DON'T DELIVER US FROM EVIL
(1971)
Dir - Joël Séria
Overall: MEH
At over a hundred minutes in length, Joël Séria's Don't Deliver Us From Evil, (Mais ne nous délivrez pas du malit), overstays its welcome a bit, but is otherwise rather effective. This is the first of two films based off the New Zealand Parker-Hulme murder case which took place in 1954. The other more famous and superior one was Peter Jackson's Heavenly Creatures. It is never really explained why the wicked path is taken or why it is so appealing to our main teenage girl protagonists, besides the fact that they are just bored and well, evil. The lack of sympathy for them hardly is a problem though. The numerous sin-heavy set pieces are well executed while somewhat tame in comparison to other exploitation films from the period. There is so little blood you might not even notice it, the nudity is more hinted at than seen, and most of the evil shenanigans Anne and Lore partake of involve just messing with people and giggling about it. Some moments are more shocking than others though, particularly the ending which is the finest moment herein. The musical theme that has just a hint of menace to it is very suitable and everything is photographed quite well, but it is far too slow and sporadically interesting to recommend.
(1971)
Dir - Ted Kotcheff
Overall: GOOD
Not a horror film at all but more of a horrific one, Ted Kotcheff's Wake in Fright, (Outback), was a long thought lost Australian New Wave adaptation of the Kenneth Cook novel of the same name. A tale of one down on his luck, arrogant man's descent into vileness and depravity, the film slowly boils and depicts a rather hellish Australia. There is an entire sub-genre of such outback horror and/or thriller movies and this sort of acts as a precursor to that lot. The film has managed to shock and offend many due to its depiction of Australian males as near-neanderthal, beer inhaling, and hollering beasts s well as its very graphic kangaroo hunting scene. Know this going in; real kangaroos are butchered on camera here and it is nothing pretty. It also represents probably the darkest moment in the film where our protagonist school teacher John Grant succumbs to such influences. Kotcheff would go on to direct First Blood and Weekend at Bernie's of all things, but Wake stands as a historically important work far above any kind of popcorn fare. It is not for everyone, but well worth the time for those it suites.
(1976)
Dir - Nico Mastorakis
Overall: WOOF
A would-be torture porn pioneer it seems, Greek-born director/writer/hack Nico Mastorakis made Island of Death, (Ta pediá tou Diavólou, Devils in Mykonos, A Craving for Lust), his feature film debut admittingly on the premise to make a movie that would earn some money while shocking as many people as possible. Shit, at least he admits it. Knowing this going in, the movie is pretty groan inducing. Our avenging angle protagonist Christopher partakes in far more horrid behavior than any of the people minding their own business that he gleefully does away with. He gets aroused and jerks off to his own photos of his own murders, fucks his sister in a phone booth in broad daylight while their mother is on the phone, rapes and kills a goat, and for shits and giggles, pees on a forty-five year old horny lady. There is nothing that attempts to add up here as it is literally just a serious of shocks meant to upset people. On the barely-a-plus side, the film looks rather good, has some nifty location shooting, and for the sadist enthusiast out there, it has some OK death scenes. One guy gets crucified to the ground and then drowned in paint, per example. Otherwise, it is just pure shit.
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