Release calendarTop 250 moviesMost popular moviesBrowse movies by genreTop box officeShowtimes & ticketsMovie newsIndia movie spotlight
    What's on TV & streamingTop 250 TV showsMost popular TV showsBrowse TV shows by genreTV news
    What to watchLatest trailersIMDb OriginalsIMDb PicksIMDb SpotlightFamily entertainment guideIMDb Podcasts
    OscarsBest Of 2025Holiday Watch GuideGotham AwardsCelebrity PhotosSTARmeter AwardsAwards CentralFestival CentralAll events
    Born todayMost popular celebsCelebrity news
    Help centerContributor zonePolls
For industry professionals
  • Language
  • Fully supported
  • English (United States)
    Partially supported
  • Français (Canada)
  • Français (France)
  • Deutsch (Deutschland)
  • हिंदी (भारत)
  • Italiano (Italia)
  • Português (Brasil)
  • Español (España)
  • Español (México)
Watchlist
Sign in
  • Fully supported
  • English (United States)
    Partially supported
  • Français (Canada)
  • Français (France)
  • Deutsch (Deutschland)
  • हिंदी (भारत)
  • Italiano (Italia)
  • Português (Brasil)
  • Español (España)
  • Español (México)
Use app
  • Cast & crew
  • User reviews
  • Trivia
  • FAQ
IMDbPro

Grotesque

  • 1987
  • R
  • 1h 29m
IMDb RATING
4.4/10
1.5K
YOUR RATING
Grotesque (1987)
A gang of crazed punks breaks into a family's vacation home in the mountains and slaughters the entire family, except for one daughter who gets away.
Play trailer1:06
2 Videos
18 Photos
Body HorrorSlasher HorrorHorror

A gang of crazed punks breaks into a family's vacation home in the mountains and slaughters the entire family, except for one daughter who gets away.A gang of crazed punks breaks into a family's vacation home in the mountains and slaughters the entire family, except for one daughter who gets away.A gang of crazed punks breaks into a family's vacation home in the mountains and slaughters the entire family, except for one daughter who gets away.

  • Director
    • Joe Tornatore
  • Writers
    • Joe Tornatore
    • Mikel Angel
  • Stars
    • Linda Blair
    • Tab Hunter
    • Donna Wilkes
  • See production info at IMDbPro
  • IMDb RATING
    4.4/10
    1.5K
    YOUR RATING
    • Director
      • Joe Tornatore
    • Writers
      • Joe Tornatore
      • Mikel Angel
    • Stars
      • Linda Blair
      • Tab Hunter
      • Donna Wilkes
    • 45User reviews
    • 40Critic reviews
  • See production info at IMDbPro
  • Videos2

    Trailer
    Trailer 1:06
    Trailer
    Grotesque
    Clip 1:48
    Grotesque
    Grotesque
    Clip 1:48
    Grotesque

    Photos17

    View Poster
    View Poster
    View Poster
    View Poster
    View Poster
    View Poster
    + 12
    View Poster

    Top Cast33

    Edit
    Linda Blair
    Linda Blair
    • Lisa
    Tab Hunter
    Tab Hunter
    • Rod
    Donna Wilkes
    Donna Wilkes
    • Kathy
    Brad Wilson
    • Scratch
    Nels Van Patten
    • Gibbs
    • (as Nels Van Patton, Nells Van Patton)
    Sharon Hughes
    • Donna
    Michelle Bensoussan
    • Shelly
    Guy Stockwell
    Guy Stockwell
    • Orville Kruger
    Charles Dierkop
    Charles Dierkop
    • Matson
    Chuck Morrell
    • Jim Fulton
    Lincoln Tate
    • Blane
    Luana Patten
    Luana Patten
    • Old Lady
    Robert Z'Dar
    Robert Z'Dar
    • Eric
    Billy Frank
    • Ear Box
    Bunky Jones
    Bunky Jones
    • Belle
    • (as Bunki Z)
    Robert Apisa
    • Patrick
    • (as Bob Apiza)
    Alva Megowan
    • Malinda
    John F. Goff
    John F. Goff
    • Producer
    • (as John Goff)
    • Director
      • Joe Tornatore
    • Writers
      • Joe Tornatore
      • Mikel Angel
    • All cast & crew
    • Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

    User reviews45

    4.41.5K
    1
    2
    3
    4
    5
    6
    7
    8
    9
    10

    Featured reviews

    drhackenstine

    Not that Grotesque...

