Absurd

Absurd (1981)

Director: Peter Newton (Joe D'Amato)
Writer: John Cant (George Eastman)
Stars: George Eastman, Annie Belle, Charles Borromel

My Two-Cents:

Say what you will about Joe D'Amato (Billed as Peter newton here), but dude makes some interesting, if not cheap, flicks. He gave us the vastly under-appreciated "Beyond the Darkness" (1979) and then treated us to the gory romp "Anthropophagus" (1980). A year later he gave us the film I'm reviewing, "Absurd"...or "Horrible, or Anthropophagus 2" or "Monster Hunter" or The Grim Reaper 2" or whatever the fuck it's called! It has a lot of names!
It needs to be mentioned that this flick is NOT a sequel to "Anthropophagus" in any way despite it often being labeled as such. It's a completely different film. In some markets it was billed as the sequel to D'Amato's earlier film because that film was a hit and greedy producers were hoping to bamboozle movie goers into shelling out their hard earned dough by letting them think they were going to see a sequel. Dicks.

Anyhoo, here's the plot: A lunatic escapes from a mental asylum and goes on a murderous rampage. His doctor teams up with the local police to try to find and stop him. The Lunatic eventually finds his way to a house where two kids are being watched by a young female babysitter. Sound familiar? Yeah, John carpenters gonna be pissed!
In 1978 the world was introduced to Carpenters baby, "Halloween". Michael Myers was born and so was the slasher genre. Fast forward to 1981. Halloween had a successful sequel and a popular TV run. It's influence was still very strong as could be seen by the many clones cluttering the cinema's at the time. Clearly D'Amato caught the "Halloween" bug, because "Absurd" def borrows from the classic slasher. I say "borrows" even though other people say "Rips off" because while the structure of the film follows that of "Halloween" there is enough differences for "Absurd" to stand on it's own.

Aside from writing the screenplay (Though under the name John Cant.) as he did in "Anthropophagus", big George Eastman play's the lunatic...again. He's fun to watch but there really is no difference between the psycho he played in "Anthropophagus" and the one he plays here except in this flick he has a "Healing Factor". Oh yeah, forgot to mention that. George is essentially Wolverine on PCP here. His body is able to quickly heal from just about any attack on it. Bullets, knives, fire, etc.
The rest of the acting? Well, while nobody was in danger of winning an Oscar, it's not horrible. I mean it won't have you rolling your eyes...too much. The dubbing wasn't too bad either.

Probably this films biggest strong point is it's liberal use of catsup. D'Amato packs this bitch with lot's of yummy scenes. My gorehounds won't be let down. This one def up's the slaughter. However, while "Absurd" delivers more scenes of carnage, none of them really have the impact the two infamous scenes in "Anthropophagus" had. So it's a trade off. That's not to say there isn't some brutal shiz waiting for your sick ass. The gore effects are done pretty well for a low budget affair. Then again, the Italians never cease to amaze me when it comes to their skills with catsup.
For my money though, it's all about the oven scene. D'Amato deserves a gold star for that one. Did that shite perfect. I really felt for that character! Plus I was yelling at another character to "hurry the fuck up" like Ralph Kramden
The ending is supposed to be shocking. While it is visually interesting and I guess disturbing, I couldn't help laughing. Not sure why. Maybe I forgot to take my meds before watching this flick that day. The scene just struck me as...well....absurd.

Now I know my pervs are waiting to hear about the oodles of flesh on display, I mean it is an Italian film after all. A D'Amato film to boot. Gotta be some goodies, right? Alas, me pervs, there be no nudity to see here. None at all. Well, the ladies get to see Big George's bare chest. Bout it. Sorry.

The score throughout is pretty decent. It helps build tension in the right places and adds to the general sense of foreboding, though one of the song's that play's whenever psycho George is around, sounds like the poor man's version of the "Halloween" theme. I'm sure that's just coincidence... Yeah, and I'm sure that chick I banged last week didn't know she had the Clap.

So how does it all tally up in the end? Is it as good as "Anthropophagus"? Well, that's not really a fair question. In my opinion they are two different kinds of films. "Anthropophagus" is more in the vein of flicks like "TCM" (If you don't know what that stands for quickly back away from this review and never stain my sites with your horror ineptitude.) and "The Hill's Have Eyes", while "Absurd" is more a slasher (Ya think? It only copied the granddaddy of slashers.) So comparing the two is apples and oranges.
However, personally speaking, I felt "Anthropophagus" was a more effective film in terms of tension and atmosphere. Eastman's nutjob was hardly seen until mid way through the flick and then mostly in shadows. Made his character more threatening. In "Absurd" we meet the killer in the first minute of the flick and there is barely any build up to his attacks. We know when he is about to do some crazy shiz. Given D'Amato "borrowed" so much from "Halloween" you'd have thought he'd have "borrowed" some suspense.
Still, Eastman's character does have a menace about him, after all, he's fucking seven feet tall, unstoppable, and several sandwiches short a picnic basket! I sure as hell wouldn't want to run a fowl of his ass!
At the end of the day, while I enjoyed "Anthropophagus" more, I still found "Absurd" entertaining. It's far from perfect, but the kills are fun and messy and the story, which at times makes no fucking sense, manages to keep your attention. The "Healing" thing is kinda cool and different too.
I give this one two and a half blood soaked butcher knives. It's not perfect, but it still entertains. However, as I warned in my review of "Anthropophagus", if you don't like Italian horror, your probably not gonna care for this flick. Italian horrors are an aquired taste, like one legged strippers. So think about that before you decide to watch this one.
Well, that be my word. Fire up the ol VCR and give this one a go. Me? Well I gotta run, left something in the oven.
*Note: After you see the flick you'll get that last joke. Probably still won't be funny, but you'll get it.