What a relief to find out that Ruggero Deodato is a fallible human being after all. His teen slasher BODY COUNT is the perfect pill for anyone who might make the mistake of finding him to be maybe more than human. I've read comments from people saying he is a god, a genius, a bastard, and Satan, and my advice to any/all of those who feel that way is to watch this film.
It could have been made by anybody, with only the remarkable supporting cast of Italian cult movie favorites as the selling point: David Hess, Mimsey Farmer, Charles Napier, Ivan Rassimov, John Steiner -- these are heavyweight names, so what are they doing in a disposable, formulaic and ultimately silly teen slasher movie? The answer is making a living, which is exactly what Deodato was doing as well. I would imagine he was under contract to direct a movie that would have to sell and this was what he chose to do. Anyone who has seen any three slasher horror thrillers made since 1981 or so will have a fairly easy time figuring out what is going to happen next, and if like me you've developed a taste for slightly offbeat, lower budgeted examples of the form this will prove to be somewhat more interesting than most.
Besides it's cast the best thing the film has going for it is the use of locations -- one commenter has already identified much of it as Colorado, which may be the case but certain locations will be very, very familiar to anyone who has seen a Spaghetti Western or two. I recognized a waterfall location from THE GRAND DUEL, a field of boulders from DAYS OF VIOLENCE and some patches of woods from WHITE COMANCHE, so it looks like maybe they either filmed part of this in Spain or France in addition to Colorado and edited it all together to look like a seamless shoot.
Who knows. It's wonderful to see an actor like John Steiner with that hollow, unemotional deadpan alongside Ivan Rassimov scowling at a bunch of college nitwits who are about to be chopped to bits. Deodato does deliver some good gore sequences during the butchery and the film is replete with the nudity the genre calls for, but honestly it could have been directed by just about anyone with a feel for shot composition, has none of the crackling immediacy or controversial nature of CANNIBAL HOLOCAUST, and serves as a workmanlike effort by a director who has been hailed as some sort of a demigod or agent of the Devil, depending on your sentiment.
Nope, he's just a man, and as capable as anyone of making a routine, paint by the numbers movie that is of interest because he was the one that made it. How refreshingly stupid!
6/10
