House on the Edge of the Park Review

MPAA Rating: NR
Released: 1980

House on the Edge of the Park is one of the more controversial horror films to have been produced, taking the concept of Wes Craven's exploitive Last House on the Left and cranking it to a whole new level of gratuitous nudity and violence. While some fans of Craven's underground cult hit have charged that House on the Edge Of the Park is little more than a cheap Italian rip-off of the original, such accusations couldn't be any further from the truth. Read on to find out why…

Alex (David Hess) is a mechanic by day and a part-time rapist by night, and as the film opens we see him brutally rape and (accidentally?) murder a young women by the side of a road. The opening scene is fleeting, but shocking and potent. It lays down one simple truth for the rest of the film: Alex is not a nice man.

A couple days later Alex and his dimwitted buddy Ricky (Giovanni Lombardo Radice) are dressed up and prepared to leave their garage to boogie at a dance club. Their plans are interrupted when a car rolls into the garage and out exits Tom (Christian Borromeo), a preppy young man, and Lisa (Annie Belle), a beautiful temptress. The two yuppies plead with Alex and Ricky to fix their ailing car on the spot so they won't be late for a party, and while Alex is unhappy about his boogie session being interrupted he agrees.

Once the job is finished it's clearly too late for Alex and Ricky to continue with their original plans, but luckily Tom and Lisa invite them to their private party. After accepting the invitation and jumping into the car with them, the foursome head on down to a posh house in nearby rural New Jersey.

The party starts off well enough as Alex and Ricky are introduced to Tom and Lisa's other buddies at the house: Glenda (Marie Claude Joseph), Howard (Gabriele Di Giulio) and Gloria (Lorraine De Selle). But soon Alex starts suspecting that the decadent yuppies have invited them for their own personal entertainment. After the rich young adults toy with and mock the two mechanics once too often, Alex snaps and decides to teach the spoiled yuppies a lesson.

What follows is a brutal onslaught of violence as Alex and Ricky physically and mentally abuse the yuppies. As the night goes on Alex's vile nature comes fully unleashed as he becomes progressively more abusive and sadistic, but Ricky soon begins to have second thoughts about his buddy's actions. Who will survive the night? You'll have to watch House On The Edge Of The Park to find out.

I didn't really expect to like House on the Edge of the Park much, because quite frankly I wasn't impressed with Last House on the Left. I can accept a heavy dose of violence and nudity if it serves the film and/or storyline, but Last House on the Left was an exercise in ugly cruelty with no purpose, rhyme or reason. Since House on the Edge of the Park was allegedly an Italian rip-off of that exploit film, I wasn't holding my breath.

Instead I ended up very pleasantly surprised. Now make no mistake – House on the Edge of the Park is a potent and unflinching exploit film, but it's also a well-crafted one that lays down a blanket of suspense and atmosphere. Although the nudity factor was cranked up several notches over its "inspiration," House on the Edge of the Park isn't just an abusive story of bad people torturing good people.

Alex is clearly a psychopath, yet he doesn't attend the party with the intention of going on a bloody rampage. His "victims" light the powder keg through mocking him and poking fun at what they deem to be inferior city scum. When Alex snaps, we certainly don't like him or relate with him… but we're not sure we like the victims all that much either! House on the Edge of the Park blurs the lines between good and evil in a very intriguing and absorbing manner.

The acting was impressive for a movie of this nature. David Hess plays a sadistic killer and rapist like few others, and he lent a dark and foreboding aura to the film. Giovanni Radice was equally compelling in his own way: he lent a vulnerability and sensitivity to Ricky that made the audience sympathize with him despite the situation or his actions.

House on the Edge of the Park benefits from some masterful pacing and direction; we can feel the tension mount until the inevitable explosion occurs. In addition the soundtrack composed by Riz Ortolani was top notch, particularly his inclusion of a hauntingly beautiful track called Sweetly that was played during some of the most disturbing scenes in the film. The contrast of the mesmeric track against the shocking actions taking place was perfect.

The movie's only significant mistake comes towards the end of the film when Alex assaults an innocent victim in a particularly sadistic manner. I won't go into the details of what occurs so as not to spoil the story for those who may wish to see it, but the whole scene felt out of place since he treated someone who never offended him with more cruelty than all the others that actually provoked him.

Although House on the Edge of the Park is largely considered an exploitation/horror film, it also has a psychological element to it that takes the movie beyond the trash normally associated with this genre. Were it not full of nudity and mean intentions (the shock factor is far more explicit than the actual gore or violence), House on the Edge of the Park could conceivably attract general audiences due to its compelling character studies.

But alas, although it is far sharper and smarter than typical exploitation flicks, its gratuitous levels of nudity take it out of the mainstream. It's a shame too, because it's full of persuasive acting, thick tension and clever direction.

Due to its strengths this film will score a respectable rating, but at the same time it's not a movie for "respectable" crowds. If you have a weak stomach for sadism (even though much of it is the mental type), you will want to shy away from this controversial flick. But if you can overlook excessive nudity and violence you may want to give House on the Edge of the Park a shot.

Movie rating: 8 stars

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