Last House on Dead End Street
(aka The Cuckoo Clocks of Hell)
(aka The Fun House)

Victor Janos (1977, USA)

Cast: Steven Morrison, Dennis Crawford, Lawrence Bornman, Janet Sorley,...

Plot:
After spending 1 year in jail, Terry, a young dude with an attitude decides to make snuff-movies. He puts his crew together (each of them more insane and sadistic than the other) and starts looking for victims for his movies. His last victims happen to be not only snuff-movie lovers and makers, but also the people financing his very movies! And they must face the brutal truth, what makes Terry's film look so real is because they're real, and they soon realize they're gonna be part of his films..

Appreciation: 7/10
A snuff-movie about snuff-movies (for those unfamiliar, snuff-films are films containing real scenes of torture, death, abuse and such). The idea itself is great and full of promises. Only thing is, if you spend more time talking about the thing than you spend showing the actual "stuff", you risk losing your audience.
And this is almost what happens with this film. The first half drags so much in length that after a while you wonder if you're gonna see anything interesting at all (not that gratuitous nudity is not interesting but that's not the point of the movie). And watching 5 minutes of whipping punctuated by pointless other scenes does not qualify as interesting or entertaining, even more so if you don't even really get to see the whipping. Now that's the whole problem with the first hour of the movie. Things happen off-camera, they are talked about, but you never get to see them! And that's a big mistake for a movie of that nature, knowing that the audience is there to see the gruesome stuff.
Fortunately enough, the last half-hour repays the audience with what it expects, that is plenty of gore and a great atmosphere. The pure sadism in the torture of the movie producer and his wife, as well as the disembowlment of the wife are surely disturbing and unforgettable moments. One thing you can't complain about here is the reality feeling which is rendered really well. Now, i'm not a huge fan of that gritty 70s look in picture quality, but i can see it has it's merit when used well. If only they could have carried that last half-hour atmosphere to the rest of the movie..
The musical score, as the rest of the movie, is part fantastic, part utterly annoying. Had it not been for those annoying moments, i would've said it's one of the best score ever for such a low budget movie. Same goes with the main character, with the most annoying laugh since Chandler's girlfriend in "Friends" (oh wait, that came afterwards..). By moments, you just feel like hitting his head on the wall to make him stop laughing and being generally annoying (but of course you know it would only make him laugh harder in your head) Ok i'm digressing here.. I have to say that this guy still gave a great performance after all.
Last thing worth noticing is the funny dubbing, which is never (i mean it, never) in synch with the lips of the actors.
(Due to heavy banning, this film might be hard to find and the circulating prints are apparently heavily cut)

Other suggestions: Cannibal Ferox, Cannibal Holocaust, Henry, portrait of a serial killer, Texas Chainsaw Massacre