A nasty piece of exploitative Eurosleaze, Franco Prosperi's "The Last House on the Beach" (1978) yet tells a very simple story. In the film, a trio of particularly brutish thugs, led by the handsome Aldo (Ray Lovelock), breaks into a hilltop mansion to lay low after a violent bank heist. Too bad that the house they've chosen at random is occupied by a quintet of Catholic schoolgirls, presided over by Sister Cristina (cult Eurostar Florinda Bolkan). The three goons waste little time before starting to rape and kill the young women, until Cristina decides that...well, nun or no nun, she's mad as hell and isn't going to take it anymore! The vengeance that she and the younger ladies dish out on their persecutors is both a swift and satisfying one. I must add that despite the plot's simplicity, this film proved a bit hard to watch at times, largely due to the convincing performances by Stefano Cedrati and Flavio Andreini as those other two maniacs; they really do make for thoroughly hateful characters. Florinda, as usual, is impeccable, and the film offers up some additional pleasures in the form of lovely oceanside scenery (a stark contrast to the ugliness transpiring inside the house; wherever did they film this?) and a dynamic, propulsive score by Roberto Pregadio; the piece of music that accompanies Aldo's pursuit of Eliza (the prettiest of the girls, IMHO) down the hillside to the sea is especially dynamite. Prosperi directs his film to ensure a good deal of suspense, and in all, this is a pretty darn gripping presentation, with, thankfully, little in the way of explicit violence (what is suggested is quite terrible enough!). This nice-looking Severin DVD also includes a 1/2-hour interview with the still hunky Lovelock of today, during which the Italian confirms that "Ray Lovelock" IS indeed his real name. The actor's sincerity and charm make the character of Aldo seem, if possible, all the more monstrous.
Review of The Last House on the Beach
