I've always thought Absurd was a sequel-in-name only to D'Amato's earlier splatterpiece, Anthropophagus, but after watching this supposed sequel again I'm starting to feel it actually have a connection or two. Not only is this a rip-off on Halloween - and in one idea, also Halloween II, it quite cleverly could be considered a prequel to Jaume Balagueró and Paco Plaza's brilliant 2007 found footage flick [Rec]. Not that was the meaning, but there's a few details which makes them connect - more on that in a little while.
Without explaining how a Catholic priest, played by a lovely and stiff Edmund Purdom and a crazy giant, played by the imposing George Eastman ends up nowhere near Greece, we're introduced to these two in the middle of the chase somewhere in the countryside. George gets stuck on top of a fence and rips his stomach open... Edmund seems to abandon him somewho and George ends up in a nearby house where he's quickly transferred to a hospital - where he soon heals miraculously and starts a brutal killing spree in the neighborhood - and of course ends up in the same house as in the beginning, where a baby sitter is guarding a little boy and a sick, bedridden girl! Scary!
Or maybe not scary. Because Absurd is one of the most retarded movies ever written. Not saying it's quite fun, but compared to the almost poetic and artistic superior Anthropophagus, it's obviously written by ten one-armed, blind monkeys who obviously can't write something like this because their knowledge of putting together a story and writing it down impossible because they're mentally inferior to humans. But I'm not saying it's not worth watching. It's filled with nasty deaths - often using dead pigs as "special" effects and stereotypical characters as helpless, moronic women, sex-starved men and one big eye-rolling Eastman dominating all the scenes he's in. The basic story of the priest and the killer is similar to Halloween, and the ending has some similarities to Halloween 2 - but much more drawn-out and less effective. I mean, it's very easy to escape a blind dude in a giant room. Just saying.
Something I totally forgot was the interesting backstory to why this is happening. According to the priest the catholic church have conducted experiments on a man - who was supposedly lost at sea - in Greece, to - think - prolong life and the body heal faster - but it didn't work that well, because he's obviously becomes a minion of Satan instead! This, as you might see, reminds a lot about the backstory in [Rec] and [Rec]2. The constant references to Greece and fast healing also connects it to Anthropophagus, which ends with the killer getting his belly ripped open - and Absurd begins with the same thing, but he heals fast as hell and can continue his murderous hobby! Have this happen before? Is the man on the island in the first movie a result of the experiments of the catholic church and is he now roaming the countryside of some generic English-speaking country?
What the hell do I know, but it's fun to speculate. Absurd might be one fucking stupid movie, but it's still quiet an effective and very trashy slasher with the Italy's tradmarked violence and sleaze. It's better than its reputation, but far from a movie you would show to your date the evening you hopefully want to have sex for the first time.
The risk is that you're just gonna hear the door slamming shut and someone running down the stairs crying. But that's the destiny of real movie aficionados.
And hey, don't have a gorgeous original poster in my litte home office? :)
"Or maybe not scary. Because Absurd is one of the most retarded movies ever written."
ahahhahhahah.....yeah, the storyline sounded utterly stupid.
"it's obviously written by ten one-armed, blind monkeys who obviously can't write something like this because their knowledge of putting together a story and writing it down impossible because they're mentally inferior to humans."
Maybe one day......ten monkeys writing a sequel to James Joyce Ulysses.....it might happen.
"Absurd might be one fucking stupid movie, but it's still quiet an effective and very trashy slasher with the Italy's tradmarked violence and sleaze."
That´s nice....
"It's better than its reputation, but far from a movie you would show to your date the evening you hopefully want to have sex for the first time.
The risk is that you're just gonna hear the door slamming shut and someone running down the stairs crying. But that's the destiny of real movie aficionados."
hahahahahha.....she might be a freak and get turned on by it.....good review and thanks Fred.
Posted by: Megatron | January 24, 2014 at 16:36
I like the [rec] connection. Maybe the Greek priests learned this from the priests on Fulci's caribbean island ?
Posted by: Volker | February 10, 2014 at 16:39