Delirium

For many, many years I had a certain fascination with this movie. I saw its video cover reproduced in a magazine called 'Halls of Horror' way back in the early 80's. The artwork showed a bald man in sun glasses firing a pistol, a woman screaming and a disembodied hand clutching a bloodied hatchet; the tag-line said 'they shall have murder wherever they go…'. I don't know, it may not sound like much now but at the time this strange and slightly lurid poster fascinated me. When I soon after discovered that this film had made it on to the notorious video nasty list my interest just grew even stronger. Looking back on it now and having finally seen Delirium I think I can better understand the pull of that video cover and it's actually reflected in the film itself. The poster is really somewhat odd in that it mixes genre iconography – its part horror, part action-thriller. And in essence that's what the movie itself is too. It combines genres in a somewhat unusual way. It's kind of a slasher mixed in with a vigilante flick, with a dash of post-Vietnam exploitation thrown in for good measure. This crazy mish-mash of styles is one of the things that makes Delirium interesting.

The story revolves around a secret group of Vietnam vets who are hired by businessmen to administer extreme justice to criminals who escape the law. One of the group goes on a serial killing rampage murdering a series of young women.

It isn't really very surprising that this one made the video nasty list. It's not exactly overly graphically violent but it has a pretty clear streak of misogyny running through it. The killer essentially goes around killing young hot women in some scenes that are pretty lurid. It does have to be said though that the psychopath is killed off a little too early, seeing as he is probably the most interesting part of the story. The vigilante side of the narrative makes up the rest of the movie. The head honcho turns out to be that bald man from the video cover I saw all those years ago. Quite bizarrely, the most disturbing moment from the scenes involving this underground group is scored by the soundtrack to the quiz show Mastermind. You can't help but expect Magnus Magnusson to pop around the corner and say 'your specialist subject is vigilante justice and misogynistic violence'. But of course he does not and it remains a deeply strange viewing experience for audiences from the UK to witness.

This isn't a movie with a very good reputation. Admittedly it's technically raw and clunky. But it's also kind of unusual and agreeably sleazy. It's pretty entertaining all things considered.

A disturbed former soldier named Charlie is used as a tool to take care of corruption and he snaps and ends up killing anyone in sight, especially pretty women who threaten him.

Even with a shorter runtime, it's hard to recommend Delirium to anyone besides those with a morbid curiosity for bad movies. Everything about it feels amateur which could be forgiven if the script were any better, but there's no one to pull for and the attack/kill scenes are more unpleasant than scary or suspenseful.

Cops vs ex-military vigilantes who enlist the services of a Viet Nam vet who runs amok. Very pedestrian all around. Minimal blood, and the violent encounters are filmed as clumsily and distactingly unconvincing as anything I've seen in such cheapos. Least nasty of the infamous Video Nasties I've seen. That it ended up banned in Britain is a testament to overwrought censorship run amok.

"Delirium" is a strange hybrid of slasher flick,political conspiracy,right-wing revenge film,cop thriller and post-Vietnam trauma.There is a serial killer on the loose named Charlie.He stabs to death or drowns attractive young women until he's surprised in a house by a returning husband and is shot by the wife.His Vietnam flashbacks ala "Combat Shock" are gloriously cheap.There is also an underground right-wing group who employ old army guys as vigilantes to kill various rapists and murderers."Delirium" was classified as an infamous video nasty in UK.There is a bit of sleaze and violence,but the film is relatively tame and bloodless.If you liked "Maniac" or "Lady Stay Dead" give it a try.6 out of 10.

Delirium starts off with an impotent Vietnam veteran called Charlie going on a murder spree, killing mainly young women. Just to keep the viewer interested two victims happen to be naked. But then the plot goes from horror/slasher to a thriller about a secret group of businessmen who carry out vigilante murders. Charlie had been part of this group but has gone off the rails. The police investigation takes up much of the running time and it does slow the movie down quite a lot, not helped by having a cast of mainly bad actors. The movie features a number of Vietnam flashbacks, they are ether obviously not filmed in Asia or stock footage is used. Combat Shock (1984) meets a gone wrong The Exterminator (1980). The body count is sufficient, some of the kills are fairly brutal but none are exceptionally gory. Delirium found itself banned in the UK as a Video Nasty, thankfully it is now available uncut and on Blu-ray. I would have rated it 5/10 but have scored it an extra point due to the inclusion of a track called Approaching Menace on the soundtrack, viewers in the UK should instantly recognise it as the theme tune to BBC's quiz show "Mastermind". I found this rather amusing. Shot on 16mm but blown up to 35mm Delirium is a low budget trash movie, if that's your thing or if you are interested in Video Nasties then I would recommend it, otherwise give it a miss.