Wordiezett
So much average
Spoonixel
Amateur movie with Big budget
Karlee
The joyful confection is coated in a sparkly gloss, bright enough to gleam from the darkest, most cynical corners.
MonsterVision99
"Absurd (1981)" it's an Italian slasher movie directed by Joe D' Amato, the film its very derivative, it takes many elements from "Halloween (1978)", like its music, its setting, its plot and its characters, obviously "Absurd" its not as good as "Halloween", but manages to deliver a healthy dose of gore and some intense killings.I watched the most complete version of the film, what this means is that its a version that tries to be as complete as possible, so its quality changes drastically from time to time, but honestly, that wasn't what bothered me the most while watching the film. Some of the worst aspects of this movie fall in its pacing, and in its awful dubbing. I believe that Joe D' Amato is a good director, he sometimes does awful z-movies to gain a quick buck, but he has some good movies on his filmography, like "Buio Omega (1979)" and "Emanuelle in America (1977)", this one it's not among his best films, but I wont say that its among his worst either.There were many times in this film when I found myself just hoping for boring and repetitive scenes to be over, so that the film could move on to the next gory and crazy scene, but there isn't much of a kill- count in this movie, just 6 people die, but those death scenes are quite gory and intense.I would recommend this movie to those who are familiar with Joe D' Amato's work and wouldn't mind sitting through this movie, its boring at times, it's characters are dull and forgettable, but it has some redeeming qualities, like the death scenes.
tomgillespie2002
As is the case with many low-budget horror films released numerous times with different cuts and ratings in various different continents, Joe D'Amato's Absurd is known under a wealth of alternative titles. Also known as Horrible, Rosso Sangue and Monster Hunter, the film was labelled as too gruesome for British audiences in the 1980's and found itself on the dreaded Video Nasty List. The most bizarre title to make its way onto its VHS cover is Anthropophagus 2, although the film has little in common with D/Amato's Anthropopogus: The Grim Reaper apart from the lead casting of George Eastman as yet another impossibly strong man-mountain with a fondness for gruesome murder.The film begins with Mikos (Eastman), a beast of a man with an unnaturally fast healing factor, fleeing a priest. As he tries to escape by scaling a fence, Mikos is impaled on the railing spikes which disembowel him. It is while at the hospital that the doctors discover his amazing ability to heal, but he is soon on the loose after murdering a nurse. The madman is eventually hit by a car driven by Mr. Bennett (Ian Danby), who flees the scene and returns to his wife, son, and bed-ridden daughter Katia (Katya Berger). The family soon finds themselves under attack from Mikos, while police officer Sgt. Engleman (Charles Borromel) and the priest (Edmund Purdom) attempt to hunt down the rampaging savage.Apart from a couple of entertainingly gory murders (a buzzsaw to the temple and a head in the oven are particular 'highlights'), Absurd suffers from some serious pacing issues. As the story bobbles around between the various characters having inane conversations, the film becomes incredibly boring and short of action. It's debatable as to whether Anthropophagus (1980) or Absurd takes the prize for the most tedious 90 minutes, but I feel that Absurd just edges it. Although Eastman does little more than stumble around with a crazy look in his eyes, he certainly has a presence, but here he is given a disappointingly short amount of screen time. By the time the climax finally arrives, it plods on and on as Katia is forced to learn to walk again to escape the bogeyman, which does not make for exciting viewing. Absurd, indeed.
Darkweasel
Recently, I've been trying to catch up on all the "Video Nasties" I never got a chance to see when I was younger. This time out we have the sort of unofficial sequel to Anthropophagous - The Beast. I say unofficial because there's no actual continuation of the story here, it just happens to have been directed by the same guy (one man Italian movie conveyor belt Joe D'Amato), and written by the rather large George Eastman who also plays the hulking great monsters in both films.So, in Absurd, we start with big George running away from a man in a black coat. Trying to escape over a pointy metal gate, he winds up being impaled on the spikes with his guts dribbling out of his tummy. After being taken to hospital, he undergoes surgery on something that looks like an overcooked sausage, and the doctor notes that the big man can quickly heal himself, effectively making him immortal. Well, that's handy isn't it. Oh, but he can be killed if you destroy/remove his brain. Not quite so handy.Anyway, after a quicker than average recuperation period for someone recently wearing his insides as a fashion accessory, ungrateful George kills a nurse by drilling a hole into into her head and then, for reasons best known to himself, heads back to the house where his intestines made a bid for freedom, killing anybody that gets in his way. A priest trying to be Donald Pleasence in Halloween tries to track him down, an old cop tries to help but doesn't really do a lot, and the married couple who live in the house are out watching an American football game at a neighbour's place, leaving their curly headed little boy and their invalid daughter alone with the babysitter and a sister with a baffling and intermittent Irish accent.Although Absurd isn't brilliant, it's gore scenes are better than most low budget horror films (the band saw to the head, and pick axe through the head scenes are quite impressive), and there are some quite suspenseful scenes in the latter half of the film. Unfortunately, a lot of those scenes are ruined by an over-insistent Halloween inspired theme tune obliterating much of the tension, replacing it with a mild irritation and an aversion to keyboard driven soundtracks. It's also quite fun to see, from the film's more than obvious nods to Halloween, how it seems that in turn the makers of Friday the 13th Part IV took their influence from Absurd. The indestructible killer begins his rampage in a hospital, moves to the woods, and then ends up in a house and a final battle with a vulnerable child.Where I've struggled to see why some of the other films I've watched were banned by the BBFC in the '80s, it's not too difficult to see why they didn't respond well to Absurd. It's not the nastiest thing you'll ever see (although the "acting" by the kid might very well be), but there's enough in it to see why it would have caused the censors back then a bit of concern."There's something I have to tell you". "Okay. I'm all ears". "It's about Thelma Gardelli up at the hospital. I'm afraid she was brutally murdered by that man we were operating on this morning".
Roman James Hoffman
'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.
