DEATH WEEKEND (1976)

Director: William Fruet Screenplay: William Fruet Starring: Brenda Vaccaro, Don Stroud, Chuck Shamata Runtime: 87 minutes So private you can do anything you want...anything!

The 1980s is often held up as the golden decade of horror. The slasher subgenre was in full swing, practical effects were reaching new heights and the rapid growth of the video rental market allowed indie filmmakers to bypass the studio system, at least to some extent. The result was a wave of diverse, inventive and gloriously campy horror films. Franchises like A Nightmare on Elm Street, Friday the 13th and The Evil Dead were born, and culturally, it feels like we've been a little obsessed with this era again over the past few years.

For many genre fans, though, it's the 1970s that stands as horror's most fertile period. It felt like a wild, lawless era, particularly in America, where the fallout from Vietnam and Watergate, alongside racial tensions, rampant consumerism and second-wave feminism, created an atmosphere of unease. Brutal psychological horror, grindhouse cinema and exploitation films were all thriving. Wes Craven's The Last House on the Left (1972) may have made him something of a pariah for a time, but it certainly didn't discourage other filmmakers. Tobe Hooper's The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (1974) remains one of the most unhinged and psychologically exhausting films ever made. Alongside these two iconic horrors came a host of other exploitation pictures, including William Fruet's Death Weekend.

Diane (Brenda Vaccaro) is a former fashion model who, for some reason, has decided to spend the weekend with a rather irritating-but-wealthy dentist called Harry (Chuck Shamana). They clearly don’t know each other very well, a fact established early on when Diane admits she doesn’t even know what he does for a living. The '70s, eh? Anyway, they’re on their way to his rural Ontario lakeside retreat in Harry’s Corvette when Diane asks if she can take the wheel. Harry reluctantly agrees and we see pretty quickly that Diane is a pretty confident driver. But things take a bit of a turn (pun intended) when a red camaro full of pissheads begins to pursue them on the road. But Diane is having none of it and a car chase begins, which hilariously ends with the guys being forced off the road and crashing into a creek. Diane breathes a sigh of relief but when they get to the lake house, she starts to doubt Harry’s intentions. Meanwhile, the camaro douchebags are plotting their revenge…

This is a spiteful little film. But despite the fact that it was one of the titles on Britain's VHS nasty list in the '80s (look it up if you've never heard of it), it's not quite as bleak or grim as The Last House on the Left (1972) or I Spit on Your Grave (1978). It feels more like a slightly toned-down version of A Clockwork Orange, to be honest, with much of the film focused on the nefarious antics of the sleazy, perverted guys in the Camaro. It's far more psychological than bloody, with much of the horror coming from the anticipation of violence rather than the bloodshed itself. These assholes spend most of their time tearing around in their beaten-up car and smashing expensive furniture than they do physically harming our lead characters. Well, until the last act at least! Speaking of which, the couple at the heart of the film and their dynamic add a unique edge to proceedings. Brenda Vaccaro (Mrs Tribbiani!) is a formidable presence, and although she's rightly terrified (and in danger) for most of the runtime, you get the sense that if anyone has the tools to fight back, she does. Meanwhile, her dentist friend (played by Chuck Shamana) is a total creep. He's arrogant, smug, and flies off the handle when Diane rejects his advances. As if that wasn't bad enough, he also seems to have a secondary (and deeply unsettling) reason for inviting her up to his lake house. Unsurprisingly, he's not much use when the shit hits the fan and the Camaro nobs show up.

Director William Fruet (he also directed Killer Party -  which you NEED to watch immediately) actually wrote the script a couple of years before its release but held off trying to get it made, as Straw Dogs had just come out and he feared it would be dismissed as an imitator. Those concerns were well founded because it is quite like Sam Peckinpah’s violent thriller, but Death Weekend does enough to carve out a distinct identity of its own. It’s well made and one of the better-looking exploitation flicks around – yet still manages to retain a level of scuzziness that is so vital to these sorts of films. The opening car chase is genuinely hair-raising - as is the scene where the camaro drags a policeman (played by Richard Donat!) along the ground for about 50 feet. Vaccaro gets to deliver some satisfying payback in the latter stages, which provides a welcome release after all the bullshit she’s had to endure during the first hour. About 20 minutes in, Harry takes Diane for a walk around the woods surrounding the lakeside and stops her from nearly stepping into bogland. Unsurprisingly, that makes a reappearance later on! Interestingly, Vaccaro and Don Stroud (who plays the main villain and is rather good) dated for a couple of years after the film wrapped, which is certainly an unusual starting point for a relationship!

Whilst it doesn’t offer anything groundbreakingly new to the home invasion subgenre, this Canadian gem is still a captivating thrill ride powered by some excellent central performances. And it's under 90 minutes long! Go check it out. Death Weekend is available on Fawesome TV