‘A terrifying shocker of unforgiving evil and tasteless torture’
Naked Massacre – aka Born for Hell – is a 1976 West German-Canadian-French-Italian film directed by Denis Héroux (The Uncanny). It stars Mathieu Carrière, Debra Berger and Christine Boisson.
Plot teaser:
Loosely based on the notorious Richard Speck murders, this is the grim tale of a disturbed Vietnam vet returning home via Belfast, who invades a house shared by eight nurses and proceeds to terrorise and murder them…
Reviews:
‘This grim Canadian/West German/French/Italian co-production is technically well made, but it isn’t much fun to watch. There’s almost no exposition in the gratuitously bleak story at all – not only is it never revealed exactly why this Speck substitute is hellbent on killing the girls, but he’s never even given a name. Despite the almost unpalatable final half-hour, Born For Hell is still an interesting film, though it probably has more in common with Eurosleaze flicks than with Canadian film.’ Canuxploitation
“Naked Massacre is one of those films that has enough good points that it deserves at least an average rating, yet it is one that I can’t really recommend that anyone sees. It’s one of the more disturbing proto-slasher flicks I’ve seen, with the level of sadism and cruelty displayed by the murderer, and the reaction of the victims, too realistic in its nature to be entertaining.” Terror Titans
“The movie was quick and intelligent and sharp right up until the torture scenes – so sharp that I really wracked my brain to think if I was somehow missing something in the torture scenes that would make me re-evaluate. Maybe, but I don’t think so. It’s too bad, because the director is obviously very talented, and those first 30 minutes deserve more than to be merely the justification for 45 minutes of sexualized torture.” Cinema de Merde
Buy the fully uncut, anamorphic version from Amazon.co.uk
Hallmark Releasing‘s attempt to get on the Richard Speck bandwagon.
WH
