House on the Edge of the Park

"La casa sperduta nel parco" is not a film that impressed me significantly, but still, I thought that Deodato managed to create a decent structure, where individual plot elements are used to keep the viewer, at least seemingly, in suspense. However, the film is quite straightforward because you know that something bad has to happen, since you've seen the opening scene. The final twist doesn't really move the film anywhere and doesn't change the overall impression much. (06/28/2014)

Oh, dear god Alfred Hitchcock. As a thriller, House on the Edge of the Park is absolutely hopeless and boring, with bad actors, an unimaginative and spasmodic screenplay, and zero visual style (oh, dear god Dario Argento). But that’s to be expected from Italian trash-maker Ruggero Deodato. What surprised me, however, is that the film really is just a thriller and there’s a minimum of blood and no sexual violence. Instead of the unpleasant feeling that I got from Deodato’s Cannibal Holocaust, I was just awfully bored. Though the deviant’s razor does explore every curve of the complete female cast, nothing ever happens. And that “surprising” final point... Oh, hell! (04/05/2003)