Rosso sangue (1981) Reviews

• Antro... Antropho... ABSURD!!

  Coventry2006-11-20

  Joe D'Amato and George Eastman's follow-up to the notorious "The Grim Reaper" (Antropophagus) is sick, twisted and – oh yes – deliciously absurd! There's no real story and the amount of genuine chills is limited, but the gory murder sequences are sensational and they easily rank among the craziest stuff ever caught on film. Eastman once again portrays a Greek psycho-killer, though a different one than the fetus-munching monster in Antropophagus (love that title!), cheerfully butchering half the population of a small American town. Nikos isn't your ordinary madman, but a scientific guinea pig whose blood coagulates much faster and hence he instantly recovers from severe wounds, like gunshots or impalement. He's pursued by an unintelligible priest, a chain-smoking copper and his black assistant who isn't allowed to talk without permission. No wonder none of these blokes is capable of catching or even tracing Nikos and the body count increases immensely. Whenever George isn't barbarically killing someone using band saws, surgical devices or axes, "Absurd" is rather dull, slow-moving and borrowing story ideas as well as direct quotes from John Carpenter's landmark slasher Halloween. There's babysitters in peril, young kids spotting the bogeyman everywhere around the house and dangerous killers escaping from hospital beds. Still, if you're looking for really good horror cinema, just wait for the climax which is quite suspenseful and it makes the popular title "Absurd" all the more meaningful.

• OK film, should be re-issued!

  simpsibum2006-02-14

  It is uncertain if Absurd actually is a sequel to Anthropophagus the beast. Many sites will say 'supposed' sequel because there are so many different counters. In Anthropophagus the beast, the Antropophagus beast is is a monster, it does not look like a normal person but in absurd he is just a normal man. Also the Anthropophagus beast is a cannibal but in absurd the killer just seems to murder his victims. Also he was left dead on a Greek island and he turns up in Absurd suddenly in normal clothes and in the U.S. There is no recalls whatsoever from the first movie the priest who is chasing him just says he is a killing machine. The killer in Absurd looks a bit like the beast from Anthropophagus due to the moustache but that is it! Another similarity is it is made by the same directer from Antropophagus the beast. Anaway the story..... The killer (it MITE be the Anthropophagus beast) is injured on a fence at a family home while trying to brake in. He is taken to the hospital where the doctor operating on him is shocked at his ability to recreate dead cells and dead tissue. A police officer (forgot his name) finds a Greek man who is walking out in the middle of the night in the middle of the road. Later on the policeman is at the hospital and finds the Greek man there. The officer puts the two together and starts asking questions (as the killer also comes from Greece, another similarity from Anthropophagus) about who he is and what he is trying to do. It turns out he is a priest and is here to stop the killer. Meanwhile, the killer awakens, kills a nurse by drilling a whole slowly through her brain, and then pops off for a killing spree. In the meantime people are cooked, heads chopped off, hacksaws through skulls and people are strangled and beaten. This movie would easily make an uncut 18 certificate (appealing to UK readers who films like this are always cut or banned) and is on the list of infamous Video Naties. It has never been re-issued but was released on VHS with an X certificate and is now extremely hard to get hold of. Read more of my reviews on other horrors and video nasties!!!

