I just watched the uncut Paragon video of SAVAGE WEEKEND (great title but misleading here) and I have to say that as slasher films go, this is one is slightly different but like so many of them, it's still a near complete failure. How does SAVAGE WEEKEND differ from other films like Friday the 13th or HALLOWEEN? Well, the script tries hard to be a bit more dramatic, have more intricate dialogue, or, in the end, it's simply more pretentious.
Speaking of pretentious, while I was watching SAVAGE WEEKEND, I couldn't help but to remember that pretentious French-Canadian flick, "The Decline of the American Empire": a bunch of men and women spend time in the country and talk endlessly about sex. SAVAGE WEEKEND is almost exactly like "The Decline of the American Empire": a bunch of uppity New Yorkers go to the country, and talk endlessly about sex (and are often nude or doing it).
Seriously, the whole thing was like watching a Bizarro version of "The Decline of the American Empire": both films have a gay man as a main character and they are the ones who cook the supper for their straight friends. This aspect is one of the few original points of SAVAGE WEEKEND that sets it apart from other slashers: when was the last time you saw an openly (but nonetheless stereotypical) gay man in a slasher?
Another so-called original aspect is the nudity. I almost thought the story took place in a nudist camp. Much more nudity then your average slasher (and they usually have a lot to begin with). And the last original aspect of SAVAGE WEEKEND is the cast, which is made of actual adult actors playing adult characters and not adult actors trying to play horny, stupid teens. What a novelty!
Anyway, once the film finally became a slasher, when someone picked up a mask and started killing the whole pretentious bunch, I didn't care for anything. It was too little too late. And the killing scenes are not very interesting (except for the long needle in the ear bit).
Aside from William Sanderson, whom I believe cannot give a bad performance, the rest of the actors are average to just plain awful. The story makes little sense when you think about it (too many crazy killers) and the direction even less sense. For example, SAVAGE WEEKEND starts with the ending, and when we finally arrive at the end, we still don't know who survived the whole thing. But I have to say that I got a kick out of watching something with aspirations of being an artsy John Sayles type of flick turn into a rather routine horror film.
Speaking of pretentious, while I was watching SAVAGE WEEKEND, I couldn't help but to remember that pretentious French-Canadian flick, "The Decline of the American Empire": a bunch of men and women spend time in the country and talk endlessly about sex. SAVAGE WEEKEND is almost exactly like "The Decline of the American Empire": a bunch of uppity New Yorkers go to the country, and talk endlessly about sex (and are often nude or doing it).
Seriously, the whole thing was like watching a Bizarro version of "The Decline of the American Empire": both films have a gay man as a main character and they are the ones who cook the supper for their straight friends. This aspect is one of the few original points of SAVAGE WEEKEND that sets it apart from other slashers: when was the last time you saw an openly (but nonetheless stereotypical) gay man in a slasher?
Another so-called original aspect is the nudity. I almost thought the story took place in a nudist camp. Much more nudity then your average slasher (and they usually have a lot to begin with). And the last original aspect of SAVAGE WEEKEND is the cast, which is made of actual adult actors playing adult characters and not adult actors trying to play horny, stupid teens. What a novelty!
Anyway, once the film finally became a slasher, when someone picked up a mask and started killing the whole pretentious bunch, I didn't care for anything. It was too little too late. And the killing scenes are not very interesting (except for the long needle in the ear bit).
Aside from William Sanderson, whom I believe cannot give a bad performance, the rest of the actors are average to just plain awful. The story makes little sense when you think about it (too many crazy killers) and the direction even less sense. For example, SAVAGE WEEKEND starts with the ending, and when we finally arrive at the end, we still don't know who survived the whole thing. But I have to say that I got a kick out of watching something with aspirations of being an artsy John Sayles type of flick turn into a rather routine horror film.