Savage Weekend (1979)

Captivating movie !

A Disappointing Continuation

It’s sentimental, ridiculously long and only occasionally funny

By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.

The Plot. Several couples head upstate to the country to watch a boat being built. Unfortunately they are stalked by a murderer behind a ghoulish mask.First of all this movie was actually made in 1976, not 1979. It's truly a pre-cursor to every slasher film that followed it.Secondly, I cannot believe I have never seen this film all these years.Is it good? Not so much, but it's not horrible. Except the middle is awfully uneventful and boring. It's interesting from a historic sense. It's got all the trappings of a slasher movie. Plenty of blood and a good smattering of nudity. Plus it takes it's time with the exposition.Some of the plot is disjointed. And for some reason all the locals speak with hillbilly accents even though this was set in Hudson Valley, NY.As we approach the middle of the movie it really starts to get bogged down and becomes boring. And it REALLY gets bogged down with a confusing plot and not slashing for quite some time.In some scenes you can see the boom mike. There's a nude scene where you can clearly see the girl is wearing bikini bottoms! And then there's an odd scene where another girl strips and starts to seduce a gay guy. What?The movie is kind of a mess after a decent beginning. One has to wonder why it was recently released on Blu Ray

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.

Just to begin with a side-note: I watched this one together with Coventry yesterday night, and at one point we both went "What the hell kind of trash did we manage to put on this time...?!?".This being said, SAVAGE WEEKEND - in my humble opinion - is about as pure vintage, obscure trash as you can get 'em, when it comes to horror and sleaze. There's a bit of torture, gruesome/inventive killings (but I'll warn you right away: don't start drooling over this yet) and quite a bit of uncomfortable yet strangely arousing (and very naked) sex-scenes that are supported be the most unworldly sounding music and sound effects. To top things off, we even get a pretty damn pathetic chainsaw-fight during the movie's climax (thankfully, the saw did hit the flesh in at least one, brief shot).Sadly, all this comes in the shape of a very, very bad film. Seriously, this might have been one of the worst attempts at film-making I've ever seen (but hey, at least it was shot on real film - thank God it was still the 70's). The way the film was put together (from story-telling to editing) was so atrocious the word "sloppy" doesn't even begin to describe things in a million years. To make it all worse, we've got microphones and boom-sticks pooping into to the frame all over the place (sorry, I meant to say "popping", but I really like this typo).A truly horrible film, and at the same time fascinating (even if for all the wrong reasons). The red herrings are laughable, though they made guessing the identity of the killer all the more fun (at least when you watch it with some friends). The acting - I hate to admit - could have been worse. But not much, of course. When you're looking for killings and death-scenes, you might become bored rather soon, as you practically have to wait for all of them until the third act of this wretched film. Before all this, you can only be amazed by all the inept qualities this rancid pile of celluloid displays. Actors mumble stupid things, pointless events take place, and all character-drawings are a bit, ehrr,... odd, to say the least.What the motivation behind certain scenes were, are plain incomprehensible. At one point, we witness the killer's POV when he's walking through the house in a creepy search & stalk manner (think Carpenter's opening-scene from HALLOWEEN). Best thing about this scene: There's actually no-one in the house at the time he's doing his lingering 'heavy breathing'-routine. It's completely deserted. Everybody's outside in the woods, at the lake or in the stable (having sex in one way or another, I might add). So what the hell was this stupid killer doing in the house? One of my favorite scenes, sets up for an incredibly gruesome (and potentially very nasty and bloody) killing. I found myself cheering during the set-up (so trust me, you're bound to love the idea as it's close to frickin' Torture Heaven). It takes place in a basement; That's about all I'll say. But damn the hell out of this movie for totally failing to deliver the bloody carnage it promises during the pay-off! Utterly aggravating.Another "OMG"-scene has one lady caressing the udder of a cow (in an explicit, sexually orientated fashion). A big-moustached local (friend of the family, apparently) steps in to give her a helping hand. It doesn't take long for these actions to lead to attempted rape (and again the gratuitous portrayal of female breasts). I have frowned upon lesser things, if I may say so.I'll just wrap it up, because if by now I don't have you convinced this is a very, very bad movie, then I'm sorry to say you're a lost cause. However, when it comes to SAVAGE WEEKEND, I'd love to play the bad boy: I recommend this to anybody who's into Total Trash and alleged Shock Features. I myself can't even help having liked that "100% vintage 70's exploitation feel" the movie irrefutably has. I'm almost ashamed to admit it, but I did. Yes, I know, I can be a bad boy sometimes.Oh, I failed to mention this in my ravings: SAVAGE WEEKEND stars William Sanderson (of BLADE RUNNER fame, no less) and David Gale (RE-ANIMATOR's Dr. Hill). Though their presence saves absolutely nothing about this putrid film, it does add some cult-value to the matter.

