IMDb > Naked Massacre (1976) > Reviews & Ratings - IMDb

Reviews & Ratings for
 Naked Massacre More at IMDbPro »Die Hinrichtung (original title)

Filter: Hide Spoilers:
Page 1 of 4:[1] [2] [3] [4] [Next]
Index 35 reviews in total 

11 out of 14 people found the following review useful:
Richard Speck goes to Belfast to kill badly-dubbed Italian starlets, 11 July 2006
Author: lazarillo from Denver, Colorado and Santiago, Chile

Even though the Richard Speck student-nurse murders took place in America, most of the movies inspired by the incident strangely enough were foreign. These include the disturbing Japanese film "Violated Angels", the relatively shocking ending to the ho-hum Italian giallo/sex romp "Slaughter Hotel", and perhaps to some extent even the Canadian proto-slasher flick "Black Christmas". This movie, however, is probably the closest in circumstances to the actual incident. Not that it doesn't make some unusual choices, especially for what is basically an exploitation film. It's set in Belfast, North Ireland, for instance, during the height of "the troubles" when bombs were exploding and Catholics, Protestants, IRA terrorists and British troops were fighting in the streets. Also, the murderer (played by Mathieu Carrare)is an American Vietnam vet where the real Speck was merely a merchant marine. The movie doesn't do much with this though as the Speck character seems far more motivated by his wife's infidelities than any trauma he suffered in Vietnam, and any on-location realism that is achieved is ruined by the bad dubbing (the Irish and English nurses and American killer all speak in the same stilted continental accents of the usual gang of Euro-idiots that dubbed these things).

The movie was distributed mostly under the more lurid title "Naked Massace", and after a strangely large amount of character development of both the nurses and the killer, it lives up to that title when they finally meet and he ties them up and starts bumping them off one by one. The real-life Speck only raped one of the nurses (although far more graphically than what is shown here), but the guy here sexually abuses nearly all of them (one of whom, perhaps in a nod to Sharon Tate, is even pregnant). The most lurid scene is when he forces two closeted lesbians to have sex with each other. Although, it's hard to do such a scene sensitively, this scene is handled even less sensitively than the similar scene in the much more infamous "Last House on the Left".

The director, Denis Heroux, interesting enough, is French Canadian and got his start in superior "maple syrup porn" films like "Valerie" and "L'Initiation" but had his career ended when he was made the scapegoat for the failure of hack British producer Milton Subotsky's idiotic horror movie "The Uncanny". This film, made in the middle of his short career, shows an interesting but obviously declining talent. The cast includes Carol Laure and pretty Italian starlet Ely Galeani. I got this as part of a cheap 50 DVD horror collection. If you can find THAT, it's definitely worth watching. Otherwise, well. . .

Was the above review useful to you?

12 out of 16 people found the following review useful:
Born for Hell?? No, born TO RAISE hell!, 3 June 2006
7/10
Author: Coventry from the Draconian Swamp of Unholy Souls

"Naked Massacre" is pretty strong stuff; a disturbing thriller definitely NOT for squeamish or faint-hearted people! It's not that gory or exaggeratedly sleazy, like the two key words of the title lead you to believe, but it's truly intense and filmed in such a sober way that you'll feel VERY uncomfortable. The story is something like Agatha Christie's "Ten Little Indians", only in this case it's Eight Pretty Nurses. Actually, that's not funny since this movie is inspired by the murders committed by real-life madman Richard Speck in 1966; Chicago. The setting of this notorious case has been moved, very ingeniously I may add, to Ireland in the mid-70's, when there was the post-Vietnam depression as well as the Irish civil war and bombings. On his way home from Vietnam, a young American soldier ends up in Belfast with no money or acquaintances. He's traumatized, has a very nihilistic world perspective and a petrifying hatred for women. It doesn't take long before he breaks into a mansion and starts terrorizing the eight young nurses that live there. "Naked Massacre" is obviously cheap and poorly edited, yet the atmosphere is constantly grim and the murders are genuinely shocking. The girls are physically abused, emotionally tortured and eventually stabbed to death with a BIG knife. There are no morals, comic reliefs or happy endings here, so only people with an iron stomach will be able to sit through this movie without suffering from nightmares afterwards. The acting performances are pretty decent, despite some of the dialogs being extremely inept and cheesy. Highly recommended in case you're searching for a horror/thriller that will really get under your skin.

Was the above review useful to you?