• Violent and nasty follow-up to Antropophagus

  The_Void2006-06-27

  This cult film is both the follow-up to Joe D'Amato's notorious shocker 'Antropophagus', and one of the nastier films on the DPP 'Video Nasty' list. Those two facts alone will give many fans of cult horror reason enough to see it, and I'm pleased to say that the rest of the film isn't bad either; and while it's not quite as great as D'Amato's earlier film, Absurd plays out well as an overly gory slasher flick. Of course, you can't expect things like great acting and a plausible story line going into a film like this, and rather unsurprisingly; this film has neither. However, what it does have is a great gritty atmosphere, which is bathed in a scintillating soundtrack that succeeds in making the thrill scenes more exciting. The plot is silly in the extreme, but is somehow easy to buy as we follow a priest who travels to a small town on the trail of a supposed monster, who is currently lying on a hospital bed. The doctors are baffled to learn that his blood clots far faster than normal and this somehow makes him immortal. It's not long before the monster awakes and, naturally, goes on a killing spree. George Eastman takes the lead role again and just as it did in Antropophagus; his imposing presence provides the film's main standout, despite him basically marauding around rather than actually acting. Obviously, the most important thing about this film for many will be the gore; and overall I'd say it just about tops Antropophagus. It was only two scenes that made the earlier film such a notorious shocker, and while there aren't a great number of highly nasty scenes here; they're more common and the film is more violent on the whole. Sequences involving a drill, a table saw and a severed head are among the best scenes in the movie. Director Joe D'Amato receives a lot of criticism, and while some of it is deserved; it has to be said that he has elevated this film over and above what you would expect of a grisly slasher. The atmosphere is superb, while the locations are well used and selected - and best of all, the director clearly knows how to build suspense; as the last twenty minutes of this film are truly gripping...and that's not bad at all considering that the characters are impossible to care for. Overall, anyone seeing this film will know not to expect great things - but its well worth seeing for the Video Nasty fan, and overall I'd say it's almost on par with the first film.

• Very brutal horror film.

  HumanoidOfFlesh2004-01-13

  A priest is pursuing a madman who,the victim of a genetic experiment,has become a homicidal killer with blood that coagulates very quickly,making him virtually indestructible.The killer goes on the rampage in a small town.This ultra-gory sequel to Joe D'Amato's "Antropophagus" is very slow and boring at times but has also some creepy moments plus plenty of very strong violence and gore.The bandsaw killing is ten times nastier than the similar drill scene in Lucio Fulci's "City of the Living Dead".The gore flows freely resulting in a film that is simultaneously repellent and extremely funny.Highly recommended.

• Wolverine in a horror movie…without the bite

  RomanJamesHoffman2012-12-03

  'Absurd' is Joe D'Amato's follow-up to the notorious 'Antropophagus' and it often referred to as its sequel. However, apart from the same director and having the looming George Eastman once again wandering around killing people, there is very little similarity save the fact they are both poor films…with 'Absurd' definitely trumping its predecessor in the low quality stakes. Gone is the setting on a remote and eerily empty Greek island which characterised 'Antropohagus ', instead supplanting the (so-called) action to a small American town. In doing this, 'Absurd' is clearly going for a 'Halloween' nightmare-in-suburbia vibe…but in lacking any of the character development, script, or technical craft of Carpenter's flick, 'Absurd' flails about limply with a lame premise, zero suspense, and only manages to glimpse redemption (albeit unattained) with the make-up effects on the kills…which is no doubt why is got on the DPP's list of Video Nasties. The plot (as some would have it) is that Eastman has undergone a scientific procedure which has enabled his body to regenerate itself quickly (a la Wolverine) and consequently can only be killed with a shot to the head. Oh, and he's insane. As such, a killing spree ensues and the Priest-cum-scientist who "created" him hooks up with the town Sheriff to hunt him down. The showdown takes place in a house with a girl (for some reason) recovering from a spinal operation, her nurse, and a really annoying kid. I've always found a house to be a great setting for a suspenseful horror movie (e.g. 'Last House on the Left' (1972), 'Black Christmas' (1974), 'Halloween' (1978)) but the pacing of 'Absurd' is so slow and the acting so bad on all counts that none of the suspense and tension which is so abundantly present in these other movies even threatens to show its head…let alone eviscerate you. Okay, putting on my positive cap: some of the kills are pretty cool e.g. the buzzsaw-in-the-head scene as well as the oven scene, and the soundtrack has its moments…but even in a 90 minute film with competent acting and a decent story this wouldn't cut it, let alone a movie as deplorable as this. The film is quite hard to come by as it hasn't been reissued in the UK, which maybe adds a mystique to it but, as far as video nasties go, it's clear that boredom more than moral outrage is the reason why.