Absurd

From Video Underbelly

Absurd
1981 · Italy · 90m 15s
Body count: 7
Directed by Joe D'Amato
Produced by Donatella Donati
Joe D'Amato
Written by George Eastman
Starring George Eastman
Charles Borromel
Katya Berger
Edmund Purdom
Music by Carlo Maria Cordio
Cinematography Joe D'Amato
Editing by George Morley
Language Italian
Amazon · IMDb
Support Video Underbelly by buying Absurd from Amazon.
Looking for Katia.
Looking for Katia.
Absurd, also known under a multitude of other titles (Rosso Sangue, Antropophagus 2, Horrible, The Grim Ripper 2, Zombie 6, Monster Hunter, Ausgeburt der Hölle, Maldición Satánica, etc.), is a 1981 Italian film directed by Joe D'Amato and written by George Eastman. Absurd gained much of its notoriety by being considered a video nasty banned by the BBFC. Although often labeled an indirect sequel to D'Amato and Eastman's Antropophagus (with which it shares a number of similarities), it stands alone as its own film.

Eastman stars as Mikos Stenopolis, a man genetically modified with blood that coagulates quickly, resulting in incredible healing powers. The downside of these powers is homicidal madness, and he's chased by a biochemist priest (Edmund Purdom) who happens to be part of the group who granted this gift. As the priest and local law enforcement (Charles Borromel) get closer to his capture, Mikos returns to the house of Katia, who has been bedridden with a spinal injury she has only just recently begun to recover from (in direct opposition to the quickly healing Mikos). When her brother Willy is in danger, frantically banging on a locked door only she can open, Katia decides that her healing needs an emotional, and violent, conclusion.

Absurd has had a number of releases over the years, but none are quite like the Wizard Video (as "Monster Hunter") or Ace Video/Edge Entertainment (as "Zombie 6: Monster Hunter") VHS tapes, whose back covers proclaim a "fiendish" "witch who cruelly blinds her victims", "mutated creatures bent on revenge" or a "sinister fog of doom", none of which actually occur in the film.

[edit] Taglines

[edit] Quotes

Plot exposition.
Plot exposition.
Dr. Kramer (after operating on Mikos): "It's absurd. Completely absurd. Recuperative powers like that simply don't exist ... What I'm remembering is how quickly his blood coagulated while I was operating on him... it's something I've never seen before in my life."

Father: "I know science can not accept it." Sgt. Ben Engleman: "So this Mikos Stenopolis is... how shall I put it... immortal?" Father: "Nor can blind faith accept it, but it is so. His body can regenerate dead cells." ... Engelman: "So, it turns out you're a priest." Father: "I serve God with biochemistry, not with rites and ceremonies." Engelman: "Yes, the consul told me you were doing some kind of experimental work in your institute. But shouldn't you have alerted the authorities, instead of running after this guy on your own?" Father: "When he escaped from the laboratory after the contamination, we advised authorities. They organized great hunt. You see this? Here is written that he is dead, officially dead ... It is written that Mikos is killed by rifles, by expert marksmen, and that his body is disappeared into the sea."

[edit] External reviews

Reviews make Willy happy.
Reviews make Willy happy.
"D'Amato 'borrows' such plot devices from Halloween as; the baby-sitter looking after young kids, the child who sees the 'boogeyman' but no one believes him and the Dr. Loomis character (the Greek priest). From Halloween's sequel we have; the killer stalking the hospital and later in the film, blinded by the final girl, subsequently playing cat and mouse by sound only. Where Absurd comes into its own is the graphic gore. Where Carpenter's film was an exercise in restraint, D'Amato's gives 'gratuitous' a whole new meaning. There are a few attempts at suspense, and by all accounts this is one of D'Amato's better paced films, but nothing challenges the on screen nastiness for the viewers attention." --Hysteria Lives!

"The elements that uphold the film beyond truly awful slasher films of the period (such as Juan Piquer Simon's Pieces) are worth mentioning, however. The soundtrack by Carlo Maria Cordi is quite striking at times, honorably melding piano and guitar work with synth undertones. Many of the otherwise dull scenes are livened by the often-eloquent score. Undoubtedly aided by the sonic excellence are some of D'Amato's best suspense scenes to date. The climatic duel between the beast and the family are quite good, especially when the family's invalid, bedridden daughter Katya [sic] (Katya Berger) frantically fumbles with her binding straps to rescue her younger brother from certain peril. The climatic fight between Katya and Eastman is also quite tense and lively. But unfortunately, D'Amato's flat and lifeless direction (he freely admitted that he was no phenom behind the lens) bars him from reaching the dizzying plateaus of suspense..." --Midnight Video

[edit] Distributors

[edit] Image gallery

If you've found an image in our Gallery that belongs here, but is not shown below, please add it.
Many posters and covers need higher quality versions; if you have 'em, consider replacing what we've got.

Movie poster.

Movie poster.

French movie poster.

Italian movie poster.

Spanish movie poster.

French lobby card.

French lobby card.

French lobby card.

French lobby card.

French lobby card.

French lobby card.

Astro Distribution VHS.

C & T Videofilm VHS.

C & T Videofilm VHS.

Carrere Video/Liberty Video VHS.

Carrere Video/Lumieres VHS.

Divisor VHS bootleg.

GF Video VHS.

Heeres Video VHS.

Lightning Video VHS.

Phoenix Home Video VHS.

Sick Video VHS.

Threat Theatre VHS.

X-Rated Kultvideo VHS.

Digital World DVD.

Laser Paradise DVD.

Medusa Pictures VHS.

Wizard Video VHS.

Ace Video/Edge Entertainment VHS.

JPV Austria VHS bootleg.

Astro Distribution DVD.

Astro Distribution DVD.

Astro Distribution DVD.

Astro Distribution DVD.

Title card.

Katia, in bed from the start.

Mikos, injured from Katia's front gate.

The black guy in the back is the deputy.

1: Death by drill.

1: Death by drill.

1: Death by drill.

All plot happens here.

2: Death by power saw. Video below.

3: Death by strangulation.

Black deputy is still in the back.

Willy, the babysitter, and Katia.

3: Death by strangulation. And blood.

Willy and Mikos meet.

4: Death by pickaxe.

The nurse and Mikos meet.

The nurse burns. Video below.

5: Death by scissors.

5: Death by scissors.

5: Death by scissors.

The compass and Mikos meet.

Blinded and searching for Katia.

Blinded and searching for Katia.

6: Death by strangulation.

7: Death by axe, decapitation.

7: Death by axe, decapitation.

7: Death by axe, decapitation.

7: Death by axe, decapitation.

[edit] Video gallery

If you've found a video in our Gallery that belongs here, but is not shown below, please add it.

Death by power saw.

The nurse burns.

Support Video Underbelly by buying Absurd from Amazon.
Retrieved from "http://www.videounderbelly.com/wiki/Absurd"
Personal tools