Body Count (1986)

Fanciful, disturbing, and wildly original, it announces the arrival of a fresh, bold voice in American cinema.

I wanted to like it more than I actually did... But much of the humor totally escaped me and I walked out only mildly impressed.

This is a must-see and one of the best documentaries - and films - of this year.

A terrific literary drama and character piece that shows how the process of creating art can be seen differently by those doing it and those looking at it from the outside.

Saw this in the late 80's on a rented VHS. Revisted it recently n found it to b meh. The main problem in this flick is the lousy editing n lack of scares n the worst is the rubber mask. The ending too lame. Lots of horror veterans. Mimsy Farmer, John Stiener, Ivan Rassimov, David Hess, Bruce Penhall and Charles Napier who does his usual tough policeman stuff. The best thing going for Body Count is the filming location which is definitely one of the pulling factors. The mountainous woodlands are a sight to see and have a very alienating feel that tells you that you are never safe, no matter if its daylight or night. This is Deodatto's weakest n laziest film with horrendous editing, less gore and plenty of nudity.

Whilst director Ruggero Deodato's two most famous films (Cannibal Holocaust and The House On The Edge Of The Park) have had a huge amount written about the censorship that both films have faced,I was surprised to find out that this very entertaining,overlooked backwoods Slasher from Deodato had also faced some small censorship troubles.With the BBFC cutting out around 40 seconds of footage from the film.Searching around online for a while,I was thrilled when I at last discovered a completely uncut version of the film,which led to me deciding that I would take an (uncut) look at Deodato's backwoods terror.The plot:Attempting to patch things up after a very nasty row,a teenage couple decide to spend some time at a near by woods,in the hopes of spending some quality time together.Unbeknowst to the couple,the woods that they have chosen to visit is rumoured to have an old Indian graveyard underneath it that has caused the spirit of an Indian shaman to haunt the woods and kill anyone that it does not welcome into the woods.Despite a family occupying a cabin near by,the teenagers become the unlucky victims of the Indian shaman's latest killing spree.15 years later:A group of college teens are driving around in a van during their summer break.On the way to their latest destination,the gang pick up a hitch hiker called Ben,who when asked if he knows any good location where they could all hang out at,tells them that he would be more than happy for all of them to spend a few days in a woodland area,which he and his family live near by.Despite Ben's dad loudly voicing his fears of a shaman "boogyman" coming back to kill them all,the gang decide to pay little attention to the "crazy man" and to instead get all set for a fun couple of days in the woods,where they will discover that not all "boogymen" are fake…View on the film:For the screenplay of the film,the four writes really seem to struggle in making the films two main plot threads both equally interesting and connected to each other.Whilst the main "teen Slasher" part of the film does allow director Ruggero Deodato to show some really good moments of the teens being killed off,the story sadly does not match up to his gory directing,due to the whole of the teens plot feeling very aimless and empty.Luckally,despite the teens Slasher side of the film being disappointing,the "adult" plot thread of the film helps to really keep the film going,thanks to the great performances of David Hess and Mimsy Farmer,who along with Deodato having an eye for the woodlands setting and a terrific,industrial edge score by Claudio Simonetti are able to do really well in showing an old married couple who are worn down and nervous about their only son experiencing the outside world for the very first time on his own.

There was a time when directors had to take a lot of bad comments on their flicks. Sometimes directors really got into trouble by making explicit movies. Deodato is one of them. We all know him from Cannibal Holocaust. A flick not for the faint hearted. There is animal cruelty in it, killing real animals, there is the inmate impaled, there is the cutting off of a guy his dick all in view for the watchers, due the animal cruelty and the way the movie was filmed (handycam style like Blair Witch Project) people in those days thought that it all was real. So Deaodato had to run away from Italy avoiding a lynching. Weird. he will always be remembered for that cult gem. What I would like to say, Cannibal Holocaust is a gem, this one is an OOP, I can understand it, it is terrible. The acting is extremely low. The storyline is terrible, even that David Hess (Last House On The Left) is in it doesn't help the movie. Well Ruggero, you should better run away when you made this trash instead of running away for cannibal Holocaust, avoid this rubbish.

A group of dumb teenagers vacations at a campground run by David Hess of "Last House on the Left" fame and his wife played by Mimsy Farmer.The teens are murdered one by one by an unseen killer and the massacre turns out to be the result of Farmer's adulterous affair with local policeman Charles Napier years before,which caused her son to go insane.The main attraction of this film is its cast,which also includes horror veterans John Steiner and Ivan Rassimov.Deodato manages to generate some suspense during few stalking scenes and there is some gore and plenty of nudity.The killings themselves are also a good deal bloodier than is usual as Deodato serves up enough vicious stabbings and resultant spurting wounds to sate even the most demanding of gorehounds.7 out of 10.