Absurd (film)

Absurd (Rosso Sangue)
Film poster
Directed by	Joe D'Amato
Produced by	Joe D'Amato Donatella Donati
Written by	George Eastman
Screenplay by	George Eastman
Story by	George Eastman
Starring	Ian Danby Ted Rusoff Annie Belle Katya Berger Kasimir Berger Edmund Purdom George Eastman Hanja Kochansky Charles Borromel
Music by	Carlo Maria Cordio
Cinematography	Joe D'Amato
Edited by	George Morley
Production company	Filmirage Metaxa Corporation
Distributed by	Medusa Pictures
Release dates	October 1981 (1981-10) (Italy)
Running time	96 minutes
Country	Italy
Language	Italian

Absurd (Italian: Rosso Sangue; also known as Anthropophagus 2, Monster Hunter, Horrible and The Grim Reaper 2) is a 1981 Italian horror film directed by Joe D'Amato and written by George Eastman. The film is a follow-up to Antropophagus.

Absurd was one of the infamous Video Nasties of the United Kingdom, and became one of 39 titles to be successfully prosecuted under the Obscene Publications Acts in 1984. It was originally released in both a cut and uncut version with identical sleeve design by Medusa Home Video in 1981. The original tape is sought-after and is an expensive collectable among fans.

It was released in 1980s in the United States as Monster Hunter by Wizard Video. To add to its questionable fame, the film inspired the name for German black metal act Absurd, whose members later switched their interest from gore films to right wing politics and committed murder in 1993.

The film was considered, at the time of its release, as a "sequel" to the Zombi of horror films, under the title Zombie 6: Monster Hunter. An incorrect description on the back of the box promoted the film as a sequel to those zombie films for a period of time.

Plot

The plot involves a near invincible man known as Mikos, a Greek citizen who was given a healing factor and driven insane by church-sanctioned scientific experimentation. A priest pursues Mikos to a town in America, and attempts to destroy him by impaling him on a set of railings which disembowel him, but he is revived later in a local hospital. The madman escapes after brutally murdering a nurse, and goes on a killing spree. The priest informs the hospital and authorities that the only way to kill Mikos is to 'destroy the cerebral mass'.

While attacking a motorcyclist after escaping from the hospital, Mikos is struck by a hit-and-run driver. The driver of the car, Mr. Bennett, and his wife are going to a friend's house to watch a football game, leaving their two children at home with a babysitter. Their daughter Katia is confined to her bed because of a problem with her spine, while her younger brother believes that the 'Bogeyman' is coming to get him.

Mikos makes his way to the Bennetts' home, and begins to murder everyone there. Peggy, a family helper, is stabbed in the head with a pickaxe, and the babysitter has her head forced into a lit oven and is stabbed in the throat with a pair of scissors, but not before sending the brother off to get help. Katia struggles from her bed to take on the killer herself. Mikos breaks into Katia's bedroom and attacks her, but she manages to stab him in the eyes with a set of drawing compasses. She then stumbles down the hallway as the blinded killer staggers after her. He stalks her through the house, but Katia manages to elude him. The priest arrives and struggles with Mikos, and Katia grabs an axe from a decorative suit of armor and decapitates Mikos with it. The police and the rest of the family arrive to discover Katia standing in the doorway, covered in blood holding Mikos's severed head.

Background

Absurd is in many ways a 'non-sequel' to Anthropophagus, as the only real connections between the two films – besides George Eastman and Joe D'Amato – is the presence of a homicidal man (played by George Eastman in effectively the same role as the one he played in the first film) who is disemboweled in both films, and who comes from a Greek island.

On its release some critics accused the film of being nothing more than an Italian version of Halloween. There are some similarities between the two films – references to a 'Bogeyman' and a babysitter and her charges in peril from a silent and seemingly indestructible killer. Director D'Amato also attempted to make the film more attractive to the American market by setting it in the States, even though it was shot in Italy.

Release

Absurd was released in October 1981 in Italy.

Absurd was placed on the DPP's list of video nasties in 1983 in its uncut state in the UK, but a version was released theatrically with two minutes and 23 seconds of cuts to it that same year.

An uncut DVD version of the film was released under the French title, Horrible, via Mya Communication on July 28, 2009. Also, an uncut DVD version including a long version of the film was released under the German title Absurd via XT-Video on December 15, 2010. An old VHS release exists under the title Monster Hunter.

Cast

• George Eastman as Mikos Stenopolis
• Annie Belle as Emily
• Charles Borromel as Sergeant Ben Engleman
• Katya Berger as Katia Bennett
• Kasimir Berger as Willy Bennett
• Hanja Kochansky as Carol Bennett
• Ian Danby as Ian Bennett
• Ted Rusoff as Doctor Kramer
• Edmund Purdom as Father
• Cindy Leadbetter as Peggy
• Lucia Ramirez as Angela
• Mark Shannon as Man on TV
• Michele Soavi as Biker
• Martin Sorrentino as Deputy
• Goffredo Unger as Machine Shop Owner
• James Sampson as Black cop (uncredited)

External links

• BBFC certification of Absurd
• Absurd at IMDb