Night Killer (1990) review

NIGHT KILLER 1990 aka NON APRITE QUELLA PORTA 3 (DON'T OPEN THE DOOR 3) aka THE TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE 3

Tara Buckman (Melanie Beck), Peter Hooten (Axel), Richard Foster (Sherman), Mel Davis (Clark), Lee Lively (Dr. Willow), Tova Sardot (Clarissa), Gaby Ford (Dance Choreographer)

Directed by Claudio Fragasso

The Short Version: The only thing extreme about this Christmas-set, Italian Giallo filmed as an American-style thriller in Norfolk, VA is in how absurd it is. Terrible over-acting and dialog, unconvincing gore effects and bare breasts are the menu items for fans of outrageously subpar Euro-horror. It begins as a straight slasher-style film about a guy in a Freddy Krueger-ish Halloween mask with rubber claws inexplicably punching through women's chest cavities. It then segues into a psychological erotic thriller about an unhinged man's fascination with a mentally affected victim of the mock-Krueger killer--who may or may not be him. Unlike Mr. Extra Crispy, this masked maniac doesn't assail his victims in their dreams, although this NIGHT KILLER may indeed put you to sleep.

A masked killer wearing a glove with claws murders beautiful women; but one victim, Melanie Beck, manages to survive a savage rape and near death ordeal at the clawed hands of the maniac. Already dealing with a crumbling marriage, Melanie falls into a state of amnesia and borderline psychosis. She is soon pursued by a man who is, himself, slightly unhinged; and possibly the masked killer who caused her deteriorating mental condition.

There's one thing you can say for Claudio Fragasso, and that's the man had passion about his work. Even when he knew the finished product didn't turn out so well, he did his best to deliver an intentionally entertaining product even when the result was always unintentionally so. With NIGHT KILLER, Fragasso seems rather proud of it. In his defense, there's definitely a good story to be told within the narrative... it just doesn't end up on the screen. There's plenty of gold to be mined in a tale of two mentally wobbly individuals in a bizarre love affair wherein one of the disturbed two may be the catalyst for the borderline insanity of the other.

Unfortunately, the filmmakers fail as narrative prospectors--mining material of little value good only for laughs that weren't intended to be there. There's the occasional directorial flourish but these are immediately undermined by terrible dialog, terrible over-acting, and a heavy-breathing killer wearing an Incredible Melting Man mask with a rubber Freddy Krueger-looking glove. Said killer with rubber glove has the uncanny ability to punch through women's chest cavities in the film's few poorly conceived gore scenes. These sequences feel like they were intended for another movie. In a way, they were.

The producers wanted a different type of movie than what Fragasso gave them; so to make it saleable, additional scenes were requested to turn NIGHT KILLER into something resembling a horror movie. These bloody bits were directed by Fragasso's fellow filmmaking friend, Bruno Mattei; much to the chagrin of director Fragasso who was unaware at the time what was being done to his picture. Ironically, it was usually Fragasso who directed all the blood and gore in Mattei's non-epics; but this time, Mattei, the hired gun, was the one performing those duties. Sadly, NIGHT KILLER ended their filmmaking partnership although they made amends later as Fragasso came to terms with the reasoning that, despite what he tried to pull off, his movie needed some splashes of red to sell to foreign markets.

Tired of the waning, viscera-drenched Italian zombies and other supernatural shenanigans, Fragasso wanted to do something opposite his past works. If you're familiar with Fragasso's other directing gigs like MONSTER DOG (1986), TROLL 2 (1990), and ZOMBIE 4: AFTER DEATH (1990), you already know what to expect with NIGHT KILLER. Moreover, director Fragasso seems less interested in capitalizing on the Christmas setting than capturing the feeling of the American style erotic thriller that was fashionable at the time; only the Italian sensibilities keep getting in the way. The actors exaggerate their facial expressions and scream their lines to epically absurd proportions. You simply cannot take the movie seriously; and the utterly ridiculous twist at the end adds to the earnestness deficit.