I threw this on one night when I still wasn't tired, thinking it would be total schlock and I would just get a quick sense of it before falling asleep. What a surprise, then, when it turned out to be creepy and artistic and deeply disturbing; just the way I like it; and I knew that I would have to devote a second viewing just to examine it in greater detail. Savage Weekend is one of the most innovative horror films ever made as far as I'm concerned. It might come across as a bit uneven to some viewers, but really it's better than average in many ways. Although filmed in America with an American cast and crew, one might assume this was a European film if you watched it without the sound. This was deliberate on the directors part. He gives his movie a European style, and it only makes the film seem more artistic and potent. The story of Savage Weekend is inspired and suspenseful. Rich New York City businessman Robert decides to take his fiancée Marie and three of their friends upstate to his vacation home to relax. Everyone seems to be enjoying their time resting, drinking and enjoying each other's company. This good time is spoiled by the appearance of a masked killer who begins stalking and then bothering the vacationers one by one. First-time writer-director David Paulsen spends nearly a full hour on set-up, a risky proposition that might have grown tedious if it weren't for the unhurried care and mounting intrigue he brings to this elongated opening act. By concentrating on the charms and realism of his characters and their naturalistic, laid-back relationships with each other, the crucial turn toward mortal danger means a great deal more to the viewer. And, when one of them meets an abrupt, premature end, you feel their loss after wards. Once Savage Weekend makes a sudden turn toward sheer panic and terror, director David Paulsen aims squarely for the jugular. As deliberately paced as the first hour is—essential to making the visceral impact Paulsen wants to in the last third—the last thirty minutes are tightly edited, graphically violent in rattlingly unexpected ways, and breathlessly intense. In a change of events for the genre, the four protagonists do the smart thing at all times, their minds always working in logical ways that fit their horrific situation. In turn, their deaths do not arise out of their own stupidity, but because their dire circumstances prove impossible to overcome. The direction in this movie is never anything but innovative and exciting. Take the scenes with the local psycho Otis, played by none other than William Sanderson. I was shocked at how vividly Paulsen captures Otis' insanity in the scenes where he is seen talking to himself. They might seem annoying to some, but those scenes were the most memorable for me, as they actually brought back memories. I spent 3 fun-filled years back in college working in a State Mental Hospital while going to school full-time. A lot of the folks I was dealing with, and I normally dealt with the "cream of the crop", often mumbled - a lot. It was like they were really not having a conversation with anyone that "we" could see, so they did not care if "we" could hear them. Paulsen also shows some amazing skill dispaying sexual tension in the scene in which Marie is sunbathing on a boat with two male companions. The two men are engaging in a coversation when we are suddenly shown a closeup of Marie's inner thighs. The camera then zooms slowly over her body to great effect. I have never read a review of Savage Weekend that didn't mention the film's graphic sexuality. Here we have Marie having sex with Jay twice, Shirley having sex with Robert, Marie having sex with Greg, Shirley sunbathing nude, Marie making out with Mac, Marie rubbing herself in front of Mac and Jay, and Robert tearing Shirley's bikini off. Many reviews have stated that Savage Weekend's frequent sexual distractions were unnecessary and childish. I see it differently. We actually have significant character development taking place during the numerous sex scenes. For example, Marie can't have sex with Jay without fantasizing about being with her estranged husband, Greg. This obsession with Greg causes her to later turn down a sexual encounter with Mac. Shirley is shown to be a particularly reckless woman through her sexual behavior in this film. She thinks nothing of having sex with Robert in the middle of a field during broad daylight.I was completely gripped by this movie while watching it. The combination of total weirdness, striking photography, constant scary tension based around what the killer is going to do next, and the vague off-kilter nature of it due to its subject matter made this one unforgettable film. It's a shame that the director never went on to direct anymore films following this. He spent the rest of his career in television, where his considerable talents were put to somewhat lesser use. Now that it has finally been released on DVD, I see the audience for this film to grow exponentially. See it and be prepared to carry images from this movie around for a long time.