FERNANDO DI LEO

Bil’s rating (out of 5):  BB.  

Original title:  Vacanze Per Un Massacro

Italy, 1980.  Midia Cinematografica.  Story by Mario Gariazzo, Screenplay by Fernando Di Leo.  Cinematography by Enrico Lucidi.  Produced by Armando Novelli.  Music by Luis Bacalov.  Production Design by Francesco Cuppini.  Costume Design by Carolina Ferrara.  Film Editing by Amedeo Giomini.

Made during Joe Dallesandro’s run of Italian productions following the Paul Morrissey horror movies he shot there, this one unfortunately shows director Fernando Di Leo past the prime of his better projects with Luc Merenda.  Dallesandro plays a convict recently escaped from prison who heads to a remote cabin where a stash of money he stole years earlier is hidden underneath the fireplace (why?  It’s never explained).  To get his loot he needs to deal with the cabin’s current occupants, a married couple and the wife’s sister with whom the husband is also having an affair.  All Joe needs to do is point a gun in someone’s face and force them to dig, but this is Eurotrash exploitation at its seediest, so first he watches people have sex and then has ridiculous encounters with the ladies himself before going after what he wants.  The sexual politics of this film (it’s only rape until she decides she’s having a good time) are too outrageous to even bother criticizing, basically don’t watch it unless you’re a Dallesandro completist (guilty) or if you remember being perfectly happy with the world in early eighties Italy.