3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
With a title like DEATH WEEKEND..., September 15, 2006
This review is from: Death Weekend [VHS] (VHS Tape)
...I hope you aren't looking for sophisticated cinema. This is a lesser-known entry into the backwoods brutality genre of films started by the classic DELIVERANCE. Derivative exploitation, but effective nonetheless. Please note that a majority of the reviews listed for this film (also known as THE HOUSE BY THE LAKE) in the IMDb and even MUZE (there are no "motorcycle thugs") are littered with errors in the who, what and where of the storyline... so let me set the record straight, at least based on my own viewing of this rare Japanese VHS release. Fashion model Diane (BRENDA VACCARO) accompanies her playboy swinger dentist friend Harry (CHUCK SHAMATA) to his country house to join several others for a weekend-long party. On the way, he allows her to take the wheel of his souped-up Corvette sports car and she engages a gang of hillbilly hoodlums in a dangerous road chase, which ends with the four miscreants crashing their hot rod Camaro off the road and into a creek bed, and the Vette speeding away. The menacing gang leader Lep (veteran DON STROUD) swears vengeance on the pair, especially the driver. Up at the house, Diane is observed by Harry (the voyeur) via a two-way mirror taking off her clothes and nude in the shower. Nice guy this Harry. Not surprisingly, Diane soon discovers that there are no other guests coming up to the lake for the weekend. She also realizes that sleazy Harry just wants a quickie sex romp and another notch on his belt. Meanwhile, the psychotics in the Camaro are causing havoc all over town, nearly killing a local man of the law, in search of the two in the black Corvette. Of course, the vicious thugs arrive at the lake house, terrorizing Diane and Harry, and really begin messing up the place. Two of the gang members even take Harry's expensive speedboat for a spin out on the lake and kill some drunken hicks in a rowboat, who were out to help the dentist. When doctor Harry is revealed to be a bit of a wimp and the chaos really begins to ramp up, Diane in desperation, takes matters into her own hands and begins to exact her revenge, but not before she is sexually assaulted by Lep, the crazed ringleader... and dry-humped by one the creepy gang flunkies while locked in one of the rooms of the house. Strangely enough, the ending of this film has a bit of an ambiguous tone. You'll have to watch it for yourself to see what I'm talking about. Recommended backwoods brutal shocker that is destined for Z-Grade glory. //thechooper
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1.0 out of 5 stars
nasty and derivative, August 13, 2011
This review is from: Death Weekend [VHS] (VHS Tape)
I will be completely honest, I only got half way through before turning this trash off. This is one of those sleazy exploitation shockers that were so prevalent in its day. Im all for a gripping terrifying backwoods thriller but this was just unlikable from the start. If you like scuzzy drive in fodder than you may want to give this a whirl, otherwise you can avoid this one.
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4 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Terror By The Lake !!! ( But Brenda Vaccaro Is A Babe!!!), May 20, 2005
This review is from: Death Weekend [VHS] (VHS Tape)
I saw this movie back in 1977 when it was first released and if you think I spent my teenagers years searching for movies with beautiful naked women it them you are so right!! In this movie Brenda Vaccaro plays a model who is invitd to a party by this geek at his house by the lake. This geek can afford a weekend house and a Corvette but he is still a loser because he has lied to Ms. Vaccaro and has told her there will be other guests at this "party". The truth is only him and Brenda will be at the house because he is looking for sexual satifaction from her. This geek pervert even secretly watches her while she is taking a shower!!! Then the peace of their weekend is destroyed by a group of thugs who then proceed to wreck all of the geek's furniture including his Antique piano and they make the very intelligent observation that this guy cares more about his material possessions then he does about Ms. Vaccaro which is in fact, true. Ms. Vaccaro appears in various stages of undress in this movie which made my 17 year old heart beat pretty fast at the time (Gee. I was only 17) and whenever I catch this movie on late night televison I find it STILL has the sane effect on me!!!
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