Born for Hell

I sometimes question the motivations of a director who chooses subject matter such as this as material for a film. There is such a sadistic vent to this that it has kept me thinking for days. This is obviously a retelling of the Richard Speck story where a psychotic ex-Vietnam vet terrorizes and kills a group of nurses in a residential house in Northern Ireland. The movie is pretty well done in that it gets us involved with the women and with their assailant. They are real people with prospects; one is even pregnant. I think that's why this so affected me because when you see those teenage slasher movies you say to yourself that no one could be so stupid. The violence is amplified and unrealistic. This one is so close to home. The business of why people don't defend themselves is an issue, but when you see the connection to terror and to humanity, you see why this could happen. Still, I could never watch this again and I'm not sure it needed telling.

A disturbed American war veteran -Mathieu Carrière- arrives in Belfast during the Northern Ireland conflicts , and proceeds to terrorize a household of female nursing students (Debra Berger , Christine Boisson , Myriam Boyer , Leonora Fani , Ely Galleani , Carole Laure , Eva Mattes) and executing tasteless tortures . For these nine young women, opening the door that night meant ending their live ! . Nine scaring young women. One night. Defiled. Tortured. Torn apart . A diabolic shocker that will grip you and hold you Spellbound ! . Don't ever let him enter your house ! No woman can escape him because he was Born for Hell

A grim and thrilling film about a boarding house that is invaded by a heinous visitor , it contains inexplicable disturbing occurrences , shocks, thrills , suspense , chills , hair-rising events and surprising final . Dealing with an eerie story of a stranger who arrives in Belfast and invades a house shared by eight nurses , while carries out a criminal spree and proceeding to kill them . Loosely based on the notorious Richard Speck murders , this starts off at a brief depiction of the Besfast streets , pubs and violent confrontation between IRA members and British cops , as the camera lurks suspensenful behind its actors and beside them and above them and everywhere else . The story is uneven paced , suffering from some weak incidents and of varying quality , packing nice as well as fleeble moments . The main amusement of this slasher results to be to guess the kind of murder to execute by the creepy killer , and discover the young actress to be assassinated by stabbing . A scary and disgusting flick that garnered lousy reception as critics as indifferent reception by the general public . Nowadays , it is a little better considered , in spite of its short budget and the claustrophobic environment , as the picture goes on growing more and more and developing little by little until the unexpected ending . Nice acting by the German Mathieu Carrière as the unsettling Vietnam vet returning home via Belfast resulting in fateful consequences . He's well accompanied a lot of known B-actress from Europe that starred a lot of films at the time and in all kinds of genres , such as : Debra Berger , Christine Boisson , Miriam Boyer, Leonora Fani , Ely Galleani , Carole Laure and Eva Mattes who often played for Werner Herzog .

Atmospheric cinematography , though being really necessary a perfect remastering . Shot on location in Hamburg, Germany , Dublin, County Dublin, Ireland (Belfast segments) , Belfast, County Antrimc, Northern Irelandc, UK and Studio Bendestorf, Lower Saxony, Germany . This chilling and obscure terror movie was regularly directed by Denis Héroux and uncredited Géza von Radványi . This nice filmmaker Denis Héroux, was born 1940 in Montreal, Quebec, Canada and died 2015 in Montreal . He was a producer/director, and Member of the jury at the Berlin International Film Festival in 1981 . He was awarded the O. C. -Officer of the Order of Canada- on December 19 , 1983 for his services to the film industry in Canada . He was a notorious director and producer , being especially known for The Uncanny (1977) , Atlantic City (1980) , Quest for Fire (1981) , The Bay Boy (1984) , The Park in Mine (1985) . Denis directed some films in all sorts of genres , such as : ¨Born for Hell , Jacques Brel Is Alive and Well and Living in Paris , Strikebreaker , Y'a toujours moyen de moyenner! , J'ai mon voyage! , Quelques arpents de neige , Un enfant comme les autres.., fois... par jour , L'amour humain , L'initiation , Valérie , Pas de vacances pour les idoles and Alone or with Others¨ . Born For Hell (1976) rating : 5/10 . Mediocre , though passable terror movie.

This could have been some sort of "Taxi Driver". Could, if they just could have pulled it along with Scorcese's skills. After all, low-budgeter "Taxi Driver" had all it took to make an exploitation movie. This one has the gritty realism, the context (Visions of some overall violent world from Ireland to Vietnam, even more relevant nowadays), the disturbing elements… But does not seem to know what to do with them. We had an understanding of what Travis Bickle was up to, even if we were not in his head, we had enough to go with and sympathize (just like in real life actually), which makes even the botched attack on a political candidate an anti-anticlimax. Here, despite Mathieu Carrière's excellent acting, we have only disjointed things : he's a Vietnam vet, his wife cheated on him, he might be impotent and might have a death wish (though his actions denies it). How did it all comes together in one long, violent episode is anyone's guess. M. Carrière manages to keep the character's desperation obvious, but to what end ? It's not really a chain of events that leads him to his horrific deeds. The cheesy dialogue does not really helps, like a reference to lesbianism, fortunately without any moral tut-tutting, that leads nowhere. The whole things feels just like an experience in exploitation with some hints at social comment, or the other way around, if you feel so inclined. It's not bad, but it's one movie that could have been so much better if its various interesting elements have gelled into something coherent.

Now, this might have been a lot more interesting with actual Irish girls playing the parts of the nurses.

As it is, it is supposed the most accurate movie inspired by Richard Speck, the Chicago murderer. In this case, the events are set in Belfast during the height of the conflict there. The rapist murderer is an American returning from Vietnam and waiting to get home. This is no spoiler as the Speck story is well known.

It's hard to believe that the girls just sat there and waited for their deaths. They could have done something. Maybe fear overcame them.

War, family problems, infidelity; all factors that produce these creatures.

An earnestly crafted psycho thriller infused with a bit more constancy and seriousness than the median example of its type. Making it especially unsettling is the factual bedrock which underlies the grim story...this is most certainly a laundered elucidation of Richard Speck's notorious killing spree, to at least some degree of accuracy.

A communal household of young nurses in Ireland becomes a hellhole of horror when they are collectively besieged by a criminally disunited male youth, a recent veteran of the war in Vietnam.. His deep-seated anti-female resentments ignite with a flicker, and gradually escalate to a firestorm...the ensuing terror, torture, and death are gruesomely depicted with a straightforward, blank-faced directness that sensitive viewers might find disagreeable. Those of a tougher skin, however, may appreciate NAKED MASSACRE for its surprising testicular brass...a rattling nightmare to challenge the viewer's emotional acumen. Gritty, grievous, and plegmatic, this film is certainly not without its flaws, but it does answer loud and clear to its grim calling.

6/10