★ 6 / 10
**_A masked slasher roams the sticks of Hudson
Wuchak
**_A masked slasher roams the sticks of Hudson Valley_** Two sisters and their beaus, as well as a male friend, venture to the backwaters north of the Big…
**_A masked slasher roams the sticks of Hudson Valley_**
Two sisters and their beaus, as well as a male friend, venture to the backwaters north of the Big Apple for a retreat. A questionable yokel is building a yacht for one of the guys while a manly lumberjack is hanging about. The weekend takes a grim turn when someone in a fright mask starts slaying people.
Made in 1976 but not released until 1979 (and later in countries outside America), “Savage Weekend” is a slasher Indie that only cost $58,000, predating "Halloween” by a year (which was made in 1977).
Speaking of which, people mistakenly think the slasher started with "Halloween," but there were at least a dozen films that preceded it, starting with "Psycho" (1960) and followed by "Dementia 13" (1963), "A Bay of Blood" (1971), "Silent Night, Bloody Night" (1972), "Home for the Holidays" (1972), "Torso (1973), "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre" (1974), "Black Christmas" (1974) and "Schizo" (1976), amongst others. Even "The Toolbox Murders" (1978) debuted at theaters eight months before “Halloween.”
During shooting, this was called “The Killer Behind the Mask” before settling on “Upstate Murders,” which was ultimately changed to “Savage Weekend.” It was obviously influenced by “The Texas Chainsaw Massacre,” “Let’s Scare Jessica to Death” (1971) and “Deliverance” (1972). Some bits are also reminiscent of “Squirm,” which was released the year this was shot.
It is probably the least of these due to the tedious backwoods goings-on, but it has its points of interest, like the early brouhaha at a bar involving the effeminate friend who tags along. Hillbilly Otis was fittingly played by William Sanderson, best known for the role of Larry on Newhart in the 80s (you might remember he had a brother Darryl and another brother Darryl).
Caitlin O'Heaney stands out on the feminine front as Shirley in which she’s featured in an extended lingerie sequence in the last act. This was her acting debut in which she got her SAG card by appearing in the film. To be expected, there’s a little bit of tame nudity.
The movie runs 1 hour, 28 minutes, and was shot in the sticks of the Hudson Valley region, north of Yonkers and south of Albany, mostly at a remote lake.
GRADE: B-/C+
★ 5 / 10
Very mad, and quite bad, but very enjoyable. It demands reverence
Coffee_in_the_Clink
"Makes 'Texas Chainsaw Massacre' look like kids stuff", the back of the VHS box boldly proclaims. It can dream. "Savage Weekend", made in 1976 as "The Killer…
"Makes 'Texas Chainsaw Massacre' look like kids stuff", the back of the VHS box boldly proclaims. It can dream. "Savage Weekend", made in 1976 as "The Killer Behind the Mask" but not securing a release until '79, is completely lacking in a lot of things - competent editing and storytelling being the major things - but it is one mad film and is very enjoyable. Also, it predates "Halloween" and "Friday the 13th", making it a serious contender for being the granddaddy of the slasher sub-genre, thus demanding of attention. There is quite a lot of good beneath the madness and rough edges here. Inspired by Giallo and working in elements of the splatter sub-genre - I can only presume that writer/director David Paulsen had seen the infamous and genre flag-carrier "Blood Feast" - Paulsen aimed for something original and frightening with his meagre budget, and although it is far from a graceful or even coherent picture at times, Paulsen did just enough here to get his name in the books.We are introduced to the motliest of motley crews. Marie is recently separated from her husband. She leaves her kid with him for the weekend as she sets off into the countryside with her new lover, who is taking her and her sister with the man she is currently seeing, and a gay best friend, out to his cabin for the weekend as he inspects the progress being made on the reconstruction of a boat he has bought. It's being done by a local lunatic of a redneck, who may or may not want to kill them all when they get down there. David Gale of talking-head "Re-Animator" fame plays another hostile local in a very early leading role. I confess that I didn't even recognise him!So what happens? A lot or very little depending on your view. There's a lot of messing about but the characters are so fun and interesting that this is the strongest point of the film. Christopher Allport as the gay man Nicky is brilliant. And I have to say that his character was really ahead of it's time. A flamboyant, but strong, homosexual man, who easily dispatches two braindead rednecks who give him hassle in a bar. I don't think too many filmmakers were doing such portrayals in the early 70s. The other actors provide surprisingly good performances, also. I loved Jim Doerr's acting in the scenes where he finds the victims of the mysterious killer - "Marie! ... Oh My God!" From one scene to another, it's surprisingly very natural and realistic! Usually you have actors going over-the-top but something about Doerr in these scenes stood out to me from the thousands of other horror films I've seen. "Savage Weekend" is of serious cult status and I actually found it difficult to rate. On one hand it is absolutely terrible. The editing is very bad at times - especially at the end with the saw scene. The music and sound effects are horrendous. But the performances, the grainy, trashy 1970s colour and look - the only similarity that this has with the great "Texas Chainsaw Massacre", I might add, despite the marketing's bold claims - along with the sheer undeniable originality that this had at the time in terms of a killer stalker a group of people and dispatching them one by one - junior films of a similar vintage such as "Halloween" would do it better, but anyway - make this something of an ugly gem. I feel compelled to watch it again. Maybe it will become a Halloween season favourite of mine? Maybe it will earn a higher rating from me in the future? "Savage Weekend" definitely sails in 'so bad it's good' waters, but it sails stronger than others.
19%
AUDIENCE
4.5/10
2K