    I did like what one reviewer said about this film's plot drunkenly staggering all over the place. It does. I first saw this movie, like others I review on IMDb, when I was a kid, on the USA network. I saw it from the beginning to the part when the dad gets clubbed by the hoodlums, and then my mom turned it off, saying, "you don't need to see that". Then I think we watched COPS or something. I remember it was on USA's Saturday Nightmares. Well, I just moved to a new town, and the local video store had a worn out old copy of this movie so I rented it. I saw a few parts I had remembered and some I didn't, but the bottom line is it's a good movie. There is some truly bad acting, and some violence that is just plain mean. There are also some really stupid plot holes, but if you like '80's horror, then this is not too bad. The plot does jump around a bit; the whole thing flashes around like it's the plot to some big network action pilot. Also containing stupid dialog and an out-of-place ending(but some truly exploitative violence), this is a good film for any '80's horror buff. Oh, and the Frankenstein/Wolfman ending is only on the TV version. Whoever has a tape of that TV version should treasure it I guess. Three stars.
    lobelia-1

    No...No...Oh Please God!....NO!

    Matt and I have seen alot of really crappy movies together. We always have a good time. Or at least we DID until our (ex)friend Ron loaned us this one. We've used the database to check out the background on lots of these movies. This one made us register so we could warn others!

    There were endless, pointless scenes of crazed people running through murky woods. This is not as bad as it may seem - at least this was a break from some of the worst dialogue ever scribbled on scraps of paper in the bathroom. To be fair, there were two good, albeit brief, moments in this flick. One - A terrorized victim glares at the villains and accuses them of being scum, to which the ringleader replies leeringly "It's a scummy world!" Two - The deformed, heartbroken nephew of two of the victims picks up one of the female attackers and snaps her spine against a pine tree. These moments are not worth wasting the longest 80 minutes of your life. Just say "NO!".
    7HumanoidOfFlesh

    Grotesque indeed.

    The star of "The Exorcist" Linda Blair brings along her best friend to visit her movie makeup effects expert father and mother at their house deep in the woods.Along the way they have a chance encounter with a gang of murderous punks.The anarchists break into the house and murder everybody there.While searching for the money the punks stumble onto a hidden room containing a deformed man called Patrick,who enjoys spilling blood of the villains."Grotesque" is grotesque indeed.There is enough gore and perversity to keep you occupied in its' short eighty minute running time.'Maniac Cop' Robert Z'Dar has a small cameo as one of the punks.Overall,if you are a fan of late 80's horror you can't go wrong with "Grotesque".7 out of 10.
    2yourmotheratemydog715

    A genre mish-mash that fails at everything it touches...

    After watching Linda Blair's HELL NIGHT and discovering a lost '80s gem, I decided to check out another of her post-EXORCIST works, hoping to find something almost as cool. Unfortunately, I chose GROTESQUE, a film about as cool as plunging your hands in boiling water.

    A special effects man in Hollywood (who should've been out of a job years ago based on the quality of his work!) takes some time off to spend a quiet weekend with his family in the mountains. But trouble comes knocking in the form of a homicidal Billy Idol and his friends, looking for some Hollywood money and willing to kill for it. But the punks might find more than they're bargaining for...

