House on the edge of the park was corny

**BadGirl75** · January 18th, 2004, 06:39 AM

Last house was good, but House on edge blowed really hard. I just watched it for the first time, and I was shocked at how bad the acting was. The rape scene at the first was really lame and not the least bit realistic. The only morsel of REAL talent in the entire film was Dave's butt. So, lets give it an award. [img]wink.gif[/img]

**LunA359** · January 18th, 2004, 08:10 PM

Originally posted by BadGirl75:
Last house was good, but House on edge blowed really hard. I just watched it for the first time, and I was shocked at how bad the acting was. The rape scene at the first was really lame and not the least bit realistic. The only morsel of REAL talent in the entire film was Dave's butt. So, lets give it an award. [img]wink.gif[/img]

Blowed?... Most people on this board agree that the acting, apart from Alex's character, pretty much sucked in HOTEOTP. As far as the rape scene, I've never seen a real person getting raped... [img]graemlins/hmmm.gif[/img] ...but if you say so.

Anyway, welcome to the board. We'll see if you make it to ten posts. [img]wink.gif[/img]

**BadGirl75** · January 18th, 2004, 10:51 PM

As far as the rape scene, I've never seen a real person getting raped... [img]graemlins/hmmm.gif[/img] ...but if you say so.

You know what I mean. It was badly acted.

Anyway, welcome to the board. We'll see if you make it to ten posts. [img]wink.gif[/img]

What is that supposed to mean? Wait, don't tell me. I'll get banned for speaking my opinions?

[img]graemlins/whatever.gif[/img]

**LunA359** · January 19th, 2004, 11:36 AM

NO! That's SOOO not what I meant. [img]confused.gif[/img] I don't know that anyone's gotten banned on this board before. All I meant was a lot of people come to this board with big opinions, make two or three posts, and then disappear. It would be nice if there were more than 4 or 5 regulars is all, so welcome. [img]smile.gif[/img]

**Edwardt** · January 19th, 2004, 09:14 PM

I had some problems with the movie too, but they were not related to any deficiencies in acting. Rather, they related to the improbable motivations and superficialities of some of the characters. To me, David's talent as an actor in this film is clearly in evidence. Obviously, the filmmaker intended his character to be a reprisal of Krug from LHOTL. With another actor playing the role, that's what it might have been. And yet, thanks to David's nuanced acting style, it's a different role entirely. Alex is not a watered-down version of Krug. Not as scary as Krug, but with a certain fragility of spirit that David managed to make convincing. Certainly, his character is the only one in the movie that seems genuine or has any complexity to it, and I'm sure that's not the way it was originally written in the script. This is also true of Hitchhike. All 3 characters are homicidal and/or out of control, and yet their personalities, psychopathic though they are, are not interchangeable. I've found that Italian movies are always a mixed bag; there's a certain floridness or grandiosity to them that seems endemic. This is not a quality you want if you're making a film that's supposed to mirror the harsh qualities of real life. LHOTL had a documentary feel that enabled it to transcend some of the improbabilities of the script. You were able to suspend disbelief and get caught up in the horror of what was happening on-screen. It was a film that haunted you long after you left the theatre (at least it did me). The same cannot be said for HOTEOTP, but this is not a failing you can really ascribe to the actors in it. Put the blame on the scriptwriter and the director. As always, David was fascinating on-screen and, whatever else its faults, it's certainly not a boring film.
Ed T.
PS- On an unrelated topic, I was watching a re-run of Michael Moore's "Roger and Me" recently and was pleasantly surprised to see David's name in the credits, although he was billed as "David Hill."

**avantodd** · January 28th, 2004, 09:05 PM

[img]wink.gif[/img] [img]graemlins/thumbs_up.gif[/img]

[ March 11, 2005 12:02 AM: Message edited by: avantodd ]

**Krugirl76** · January 29th, 2004, 01:41 AM

HOUSE ON THE EDGE OF THE PARK is one of my favorite movies. LAST HOUSE ON THE LEFT is my all-time favorite, but I find HOTEOTP so much fun -- maybe that's a twisted thought, but everything from the "boogying" to David's pale yellow suit, to the music...I just love it....I remember when I found it at the video store...I had only seen LAST HOUSE once...Krug TERRIFIED me...LOL...and I see this sticker on the video box "STARRING DAVID HESS OF LAST HOUSE ON THE LEFT" and I thought to myself, "I"m going to love this!" -- and I did!

The DVD was awesome -- loved the interviews..but the ultimate would have been a David Hess/John Morghen audio commentary! Oh well..just glad to have it on DVD [img]smile.gif[/img]