Overview: For his follow-up to CANNIBAL HOLOCAUST, director Ruggero Deodato delivered a shocker packed with even more cruelty and controversy. 40+ years later, it remains one of the most disturbing exploitation films of all time, now in UHD for the first time ever in North America: David Hess of THE LAST HOUSE ON THE LEFT infamy stars as a charismatic psychopath who – with his equally unhinged sidekick (Giovanni Lombardo Radice of CITY OF THE LIVING DEAD) – turns a get-together of chic New Yorkers into an ordeal of class warfare and sexual violence.

Annie Belle (ABSURD), Christian Borromeo (TENEBRAE) and Lorraine De Selle (WILD BEASTS) co-star in this sick, perverted and demented classic (Savage Cinema) from the screenwriters of THE NEW YORK RIPPER, now scanned uncut in 4K from the original camera negative with 3+ hours of Special Features.

4K Blu-ray Review: For my money, this is, and quite easily, one of cult director Ruggero Deodato’s (Cannibal Holocaust) best films from the early 80s, and within the whole rape/revenge exploitation sub-genre. Sure it doesn’t dare to follow the straight, atypical rape/revenge narrative – like such films as I Spit On Your Grave – but instead what it does is employ some of the larger elements within the genre which still makes for some, at times, distasteful cinema (which is exactly what it obviously set out to do).

What we get is a tale that brings us Alex, brilliantly overplayed by David Hess (The Last House on the Left), and his mentally disabled buddy Ricky (John Morghen), who after fixing a couple’s car, in lieu of payment, get themselves invited to a house party hosted by some upper-class people. Now, having already witnessed an opening scene where Alex rapes and strangles a woman in her own car, we kinda know what to expect from the guys going forward inside this house!

And yet, and enjoyably so, and purposely avoiding all the usual tropes of those exploitation films that had already come out, House on the Edge of the Park remains surprisingly unpredictable and enjoyably entertaining all the way; so long as you are not someone who is easily offended, of course. Coupled with oodles of tension, creepy suspense and even some dabs of wondrously smart dark humor, the film still showcases a solid vein of both humiliation and sexual violence, so be aware going in.

In closing, the cinematography is good and Riz Ortolani’s score is rather excellent and it is a clear marker that Italian cinema again delivers violence aplenty; in this case, that lead to the inevitable censorship issues in some territories – such as the UK, for example, where I myself grew up and can attest to. [T.P.]

Special Features:
DISC 1: 4K UHD (FILM + SPECIAL FEATURES)
• Audio Commentary By Bruce Holecheck (Cinema Arcana) And Art Ettinger (Ultra Violent)
• Trailer

DISC 2: BLU-RAY (FILM + SPECIAL FEATURES)
• Audio Commentary By Bruce Holecheck (Cinema Arcana) And Art Ettinger (Ultra Violent)
• The Man Who Loved Women – Interview With Director Ruggero Deodato
• Lights On – Interview With Cinematographer Sergio D’Offizi
• Like A Prairie Dog – Interview With Actor Giovanni Lombardo Radice
• External Beauty & Internal Ugliness – Archival Interview With David Hess
• House Sweet House – Interview With Set Designer Antonello Geleng
• Gallery
• Trailer

• Disc Specs:
• Runtime: 92 mins
• Audio: English Mono, Italian Mono
• 4K Video: HDR10
• Closed Captions, English Subtitles
• 4K UHD Region Free | Blu-ray Region A
• Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1

• *All foreign-language featurettes are subtitled in English.

Official Purchase Link