    GROTESQUE has absolutely no idea what kind of film it wants to be. It starts off with a light horror-comedy exposition before abruptly switching gears to a brutal home-invasion thriller. Then it's a cop drama. Then it's a monster movie. Then it's a revenge thriller. Then it decides it wants to be tongue-in-cheek. It's almost as if the director realized his original film was a complete, utter failure and then rewrote the second half, then rewrote it again... and again... and again.

    Trouble is, its tone is completely off. Grim home-invasion scenes are soundtracked by bouncy, cheesy synth work. Comedy is abruptly cut off by brutality, and major characters are suddenly disposed of and never brought up again. There's 90 minutes of plot in the first half an hour, then endless sequences of walking through the woods and interrogation scenes in the second. And the film waves goodbye with one of the most head-scratching, incompetent endings I've ever witnessed.

    I realize bad movie lovers might get excited reading this review, but it doesn't even deliver the so-bad-it's-good goods. It's mind-numbingly dull, so inept that its ineptness doesn't even provide entertainment. GROTESQUE is one of the worst horror flicks of the decade, and a gung-ho Linda Blair can do nothing to save it.
    4Forever Damned

    Weird

    A weird film that is disjointed to an extreme but could have been so much better with a little thought. It would probably have worked better as a half hour Tale From The Darkside.

    Unusually Linda remains fully clothed but does spend most of the movie in her pyjamas!

    Don't bother unless you are a Blair completist.

    More like this

    Slugs
    5.3
    Slugs
    Edge of the Axe
    5.3
    Edge of the Axe
    Popcorn
    5.9
    Popcorn
    The Devonsville Terror
    5.0
    The Devonsville Terror
    Bloody Moon
    5.3
    Bloody Moon
    Bloody Birthday
    5.7
    Bloody Birthday
    Sweet Sixteen
    5.1
    Sweet Sixteen
    The Last Horror Film
    5.6
    The Last Horror Film
    The Final Terror
    5.2
    The Final Terror
    Grotesque
    4.2
    Grotesque
    Nightmare
    5.6
    Nightmare
    Slumber Party Massacre II
    4.7
    Slumber Party Massacre II

    Related interests

    Jeff Goldblum in The Fly (1986)
    Body Horror
    Roger Jackson in Scream (1996)
    Slasher Horror
    Mia Farrow in Rosemary's Baby (1968)
    Horror

    Storyline

    Edit

    Did you know

    Edit
    • Trivia
      At least two of the Silver Shamrock Masks from Halloween 3: Season of the witch are in the den among the collection of special effects.
    • Connections
      Referenced in DVD/Lazerdisc/VHS collection 2016 (2016)

    Top picks

    Sign in to rate and Watchlist for personalized recommendations
    Sign in

    FAQ15

    • How long is Grotesque?Powered by Alexa

    Details

    Edit
    • Release date
      • September 9, 1988 (United States)
    • Country of origin
      • United States
    • Language
      • English
    • Also known as
      • Grotesk - Kampf ums Überleben
    • Filming locations
      • Fawnskin Post Office - 39132 N Shore Dr, Fawnskin, California, USA(police station)
    • Production company
      • United Filmmakers Group
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Tech specs

    Edit
    • Runtime
      • 1h 29m(89 min)
    • Color
      • Color
    • Sound mix
      • Ultra Stereo

    Contribute to this page

    Suggest an edit or add missing content
    • Learn more about contributing
    Edit page

    More to explore

    Recently viewed

    Please enable browser cookies to use this feature. Learn more.
    Get the IMDb App
    Sign in for more accessSign in for more access
    Follow IMDb on social
    Get the IMDb App
    For Android and iOS
    Get the IMDb App
    • Help
    • Site Index
    • IMDbPro
    • Box Office Mojo
    • License IMDb Data
    • Press Room
    • Advertising
    • Jobs
    • Conditions of Use
    • Privacy Policy
    • Your Ads Privacy Choices
    IMDb, an Amazon company

    © 1990-2025 by IMDb.com, Inc.