cuts Cindy's blouse off with the razor while singing. Ricky then returns to the house with Gloria just as Alex forces Cindy to strip off the rest of her clothes, and proceeds to savagely slash her nude body with his razor over and over again. At this point, Ricky makes the astonishing observation that things are getting a little out of hand and attempts to stop Alex. Upset at being "betrayed" by his friend, Alex turns against Ricky and slashes his abdomen wide open, and then breaks down at what a mess he made of Ricky.
Taking advantage of this distraction, the blooded and battered Tom runs into the nearby study and pulls out a 9mm pistol out from a desk drawer... and the tables are instantly turned. Tom shoots Alex a few times, then kicks him back out the glass back door and into the back yard. Gloria and the other women untie Howard, and the five hosts descend upon the fatally wounded Alex lying on the ground. Tom removes the locket Alex is wearing and reveals the reason for all this: the woman that Alex raped and murdered in the opening scene was Tom's sister and Tom wanted revenge, so he and Lisa wanted to lure them to Gloria's house so they can kill them and make it look like self defense. Tom shoots the wounded Alex in the groin, which causes him to fall into the backyard swimming pool. Tom and Lisa take turns shooting Alex, who thrashes weakly in the water, before a final shot to the head by Howard finishes him for good.
Returning to the house, Howard wants to shoot Ricky, but Gloria stops him. Glenda tends to the wounded Cindy. Tom and Lisa go into the study where they talk about this plan of revenge they had and if they went too far for it to work. Tom says that despite some mistakes and inconsistencies, that it worked out for the best, and then picks up the phone to call the police.
Controversy
The House on the Edge of the Park was initially rejected for a UK cinema certificate by the BBFC when first submitted in March 1981, and later found itself on the DPP list of "video nasties" when it was revealed that the uncut version was readily available on UK video. When it was eventually passed by the BBFC in July 2002, it was cut by 11 minutes and 43 secs, with almost all of the rape and violence either replaced or removed entirely.The USA Media Blasters
Media Blasters
Media Blasters is an entertainment corporation founded by John Sirabella and Sam Liebowitz, based in New York City. They are in the business of licensing, translating, and releasing to the North American market manga compilations and anime and live-action movies and television series to home-video...
release is completely uncut at 91 minutes.
Once during an interview about the making of the film, Ruggero Deodato was asked about his initial thoughts of the script when he first read it. He responded:
"I thought it was too violent. I make violent films, but softer ones. But this film was full of violence, and that made me uncomfortable. When I met David Hess, I thought that with my direction I could make him do anything. But when I first read it, I found it quite disturbing."
In 2006, the BBFC commissioned a group of academics at the University of Wales
University of Wales
The University of Wales was a confederal university founded in 1893. It had accredited institutions throughout Wales, and formerly accredited courses in Britain and abroad, with over 100,000 students, but in October 2011, after a number of scandals, it withdrew all accreditation, and it was...
, Aberystwyth to conduct research into people's responses to films that include scenes of sexual violence. The House on the Edge of the Park is one of the films included in their remit to examine.