5 out of 6 people found the following review useful:
Sleazy Psycho Exploitation Flick, 3 August 2007
4/10
Author: yetanotherharris from Satan's Colon

It is fair to say that this is a trashy movie, in the tradition of THE LAST HOUSE ON THE LEFT and I SPIT ON YOUR GRAVE. It follows Cain Adamson (Mathieu Carriere), a young man recently discharged from service in Saigon, who docks in Northern Ireland and needs to find a ship sailing for the United States. During his stay, he sleeps in a shelter, witnesses a number of armed conflicts in the streets, and obsesses over a boarding home for nurses. One night, he breaks into the boarding home and, over the course of the night, rapes, degrades and murders eight young female nurses.

NAKED MASSACRE (or BORN FOR HELL; the version I have uses the former title) is not quite as explicit as some of the other movies of its type, but there is a twisted intensity to the actions of Cain Adamson as he toys with and brutalizes the unfortunate nurses that might make this difficult for some to watch. True to the title of exploitation, this movie has plenty of nudity and gore, and the plot (if you want to call it that) moves in a fairly linear direction. This is a good film to see if you are a fan of exploitation cinema, but it isn't necessarily among the must-see titles of the genre.

The interesting thing about this movie is the theme of war throughout. Cain Adamson seems right at home in downtown Belfast, backpack slung over his shoulder, explosions sounding all around him. The only person who even comes close to being his friend is, ironically, a young Vietnamese man he meets at the shelter, and neither of them seem to really like each other.

Apparently the only way to get this movie, as of this writing, is through the Chilling Classics 50 Movie Megapack, which is, in fact, how I acquired it. It is very likely part of the public domain, so note that this movie might be available online for free.

Was the above review useful to you?

6 out of 8 people found the following review useful:
Extremely Disturbing, 8 January 2007
6/10
Author: Hitchcoc from United States

I sometimes question the motivations of a director who chooses subject matter such as this as material for a film. There is such a sadistic vent to this that it has kept me thinking for days. This is obviously a retelling of the Richard Speck story where a psychotic ex-Vietnam vet terrorizes and kills a group of nurses in a residential house in Northern Ireland. The movie is pretty well done in that it gets us involved with the women and with their assailant. They are real people with prospects; one is even pregnant. I think that's why this so affected me because when you see those teenage slasher movies you say to yourself that no one could be so stupid. The violence is amplified and unrealistic. This one is so close to home. The business of why people don't defend themselves is an issue, but when you see the connection to terror and to humanity, you see why this could happen. Still, I could never watch this again and I'm not sure it needed telling.

Was the above review useful to you?

9 out of 14 people found the following review useful:
A sad, savage tale of amok madness., 8 September 2003
Author: nostrilingus from fabulous Las Vega$!

An earnestly crafted psycho thriller infused with a bit more literacy and artful finesse than the garden-variety specimen of its feather. Making it especially unsettling is the de-facto foundation of the grim story...this is most certainly an account of the true-crime atrocities of notorious spree killer Richard Speck, to at least some degree of accuracy.

A communal household of young nurses becomes a hellhole of horror when they are collectively besieged by a criminally disunited male youth harboring deep-seated anti-female resentments. The ensuing terror, torture, and murder is gruesomely depicted with straightforward, blank-faced directness that more sensitive viewers might find disagreeable. Those of a tougher skin, however, may appreciate NAKED MASSACRE for its surprisingly potent execution. It's a grievous, rattling excursion which challenges the viewer's emotional acumen.

7/10

Was the above review useful to you?

4 out of 5 people found the following review useful:
An horrific historical document of madness and nightmares., 21 November 2008
7/10
Author: Cinema_Fan from An English Shire.

Richard Franklin Speck (1941 - 1991), the killer of eight student nurses living together in a Chicago Community Hospital during 1966. It was to be the night of July 13th - 14th that Specks inadequacies were to come to resurface, killing them one-by-one throughout the night. This was to be another dark night in America's history that was to add his name to the list of serial killers that have tainted its name: Ted Bundy, the Hillside Strangler, the Boston Strangler and David Berkowitz etc, etc.

With typical relish the film industry around the world then immortalised his deeds, within a certain scope, onto celluloid; Chicago Massacre: Richard Speck (2007 V) by Michael Feifer, Okasareta hakui (Violated Angels) (1967) by K. Wakamatsu, Speck (2002) by Keith Walley and 10 to Midnight (1983) by J. Lee Thompson and starring Charles Bronson as the cop on his tail. The lesser known, and possibly the less seen, of these films portraying the acts of his crime is the actual war zone setting of Northern Ireland during the mid nineteen-seventies that is the Naked Massacre. Giving too, its conjunctive title Born for Hell, this latter title comes from a segment of a tattoo that was on Speck's arm, and in the end, was to be his undoing, the full tattoo reads: BORN TO RAISE HELL.

