In the 1970s, a handful of films like Straw Dogs, Death Wish and Last House on the Left pushed back a few cinematic boundaries. They also provided inspiration for many copycat movies - titles like Vengeance Is Mine, I Spit On Your Grave, The Visitors, Death Hunt and Death Weekend. The latter of these - Death Weekend - is a Canadian thriller produced by a certain Ivan Reitman (who would go on to become a director of box office juggernauts like the two Ghostbusters flicks and Kindergarten Cop). It is a fairly forgettable siege thriller with a few moments of gore and an interestingly resourceful heroine.
Diane (Brenda Vaccaro) and Harry (Chuck Shamata) are on their way to a remote house. Harry is a self-obsessed and successful dentist who owns the house. He spends most of his time buying objects to gratify his wealth, without realising their true value. Diane is his latest conquest (she doesn't know it, but she's just one in a long line of weekend flings for Harry). En route to the house the couple are subjected to a scary road rage ordeal at the hands of four drunken hoodlums, led by the foul-mouthed, foul-minded Lep (Don Stroud). Diane successfully out-drives the unpleasant foursome and causes them to crash. However, Lep tracks them down to their secluded love nest and, aided by his cronies, subjects them to an even more degrading and sadistic ordeal.
Vaccaro is far too good an actress for a sleazy, violent exploitation flick such as this. She gives a good performance, as you would expect, but it's wasted on the repellent material. Stroud also registers strongly as a deplorable villain, and Shamata is OK as the vain, heartless playboy. For gorehounds there are some worthwhile moments - the highlight being a chilling throat slashing scene - but it's a long wait until the nasty stuff gets underway. Death Weekend is essentially an intentionally mean-spirited thriller. It offers the lingering threat of rape as a form of entertainment, and asks us to enjoy scenes of drunken abuse, degradation, destruction, idiocy, and graphic murder. Ultimately, the unpleasantness becomes a turn-off. The thoughtfulness of Straw Dogs and the black humour of Death Wish is nowhere to be found. This is just unpleasantness for its own sake.... and that's just NOT what movies are all about.
Diane (Brenda Vaccaro) and Harry (Chuck Shamata) are on their way to a remote house. Harry is a self-obsessed and successful dentist who owns the house. He spends most of his time buying objects to gratify his wealth, without realising their true value. Diane is his latest conquest (she doesn't know it, but she's just one in a long line of weekend flings for Harry). En route to the house the couple are subjected to a scary road rage ordeal at the hands of four drunken hoodlums, led by the foul-mouthed, foul-minded Lep (Don Stroud). Diane successfully out-drives the unpleasant foursome and causes them to crash. However, Lep tracks them down to their secluded love nest and, aided by his cronies, subjects them to an even more degrading and sadistic ordeal.
Vaccaro is far too good an actress for a sleazy, violent exploitation flick such as this. She gives a good performance, as you would expect, but it's wasted on the repellent material. Stroud also registers strongly as a deplorable villain, and Shamata is OK as the vain, heartless playboy. For gorehounds there are some worthwhile moments - the highlight being a chilling throat slashing scene - but it's a long wait until the nasty stuff gets underway. Death Weekend is essentially an intentionally mean-spirited thriller. It offers the lingering threat of rape as a form of entertainment, and asks us to enjoy scenes of drunken abuse, degradation, destruction, idiocy, and graphic murder. Ultimately, the unpleasantness becomes a turn-off. The thoughtfulness of Straw Dogs and the black humour of Death Wish is nowhere to be found. This is just unpleasantness for its own sake.... and that's just NOT what movies are all about.