Bloodrage – 1980, US, 78m. Director: Joseph Zito.
Open House – 1987, US, 95m. Director: Jag Mundhra.
Prime Evil – 1988, US, 87m. Director: Roberta Findlay.
BLOODRAGE (1980) (AKA: Never Pick Up a Stranger) A high-strung loser (Ian Scott) discovers his bloodlust after accidentally killing a prostitute. Scott then heads to New York City to indulge in his new favorite pastime, unaware he’s being followed by the cop boyfriend (James Johnson) of his first victim. The Taxi Driver influences seep through as we’re forced to listen to Scott’s voiceover ramblings about his distaste for humanity. The film then switches to Rear Window territory—the screenwriter is clearly a cinephile—as Scott develops a Peeping Tom fascination with the pretty street walker who lives across the way. Scott’s obsessive behavior is interrupted by his loudmouth roommate who, after berating her sleazoid boyfriend, suggests Scott is gay for not sleeping with her. In keeping with the misogynistic theme of the script, all of the women in Bloodrage are portrayed as nagging whores—the male characters aren’t depicted any better, with the majority being pimps, morons, or general scumbags. But the real moment of Bloodrage‘s complete lack of sympathy is when Scott, in a fit of rage, throws a small dog through a plate glass window. A bewildering and tasteless movie that’s not to be missed under any circumstances! From the future director of Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter. B
OPEN HOUSE (1987) The real estate agents of an upper-class L.A. suburb are done in by a psychotic vagrant in this sleazy, low-grade slasher. The opening is a doozy: a scatter-brained realtor discovers the fly-ridden corpse of her colleague in the bathtub during an open house. The lunatic, dubbed the “Open House Killer” by the press, later takes a baseball bat embedded with razor blades to an agent and her horny client—the killer even steals the man’s severed fingers. After slicing up his victims, the maniac calls in to a radio talk show hosted by callous psychologist Joseph Bottoms whose real estate mogul girlfriend (Adrienne Barbeau) is high on the hit list. Open House delivers some gory delights, but it’s everything in between that feels lackluster, especially Bottoms’ character, who comes off as a cold jerk. Barbeau is wasted in a limited role. C–
PRIME EVIL (1988) A society of devil-worshippers formed in the 14th century is operating in modern day New York City. The Catholic Church sends a nun (Mavis Harris) with prophetic dreams to infiltrate the sect, but this semi-interesting character is mostly ignored until the script needs her to speak in expositional phrases. Instead, the story centers on Alexandra (Christina Moore), an apathetic young woman targeted by her wicked grandfather (Max Jacobs) as a sacrifice for the cult. Alexandra is so oblivious to her surroundings that she doesn’t seem worried when her friends are kidnapped and/or murdered. In an unbelievable plot twist, Alexandra allows herself to be seduced by a priest (William Beckwith) who just happens to be the leader of the devil sect. All this nonsense is just another trashy opus from the queen of eighties trash cinema, Roberta Findlay (Blood Sisters, Lurkers, etc.). Since this is better acted and photographed than the majority of her work, you might call Prime Evil Findlay’s pièce de résistance. D