The attempted suicide/puking scene on the beach is one of the film's many side-splitters (the camera just can't cut away from it). Instead of simply putting salt water in the bottles for Buckman's character to drink after she downs a bunch of pills, Axel instead dunks her in the ocean over and over again in the hope she'll just swallow a bunch of salt water that way; and nothing says finger lickin' good like a later sequence when the wild-eyed Axel returns to his apartment with some KFC and tells the suicidal Melanie to go ahead and end it all while he eats since "nothing does it to [him] like fried chicken." 

Taking into consideration the types and sizes of roles she was given, Tara Buckman was a better actress than she was given credit for; however, you wouldn't know with this overwrought and unbalanced performance. Buckman's booming delivery of lines like "NO!" and "BASTARD!" are matched only by her size-too-big sweater that keeps falling off her shoulders. For Euro horror buffs, Buckman shouting expletives may recall Lynda Day George's memorably hilarious utterance of "BASTARD!" in the gory and goony PIECES (1983); only Buckman's bellow lacks George's boisterous conviction. Further damage is done via her changing hairstyles and fluctuating makeup jobs that alter her appearance--sometimes in the same sequence.

Curiously, this was the third Christmas movie she appeared in. She starred in the 1979 Made For TV drama THE MAN IN THE SANTA CLAUS SUIT--notable for being the last starring role of Fred Astaire. Buckman then did the exact opposite of a feel-good Christmas movie by appearing in smaller capacity in the highly controversial St. Nick slasher favorite, SILENT NIGHT, DEADLY NIGHT (1984). NIGHT KILLER being the third festive flick, Buckman gets the biggest role of the three, and, unfortunately, the biggest embarrassment as well.

The actress was better served in the star-studded blockbuster THE CANNONBALL RUN (1981) and opposite Jan Michael Vincent in the low budget ALIEN clone, XTRO 2: THE SECOND ENCOUNTER (1991). 

Peter Hooten fares no better with an excessively hammy performance--his eyes threatening to explode from their sockets at any moment. With eyes bugged out and stressing a peculiar emphasis on any number of syllables in his dialog, Hooten's delivery is, quite simply, a hoot! It's really one of the most overdone portrayals of a psychotic disorder you're likely to see.

Much like his co-star, you'd never expect Hooten to be a good actor if all you had to go on was NIGHT KILLER. The man played some genuinely cogent supporting roles in movies like the underrated, vengeance-seeking whale picture ORCA (1977); and Castellari's energetic WWII movie, THE INGLORIOUS BASTARDS (the original '78 version; not that Tarantino "war" movie without any war in it). Hooten was also the original DR. STRANGE--in the 1978 Made For TV movie based on the Marvel Comics character of the same name.

Possibly the two erratic lead performances weren't entirely due to Fragasso's direction, but to the allegation they despised one another. At any rate, the animosity between Buckman and Hooten helped their portrayals in the most inadvertently hilarious way imaginable. Incidentally, the blu-ray extras with Fragasso and his screenwriter wife Rossella Drudi detailing the making of NIGHT KILLER are better than the movie. 

Bewilderingly, this was released in Italy as DON'T OPEN THE DOOR 3 (NON APRITE QUELLA PORTA 3); NON APRITE QUELLA PORTA being the Italian title for THE TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE (1974), making this third entry THE TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE 3! Obvious from the very beginning, there's no Texas and no chainsaws, much less a massacre of any kind.

If you are expecting NIGHT KILLER to be some lost Italian horror classic, you're in for a major disappointment. What little gore there is is lousy. What you're left with is a decent story poorly realized much like the performances and dialog given the actors to say. Aside from Buckman's bare breasts, the eroticism aspect wouldn't pass muster on Cinemax after midnight, either. If you're a fan of Fragasso's resume, however, including pictures he worked on with Bruno Mattei, then you already know what you're getting. For others, NIGHT will either put you to sleep or be an instant mood KILLER.

