Vacanze per un massacro

"Madness" or "Holiday Massacre" superficially looks like another umpteenth "Last House on the Left" rip-off, but actually it's not. LHotL and all of its copies revolve on two major themes, namely rape and revenge, whereas this flick doesn't feature any 'actual' rape and certainly not any revenge. This is merely a typical late 70's/early 80's sexploitation effort with a bit of additional violence near the ending. Joe Dallesandro, the handsome but slightly eccentric star of various Andy Warhol movies, stars as a badass fugitive convict in a very remote and rural area. He escapes from a prison that doesn't look like a prison and kills a farmer with a pitchfork. He has to pick up the loot from a previous heist in a countryside cabin, but the place is occupied by three people on a summer holiday weekend. Now, since this is an Italian exploitation thriller, it means that the "victims" are in fact equally sleazy and heinous as the criminal. Sergio is supposedly happily married with his wife Liliana, but has an affair with his nymphomaniac sister- in-law Paola. Paola herself is a genuine bitch on a continuous quest for lust and power. "Madness" is a competent but not highly memorable thriller. The plot is predictable and all too quickly reverts to clichéd situations and detestable conclusions. Women's right activists, in particular, should avoid this movie at all costs, since the script proudly concludes that women provoke being rape victims and end up enjoying it after all. The film does benefice, however, from the isolated cabin filming location. Fernando Di Leo perfectly manages to create an atmosphere of despair and inescapably. You can also almost sense the heat and sexual oppression through the screen. Di Leo is of course a very experienced and visionary director. He wrote and directed multiple downright brilliant crime/gangster movies "Manhunt", "Caliber 9" and "The Boss". Another strongpoint of the film is excellent soundtrack by Louis Bacalov. Recommended, but perhaps only if you're familiar with European – and then particularly Italian -exploitation from the late 70's and early 80's.

Escaped convict, Joe Brezzi (Joe Dallesandro) is on the run. Before the opening credits, he's already committed two murders. Brezzi arrives at a villa where a man and two women are staying. He watches, as copious nudity and love scenes take place. Joe takes a nap, awakens, and moves in on the trio.

We soon learn that Brezzi is a bit too familiar with this villa. He knows the place, and seems to be looking for something.

MADNESS is a preposterous crime / thriller, that's mostly an excuse for softcore, simulated sex scenes, interrupted by sudden, rather tame outbursts of violence. In between assaults, Brezzi spends most of his time grimacing and squinting a lot.

Be forewarned, much of the story is taken up by the family troubles of the three victims. In other words, this movie is pretty dull, in a soap opera sort of way. So, don't expect non-stop action or thrills.

The semi-bloody "shock" finale is okay, but hardly makes up for the rest of this nonsense...

At the end of the 70s, Fernando di Leo's career was going downhill, avalanche-style. The producers of Madness (a.k.a. Toy) generously provided him with two heaps from the used car dealer next door and a ramshackle hut in the Abruzzo region including posters of Marlon Brando and John Travolta on the wall – conditions that made di Leo so enthusiastic that he churned out a script for the libido thriller kammerspiel of the year, at least in his head. Enter the world champion in eye rolling, ex-Andy Warhol protégé Joe Dallesandro, as an escaped convict looking exactly like the village plumber ... and ricky-tick he's laying pipe to two low-rent lascivious gals desperate for a nice and thorough rape ("It wasn't bad at all ... Were you so keen due to abstinence? I enjoyed it. Whenever you feel like it, I'm all yours"), refined with some of the most harrowing canzone from the Italo hit parade 1979 (plus Luis Bacalov's score directly nicked from di Leo's by far best work, Milano Calibro 9). Amateur actress Lorraine de Selle is showing her beaver off for most of the ninety endless minutes, but - pardon me - that's not the reason why the word "lousy" might haunt you for a few days. Another sample of Dallesandro's dialogue, per favore? "And now screw. Show us what men like." It's only a short stop to Joe D'Amato from here. His porn flicks, for sure.

Escaping the world's least secure prison through an open window and down a sturdy length of knotted rope, murderer and thief Joe Brezzi (Joe Dallesandro) legs it to a farmhouse where he attacks two men (killing one with a pitchfork) and steals their car. He then drives to a remote cottage to retrieve the 300 million lira buried under its fireplace, but finds that the poky property is now owned by yuppie couple Sergio (Gianni Macchia) and Liliana (Patrizia Behn), who arrive for the weekend in the company of Liliana's sister Paola (Lorraine De Selle ), who we later discover is having an affair with Sergio.

Joe waits until Liliana is out shopping and Sergio is hunting before making his move, surprising Paola while she sunbathes topless (this chick has a serious aversion to clothing, spending 90% of the film completely naked). He forces her to dig before deciding to rape her, receiving compliments from the woman about his lovemaking skills (this is NOT a film with a feminist agenda). Liliana returns to find Paola tied up and soon joins her sister bound and gagged while Joe hacks away at the hearth. Soon enough, Sergio returns and a power play ensues as Joe reveals the truth about Sergio and Paola, and takes a fancy to Liliana.

Obviously inspired by the likes of The Last House On The Left, Hitchhike and The House On The Edge Of The Park, this sleazy, exploitative home-invasion thriller starts off great, as Joe prowls the property preparing to make his move, but loses steam once he begins to terrorise the group. Watching them dig and argue is boring, even with De Selle flashing her big hairy bush all the time. After much tedium (even the scene where Joe forces Sergio and Paola to have sex in front of Liliana is dull), the film picks up for a bloody finale in which the adulterous couple make a crap bid for freedom, and Joe pays the price for leaving his shotgun unattended.

5/10. I might have scored it higher if Behn had joined De Selle in getting nekkid, but she remains fully clothed throughout.

An escaped convict called Joe Brezzi (Joe Dallesandro) returns to the farmhouse where he stashed money from one of his robberies, but finds the farmhouse now occupied by a married couple (Gianni Macchia and Patrizia Behn) and the wife's sister (Lorraine DeSalle). This film from director Fernando Di Leo (which he co-wrote with Mario Gariazzo) was released in 1980 and is one of those hostages being held (and terrorised) by a madman films. It's essentially a four hander set largely in the farmhouse (you can imagine it as a kind of lurid play) and involving a bit of voyeurism (peeking through windows) and soft core porn scenes. Joe bounces around in a pair of jeans and a vest showing off his muscles and 'Little Joe's tattoo, whilst doing a manic eyed number. It all seems rather slow.