This one is borderline stinky but I feel like it's been far too long since we've watched a movie in which a gaggle of young folk take a trip to an isolated place to be killed off one by one by a crazed maniac. SAVAGE LOVE aka DEADLY MANOR is not as consistently entertaining as say, ICED, DEMON WIND or THE MUTILATOR but it has some enjoyable flashes here and there if you scrounge. The all too familiar opening is worthwhile as you anticipate the possibilities and adjust to the idea that none of the characters are capable of speaking like a normal human and the climax after the killer is revealed is wonderfully off its rocker; there just happens to be a half hour in the middle where you might have to slap yourself to stay awake. It's worth the torture though because there is a comedy relief guy who is incredibly unfunny, the soundtrack sounds like it was provided by "Keyboard Cat" and you get to walk away feeling smarter than anyone who would stay the night in a abandoned house with empty coffins in the basement, a closet stuffed with scalps, scrapbooks filled with photos of dead bodies and a blood stained car crash shrine in the backyard. It's far too dark and far too bloodless for sure and yet it's not without a spooky setting and you have to give the killer props for working a white Laura Brannigan-style "Self Control" mask to semi creepy effect. Give it a try and feel free to curse my name later. I can take it.
The 80's must have been a great decade for the maker of that mask. Including this, wasn't it used in a least 2 movies, a music video and and an episode of The Hitchhiker?
Wow, thanks Unkle Lancifer! I'd never heard of this and it's from the amazing Jose Ramon Larraz, director of Vampyres (1974). I also recommend his "erotic thriller" The Coming Of Sin (1978).
Matt,
i gotta track down that Hitchhiker episode! I only saw a few of those back in the day and It looks like most of them are available on YouTube. That could be the perfect thing to watch before going to sleep (or at least more exciting than season three of FAME which is my current go-to).
Crabby,
I’m so glad you can appreciate this.I watched it months ago and wrote this post and then for some reason decided not to publish it and it has been just hanging out on my desktop collecting dust. It’s not a great movie but I kept thinking about it anyway and I could never remember the name. So basically, I just posted this so that I can google “car crash shrine†and find it easily the next time I forget what it’s called. The ending is pretty cool and I’m just a sucker for movies with people hanging out in a n abandoned house. I don’t mind too much if they don’t make sense as long as the atmosphere is there.
I have not seen VAMPYRES in years (decades) but coincidently I just bought a widescreen VHS of it about a week ago so I’ll be watching it again soon. I'll keep my eyes out for The Coming of Sin too. I don't see it on YouTube.
Lance,
The Hitchhiker episode, if you're still interested, is called "Last Scene" and is episode 11 from season 3.