This review is representative of the Severin blu-ray. Specs and extras: new 4K master from the camera negative; 1080p 1.78:1 HD; interviews with Claudio Fragasso and Rossella Drudi; trailer; English dub; Italian with English subtitles; running time: 01:32:37

 

Downhill They Ride (1966) review

DOWNHILL THEY RIDE 1966

Pat Ting Hung (Cui Ying), Paul Chang Chung (Hsiao Kai), Huang Chung Shun (Zhu Jing Xu), Wang Hsieh (Hei Hu), Wen Ling (Sha Li Bai), Wei Ping Ao (Ding Si Bao), Ma Ying (Big Brother Hong), Shen Lao (He Lian Long)

Directed by Pan Lei

The Short Version: The first Eastern Western is a modestly entertaining romp written by King Hu (COME DRINK WITH ME) and directed by drama specialist and popular lyricist Pan Lei. Basically, it's a Magnificent Two helping out a town in need of rescue from a gang of burly bandits. There are better examples of Chinese-style western shoot'em ups, but, this being the first, both writer and director create a serviceable, if forgettable, start for what is essentially a sub-genre of Chinese curios.

Two wanderers meet after encountering horse thieves and decide to travel along together. Just passing through the town of Lao Long Gou, they learn the village is oppressed by a gang of mountain bandits led by the burly Big Brother Hong. After a tense run-in with some of the bandits, the two gunfighters decide to stay and help fortify the town and the surrounding grounds with traps for when the desperadoes return.

European westerns enjoyed several years of international popularity due in large part to Sergio Leone's DOLLARS trilogy. The genre eventually faded due to market saturation and its replacement by the burgeoning Kung Fu genre out of Hong Kong. But prior to that, Hong Kong filmmakers--primarily at Shaw Brothers Studio--produced several movies that blended the western with a Chinese sensibility. The first of these was Pan Lei's DOWNHILL THEY RIDE, released in February of 1966. Unlike some of the other examples of this peculiar mix, Pan's movie owes more to the American west than the Italian interpretation of it.

More fanciful than frigid, you won't find the anti-heroes of the Euro version of the old west; nor any John Wayne stoicism. Pan Lei's Eastern simply has the feel of an old fashioned Hollywood western. There's some violence and even a few bloody scenes in the usual Shaw Brothers tradition, but a jovial atmosphere dominates. The exact year is vague, but the time period is sometime in the late 1930s. The town the film centers around is basically one big happy family; as penned by writer King Hu.

Essentially 'The Magnificent Two', King Hu packs his script with plenty of characters but little characterization. The feeling of the genre is there, but not its heart. Curiously, a couple of the secondary characters have an air of mystery about them that would've been better suited for the two leads whom, sadly, are out of their element for this type of movie; otherwise, it's a standard gunplay drama with some humor thrown in.

King Hu found great fame as a director with his iconic swordplay drama COME DRINK WITH ME (1966); released a few months after DOWNHILL THEY RIDE. His second directorial effort after SONS OF THE GOOD EARTH (1965), he would go on to even greater success with DRAGON INN (1967); and especially A TOUCH OF ZEN in 1971, a swordplay picture that received great acclaim at the Cannes Film Festival in 1975. A revered filmmaker, he seemed to go downhill, in a manner of speaking, once he went out on his own--escaping the confines of the studio system. His body of work was eclipsed by his colleagues like Li Han Hsiang and Chang Cheh, and is often overlooked in favor of those two aforementioned filmmakers. Hu's work is more appealing to the art house crowd than the commercial one.

Shot during the winter months in Taiwan, the crew filmed on Mount Snow, the second highest mountain in Taiwan, some 3,000 feet above sea level. While the film itself is an average, mildly entertaining diversion, the photography is staggeringly attractive in the many wide shots caught in Hung Ching Yun's camera. Of particular note are the shots high atop the mountain with the clouds below the actors.