What is intriguing about Naked Massacre, with its West German production that whilst being shot in Hamburg and Studio Bendestorf, Germany, again, and being dubbed into English, it is the 1970's exterior Belfast locations that sets this film apart to give it an air of historical reference. Ironically, too or just sheer coincidence, as both, then, Germany and Ireland were divided by the political, and with Northern Ireland, religious beliefs. Seeing our protagonist wander the derelict war-torn streets of Belfast, with its IRA slogans and with the English army patrols and armoured vehicles setting an atmosphere of desperation and bleak overtones in an environment were faction Vs. faction and soldier Vs. stone throwing youths. An interesting reflective on harsh times in both English and Ireland's history.

German born Mathieu Carriere is the US' Vietnam vet' drifter Cain Adamson, reprising the role as Richard Speck, who, while trying to get back home, finds himself waiting for a passage back to the States. It is here, while waiting, kicking stones and hanging around the local pub, he finds the dwelling of the student nurses.

Denis Heroux the Montreal born film director, producer and here, writer and director, has our woman hater disturbing these residents with his grudges and psychosis that are brutal and disturbing. While, in general, a film of female degradation, with its grainy film stock and basic environment, these European writers' too, have given us a tale of woes from the perspective of an eroding mind of a war vet' who questions his own existence while very easily blames others for his predicament. This downward spiral of sanity leads to a very claustrophobic and tense world of hate and retribution to those he finds responsible most: the female of the spices.

Whilst being a work of fiction here, one has to remember that the narrative is, loosely, based around fact, and the reality is that this film is hard-hitting and plays testament to the weakness of this male mind and its overpowering of the enduring "weaker sex". As the night progresses, we see the completeness of his insanity; vile, ruthless and completely out of control.

We can see violations of the fairer sex in films as I Spit on Your Grave (1978), Last House on the Left (1972) and in hindsight, Salo; 120 Days of Sodom (1975), this too, Naked Massacre, is not pleasant viewing. One should not fall into the trap of thinking this as macabre entertainment but it being a visual nightmare of a state of mind that in one summer's night in a nurse's dormitory, in the USA, a little piece of it died. Most mercilessly.

Was the above review useful to you?

7 out of 11 people found the following review useful:
Failed, but interesting…, 30 September 2006
5/10
Author: Phroggy from Paris, France

This could have been some sort of "Taxi Driver". Could, if they just could have pulled it along with Scorcese's skills. After all, low-budgeter "Taxi Driver" had all it took to make an exploitation movie. This one has the gritty realism, the context (Visions of some overall violent world from Ireland to Vietnam, even more relevant nowadays), the disturbing elements… But does not seem to know what to do with them. We had an understanding of what Travis Bickle was up to, even if we were not in his head, we had enough to go with and sympathize (just like in real life actually), which makes even the botched attack on a political candidate an anti-anticlimax. Here, despite Mathieu Carrière's excellent acting, we have only disjointed things : he's a Vietnam vet, his wife cheated on him, he might be impotent and might have a death wish (though his actions denies it). How did it all comes together in one long, violent episode is anyone's guess. M. Carrière manages to keep the character's desperation obvious, but to what end ? It's not really a chain of events that leads him to his horrific deeds. The cheesy dialogue does not really helps, like a reference to lesbianism, fortunately without any moral tut-tutting, that leads nowhere. The whole things feels just like an experience in exploitation with some hints at social comment, or the other way around, if you feel so inclined. It's not bad, but it's one movie that could have been so much better if its various interesting elements have gelled into something coherent.

Was the above review useful to you?

