Barn of the Naked Dead (1974)

You won't be disappointed!

Undescribable Perfection

That was an excellent one.

Excellent adaptation.

Three showgirls driving to Las Vegas decide to take a shortcut, only to experience the inevitable: car trouble. Assistance arrives the next morning in the form of Andre (Andrew Prine), who drives them to his remote home in the desert. But rather than help the girls, Andre forces them to become part of his human menagerie - a group of unlucky women that he has abducted and chained up in his barn, and who he severely punishes should they step out of line.It would take something REALLY special to live up to a wonderfully trashy title like Barn of the Naked Dead. This film doesn't quite cut it, despite a premise that promises plenty of deviant behaviour and violence. Yes, there is a barn. Yes, there is some nudity (albeit brief). And, yes, people die. But those looking for an outrageous slice of '70s exploitation will probably come away a little disappointed. The minimal gore is of the 'bright red paint' variety and is wholly unconvincing, the mistreatment of the women is less unsettling than one might imagine, and the sleaze is rather tame.However, although for much of the running time the action is likely to leave exploitation fans wanting, the unexpected ending, in which all but two of the captive women are brutally killed by Andre's horribly disfigured father, actually proves very effective. If only the rest of the film had been as bold, we'd have a film that would get talked about a lot more often.5.5 out of 10, rounded up to 6 for IMDb.

BARN OF THE NAKED DEADI just got finished watching this new release by Legend House and to say I was more than pleased would be an understatement. I was always fascinated by this title when I was a kid but never got a chance to see the film, but when it ran at the New Beverly a few years back as part of Eric Cadien & Brian Quinn's "Grindhouse" monthly exploitation festival in Hollywood, I was blown away. The print they had that night was okay, the print the Legend House got a hold of is great. The film looks fantastic and it sounds great. This is a fun movie, just read the title again, "Barn of the Naked Dead", if you are looking to fill your cinematic cravings with dry boring art house fodder, you will go hungry. But if you really want to have a good time you can feast on this celluloid sampler on good old fashion tasting pulp and menace. Andrew Prine gives a great performance as Andre, who has a strange but strong lineage to another alienated outcast that runs a motel and goes by the name Norman. The extras are a blast. Johnny Legend, the white bearded namesake of Legend House, has fun talking with Prine and also there is complimentary segment where Legend talks with filmmakers John Landis (who no matter what he says is enjoying being there) and other fun cult movie directors. I don't know what other reviewers are talking about when they say that this copy is not of good quality, I may not be an anal retentive cineaste like some, but I can tell you the print looks great, it is NOT a cheap VHS dupe or knock off (maybe these cinefile experts really don't know what they are talking about) and if you want to have a fun time watching something that isn't going to tax your brain and something that will tickle and entice those dark little corners of your mind, pick up Legend House release of this film.

Weird, Disturbing GarbageOne axiom is true about any given art form: It did not exist before a person made it. One of my primary interests in evaluating art forms in a critical manner is to contemplate the motivation behind the decision to execute the work. I have no idea why anyone would have made a movie like BARN OF THE NAKED DEAD, though after seeing it I can understand why folks want to see it: Great title.Existing these days as scummy old rental tapes [including a preposterous version called NIGHTMARE CIRCUS, that is worse if possible] and the occaisional underground re-record, I managed to snag one of the original rental tapes by Ariel Entertainment, whoever they were, and was able to assess an "uncut" 87 minute print of the film. I was not prepared for what it had to offer.I love low rent "B" grade horror, especially European 1970's stuff, and have just begun delving into some of the American made examples beyond DON'T LOOK IN THE BASEMENT or COUNT YORGA. I was enticed by the name Andrew Prine, a magnetic veteran actor of many a B exploitation movie romp -- his role in SIMON KING OF THE WITCHES might be one of the great overlooked performances of the 1970's. His role in BARN OF THE NAKED DEAD is one that I hope he eventually got over, because films like this can wreck a career especially when an actor throws himself into the role, something that he was not apparently able to resist. I wonder if he got to view his daily rushes, or even if there were any daily rushes -- My thought is that the entire film was shot in about a week & a half, and exposed/edited only afterwards when nobody could stop the cinematic car wreck that unfolds onscreen.THE PLOT: Man has lived in near isolation on former Army nuclear testing grounds in Nevada [interesting premise], family having long since deserted or otherwise been rendered ioperable. Prine compensates his lack of company by sitting up in a duck tower with a rifle and putting a bullet through unsuspecting car engines.These cars are all driven by skanky looking 70's B supporting actresses, whom he cons into coming back to his farm. There they are taken prisoner and chained inside of a large barn. The majority of the film consists of footage of the girls chained up to these little posts and cowering with fear, trembling with cold, and discussing their situation. Between conversations Prine lurches in [sometimes dressed as a big top circus M.C.] and drags one of them off to be abused -- verbally, psychologically, physically, and in the movies sole moment of true interest [though the outcome was cut], by a snake. Ahem. He also talks to himself and plays with a toy windup bigtop. He is not a person but a mannerism -- weird behavior for a movie plot with legs attached. I doubt if he was allowed a single 2nd take.At the end of the film a not too secret horrifying secret is revealed, and everyone dies except the two girls that went crazy during their ordeal, which I guess is to make you think, "Gee ...". The End. How they all die I will leave to be a discovery for those stupid enough to seek it out: Don't let my description of a thirty second clip of Snake Sleaze tempt you: BARN OF THE NAKED DEAD just plain sucks.The "cinemetography", on all levels of considerations, sucks. The script sucks, apparently an attempt to adapt the Ed Gein story to a contemporary "issue", though just what that issue would be remains undefined ... Be angry at the Army for atmospheric atom testing, maybe. Don't take the long scenic route when you can fly, perhaps. Watch out for maniacs that have been exposed to nuclear fallout? Nahh -- too easy. Maybe it will come to me at some point, but like I said this film seems to have been made without any real intent, unless that intention is to disturb.And rest assured, BARN OF THE NAKED DEAD is disturbing. Folks may have some bondage romp in mind but BE WARNED: this film lacks even the slightest touch of erotic charm. There is sleaze, but it is not arousing sleaze, unless wondering how the girls go to the bathroom when chained up gives you a rise -- that was the only thing that the film made me wonder about. Then again I guess they didn't need to, since all of the barn scenes could have been shot in one afternoon, so maybe nobody had to go before they were finished.Avoid this film. Avoid it like you would a burning car at a gas pump.Avoid it like you would avoid an open cesspit. Avoid it like you would avoid someone with a bad case of bubonic plague. Don't be suckered in by a kinky box cover or descriptions of unspeakable horrors. They are unspeakable, allright -- so awful that I can't manage one more word.

The woefully underrated Andrew Prine struts through this lousy but shamefully likable mess with a casual and unaffected "yeah, but at least I'm working" charisma. In BARN OF THE NAKED DEAD aka NIGHTMARE CIRCUS, he portrays a mother-fixated psychotic who keeps a private zoo of captive women at an off-road Nevada desert property...a ruinous, weather-beaten old ranch in precarious proximity to a government nuclear testing site . The girls are a stock of resistant performers used in Prine's sadistic circus-themed psychodramas, and if that's not weird enough to win you over, there's also a radioactive mutant and a hungry black panther added to the cuckoo mix. As addle-brained 70s shockers go, this can be pretty enjoyable if expressly accepted as the unrefined trash that it is. The overwhelming dearth of professionalism will likely be met with disapproval from a mainstream viewership, but trash-curious types and those of lax standards should find it quite embraceable.5.5/10