Director Pan Lei was quite successful with romantic movies and as a novelist and song writer. He would never be viewed as an action director, but he could hold his own in that genre when assigned to it; THE FASTEST SWORD (1968) being an astonishingly adept, dramatic sword picture despite its relative obscurity even among HK action film fans. Still, action was not Pan's strong suit, and he possibly wasn't all that interested in it. DOWNHILL THEY RIDE falls somewhere in between his dramas like SONG OF ORCHID ISLAND (1965) and LOVE WITHOUT END (1970); and something like PURPLE DARTS (1969), one of the few Wuxia pictures he helmed. Possibly due to the director's indifference to the material, the gun battles of DOWNHILL barely pass muster with everyone's aiming abilities consisting of throwing their arms outward whenever they fire a shot.

Paul Chang Chung was a very popular lead actor at the time but he's not right for this type of role. He did a fine spy in THE GOLDEN BUDDHA (1966); with romances and certain parts in swordplay dramas suiting him well, but playing a gunfighter was not a great fit. Like many popular actors, Paul Chang eventually branched out into directing. With swordplay epics saturating the markets in the early 70s, Paul had the desire to do a modern day action picture. Planning to shoot in September of 1971, it wasn't till 1973 that his directing debut appeared in the form of DEATH COMES IN THREE, a thriller about a Chinese man seeking revenge on the Japanese who murdered his parents in WWII. Among his many other credits, Paul had a small role as Inspector Koo in the international co-production, THE MILLION EYES OF SUMURU (1967), shot at Shaw Studios. 

Around the time he made DOWNHILL THEY RIDE, Paul Chang was romantically connected to Ivy Ling Po. He would later marry erotica starlet Hu Chin in 1975. Paul's brother, Chang Sum, was a filmmaker and sometimes actor. Some of his works include the exploitation flick BALD-HEADED BETTY (1975); and Kung Fu pictures like KUNG FU MASTER NAMED DRUNK CAT (1978), SNAKE IN THE MONKEY'S SHADOW (1979), the rare Shaw Brothers comic KF caper EVERY MAN FOR HIMSELF (1980), and DAGGERS 8 (1980).

Huang Chung Shun co-stars as Paul Chang's friend he meets on the road. Possessing a visage put to better use as villains in movies like A TASTE OF COLD STEEL (1970) and PURSUIT (1972), Huang fails as a protagonist in Pan Lei's Eastern. He's afforded even less of a presence than Paul Chang; the latter of which is given a romantic interest with Pat Ting Hung that, like the rest of the ensemble, goes nowhere. However, celebrated filmmaker Cheng Kang did co-direct Huang in a believable heroic capacity in the Shaw ZATOICHI clone, THE WANDERING SWORDSMAN (1968).

Chinese westerns is something that doesn't really roll off the tongue, but some examples are quite good, and even better action-wise than their Anglo counterparts. Other Eastern Westerns include the rare Shaw-Korean co-production THE BANDITS (1967/1971); Chang Tseng Chai's bandit epic REDBEARD (1971) and his action-packed revenger THE FUGITIVE (1972); Chu Yuan's exceptionally dramatic THE VILLAINS (1973); and Chang Cheh's revolution Eastern THE ANONYMOUS HEROES (1971) and fan favorite THE SAVAGE FIVE (1974). One of the more popular titles was another Shaw co-pro with Italy and the US titled THE STRANGER AND THE GUNFIGHTER (1975), starring Lee Van Cleef and Lo Lieh. KUNG FU BROTHERS IN THE WILD WEST (1973) is an independently made, and inferior mix of East and Europe that satisfies neither audience.

There's benefits to seeing the first Chinese western, but these will be best appreciated by Shaw Brothers fanatics, HK film history buffs and western enthusiasts curious of an Asian take on the material. Casual fans or even curiosity seekers will find nothing to interest them here. If you're expecting visceral thrills, DOWNHILL THEY RIDE will be an uphill battle for many viewers.

You can purchase a copy HERE. Running time: 01:45:26