3 out of 4 people found the following review useful:
Born for Hell, 18 September 2008
7/10
Author: Scarecrow-88 from United States

*** This review may contain spoilers ***

A deeply troubled American Vietnam soldier, enters a violence-plagued Belfast from Saigon, where he encounters a house with nurses who share let, besieging them at night, binding their hands, gagging their mouths, promising not to hurt them. Cain(Mathieu Carrière)a cold, dark-hearted man, whose wife was impregnated by a soldier pal of his, is haunted by a terrible upbringing thanks in part to his mother. So the central female members of his life wronged him, and adding the weight of Vietnam and being left with next to nothing, no monetary means to sustain him, finding it difficult to get home, an unstable Cain is bound to snap, and the nurses will feel his quiet rage as he sexually humiliates them, while also often plunging his switchblade knife into their bodies. The film, while not as violent as it could've been, is extremely unsettling and depressing. The innocent victims do not deserve their fates and Cain removes each woman one by one, seeming harmless, only to run them through a series of emotionally and physically damaging acts. His methods are cruel and demeaning. Carrière presents his homicidal sadist with a calm exterior, trotting his pretty lambs to the slaughter as the other nurses await their doom in a bedroom, tied and frightened. While we perhaps aren't partakers to actually seeing the knife sticking into the bodies of his victims, the actions themselves are just as chilling, as is Cain's ways of conducting them. It doesn't seem to bother him. He orders the nurses to commit embarrassing sexual acts, either with him or each other. He strangles one female nurse with his belt when she wouldn't beg for his sexual embrace. One nurse, so distraught at what has happened to her friends and associates, uses Cain's knife to stab herself in the chest..watch his multitude of reactions to her collapsing body, it's a very unpleasant sight. Cain has "Born for Hell" tattooed on his arm and he proudly shows it off to the nurses. At first, it seems, he merely wants their money, but as he remains it's obvious that Cain succumbs to the sick, depraved desires that are going through his mind. "Born for Hell"(Also known as the "Naked Massacre")is in the same mold as "Last House on the Left", "The Night Train Murders" & "The House at the Edge of the Park", a twisted psycho with uncontrollable urges lashing out against vulnerable women. This film plays completely straight with no humor whatsoever creating an even more distressing tone. The environment of the setting where the killer commits his deeds only adds to the overall impact of this unflinching tale of hopelessness, despair and savagery.

Despite being both powerful and haunting, I wouldn't call it entertaining, and I will probably never watch it again. Many will find it hard to sit through because the killer shows no mercy, leading his victims to certain death.

Was the above review useful to you?

5 out of 8 people found the following review useful:
Excellent chilling shocker with something for exploitation genre fans, 4 June 2006
8/10
Author: Scott-from-Modesto (andrea_yates_clogged_drain@comcast.net) from United States

*** This review may contain spoilers ***

In spots, Naked Massacre (aka Born for Hell) is badly acted, badly written, badly edited, etc. Despite that, it is definitely a strong shocking movie that's absolutely as mean as they come. Based on the true story of Richard Speck, Naked Massacre's story is moved to Belfast amidst IRA violence and martial law, giving it that much more of a gritty, depressing edge.

An American Viet Nam vet is determined to make his way home from Belfast, where he is staying in a hostel. He stalks eight pretty young student nurses who share a flat across the street from his temporary home.

The man is twisted inside, hates women, and sets out to bring misery to them. He first rescues an aging prostitute from a couple of thugs on the street and when she offers him a free ride for his effort, he forces her to dance for him at knife-point, dehumanizing her but ultimately letting her be. The nurses (plus one guest)do not have it so lucky. He breaks into their home, gathers them up, binds their hands and feet, and then proceeds to subject them to rape, torture, and murder throughout the night. This is shown unflinchingly and without any brand of humor, just cold hard misogyny.

Naked Massacre may not be the most technically adept film to come down the pike and some scenes are pure sleazy exploitation--which may be off-putting to some--but on the whole, it carries itself with a nasty swagger that's hard to deny despite the unpolished feel. This one's mean, some images are truly disturbing--8.5/10.

Was the above review useful to you?

1 out of 1 people found the following review useful:
That's why said I was born for hell., 27 March 2011
5/10
Author: Ben Larson from Leesburg, FL

Now, this might have been a lot more interesting with actual Irish girls playing the parts of the nurses.

As it is, it is supposed the most accurate movie inspired by Richard Speck, the Chicago murderer. In this case, the events are set in Belfast during the height of the conflict there. The rapist murderer is an American returning from Vietnam and waiting to get home. This is no spoiler as the Speck story is well known.

It's hard to believe that the girls just sat there and waited for their deaths. They could have done something. Maybe fear overcame them.

War, family problems, infidelity; all factors that produce these creatures.

Was the above review useful to you?
Page 1 of 4:[1] [2] [3] [4] [Next]

Add another review

Related Links

Plot summary Ratings External reviews
Parents Guide Plot keywords Main details
Your user reviews Your vote history