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Do I think I am smarter than everyone else? Yes, I do. Do I believe on some level I am more so-fis-ti-cated, and I might be operating on a different wavelength than all of you? Yes, I do. Do I think that I possess the small nuances that it takes to define the subtleties contained in "bad" films therefore giving them reason to exist. Yes, I do. Do I like SAVAGE WEEKEND while no one else seems to give a flying fuck for this artsy, soap-opera slasher of sorts? Yes, I do!! Do I still enjoy the look of a woman who never touches her privates with a razor? Yesss--sorry...Back to SAVAGE WEEKEND.

SAVAGE WEEKEND was directed by David Paulson back in 1976 and titled "The Killer Behind The Mask." Then released in 1979 to theaters as "The Upstate Murders," before finally having a small amount of success in 1981 during the prime slasher period as SAVAGE WEEKEND. Mr. Paulson was primarily a producer/writer for such mainstream 10 p.m. dramas as "Knots Landing," "Dynasty," and the papaw of the genre "Dallas." His experience on these commercial television potboilers shows in SAVAGE WEEKEND, where you instantly notice the soap opera-style blocking and shot selection, but that is one of the qualities that draws ol' Tread to a picture like SAVAGE WEEKEND.

Our weekend of savagery involves a group of people who are heading up to upstate New York to watch a boat being constructed. We have tons of back story minutia given to open the film, which includes a rather flaming homosexual played balls-out (excuse the pun) by Chris Allport, who has been in everything from "Dead and Buried" to "Jack Frost" and from "Walker: Texas Ranger" to "The X-Files." We also have one of the lovely females in the bunch who has an ex-hubbie who went a little nutty because his boss kind of Budd-Dwyered it after being indicted on some Government hoohaa. There are a couple other couples along for the getaway to the rural setting where this boatyard is located. Once we arrive, we are introduced to Otis, William Sanderson from TV's "Newhart" but known best to BOFphiles as the star of "Fight for Your Life." Sanderson looks the same as his "Larry" character with his buttoned to the top shirt, dirty work boots and khakis. He mumbles to his daddy's tombstone, creeps around oogling the big city fornicators and generally pulls off his role of weirdo, peeping, outsider guy. We also meet up with the mustached, macho, Mac, played by none other than fan-boy favorite David Gale, better know as Dr. Hill from the Re-Animator movies. Character after character are introduced, semminly for us to see them hump each other in rather graphic exploitation-style sex scenes, as Otis peers through his uni-lensed broken binoculars.

What makes SAVAGE WEEKEND enjoyable is the fact that is has no idea what it is. Is it horror? Generally no. There are no truly ghastly acts of violence, extreme psychological abuse or the such, though many are killed. Sexploitation? There are parts of the movie which are downright "dirty" in a Russ Meyers way, some of the bizarre parts of the movie stun the viewer with the sheer length of the sequences. One particularly long "dance number" features an actress meandering through most of the house sem--i-nude and a rumba bellows through the soundtrack for what seems like an eternity. One-two-three-four-turn-two-three-four. One cannot help but compare the sequence to any number of pointless European "art films" from the early 70s. It definitely is the proverbial "turd in the punchbowl" if Paulson was shooting for conventional American slash-throat horror. Paulson's use of the fag-angle also baffled me a bit. Allport's 'Mother' Nicky is the type of homo you love to hate, flaming, fey, antagonistic and quite honestly, a bitch. He actually picks a fight with the rednecks of upstate New York as opposed to the typical scenario the viewer has come to expect in most portrayals of the quars. Was Paulson exploring some chink in his own armor or was he just making the guy who was playing the fag a dozen times more butch than the fags playing the straight guys in the film...? Possible once you see these obvious poofters try and make us believe that actually like poontang. Like many of its characters and the folks portraying them, SAVAGE WEEKEND, quite obviously, has its identity problems.

As "guests" are murdered one-by-one, Paulson effectively keeps us guessing as to the who done-done it. Otis seems obvious, but too obvious, a novelty rubber horror mask is the device our killer chooses as his disguise. An obvious cheap trick to keep us, the audience from guessing to soon. Usually I have no problem spoiling endings to films but this one is long-lingering and a "surprise" that will probably leave you groaning until you think about much of the earlier dialogue you though you were too bored to listen to. Much like Scooby Doo for many, I fear. But to reiterate Paulson uses the heady, dialogue-driven Prime-Time soap opera approach, so you should have been listening to the key dialogue scenes which unraveled, usually right before a sweaty grunt session, you know just like Knot's Landing.

Much of this is why I like SAVAGE WEEKEND, it has a decent body count but doesn't have a relentless chase feeling like say, "Friday the 13th." It is worth noting that this killer in a mask movie was made prior to Jason running around in his, and even predates Halloween and Michael Myers by a year or so. Did SAVAGE WEEKEND serve as inspiration for Sean Cunningham or John Carpenter? It is quite possible, although they obviously took the ball and ran much harder and faster with it. The ending leads you to believe that Cunningham must have seen and enjoyed the twist enough to try a similar cinematic device.

SAVAGE WEEKEND deserves another look by those of you out there who didn't get it, that is all of you who thought it sucked. The movie predates the era in which it was finally released, there are some memorable exploitation moments and same damned stupid moments of padding that could make SAVAGE WEEKEND one of those SHIT-TASTIC classics, I tell you what, I would watch it over almost any Italian horror excrement purporting to be genius-level filmmaking, which inevitably puts me to sleep 15 minutes in, with the honest exception of a meager handful. But hey, I am a stupid American, what in the fuck do I know.