Savage Weekend
Written & Directed by David Paulsen
Jeremy...Adam Hirsch
Greg...Jeff Pomerantz
Marie...Marilyn Hamlin
Robert...Jim Doerr
Nicky...Christopher Allport
Shirley...Caitlin O'Heaney
Jay...Devin Goldenberg
A group of five lofty Manhattanites go "upstate" for a getaway of relaxing, fornicating, and good old fashioned boat-building while the strange and dirty locals lurk suspiciously in the background (including William Sanderson, whose Otis character seems to be a mentally ill version of his Larry character from Newhart). Their escapades ramble onward until a masked killer begins to murder them. Who could it be? It's no surprise, really, to anyone who was paying attention.
This sleazy attempt at soft-core exploitation comes off more as a watered-down slasher flick, and only gets points for coming BEFORE Friday the 13th. You may enjoy the sleaze factor--the barn scene in which Marie fondles a bloated cow udder like a virgin giving a handjob is really out there--but the thrills and the chills are nil.
The laundry list of off-color touchstones--bar fights, violence set to Casiotone, nude sunbathing, humans being branded like cattle, sexual debauchery, cross dressing, strip-teasing, torture and self-mutilation--couldn't even save this film, as none of it furthered the plot, and in fact just served to distance it.
There's a basement death that is pretty creative, and the soundtrack is equally annoying and absurd. Recommended for only a few key scenes.
ALSO KNOWN AS: The Killer Behind the Mask
1979
Rated R
88 Minutes
Color
English
United States
"You have been chosen. You are doomed."
--J/Metro
