Poor psychotic Vicki Kent seems to be plagued by an ancestral curse that drives her and her family members to kill. Upon being released from a psychiatric institute after killing two neighborhood boys, Vicki soon picks up the hatchet and gets back to dismembering her family line.
Doris Wishman's "A Night to Dismember" is a true landmark in bad filmmaking-it's hard to say whether it is a result of the filmmakers' ineptitude or the troubled production history (which included multiple reels being destroyed, causing Wishman to rework the film with stock footage and an entirely new plot grafted onto the pre-existing footage). In any case, it has gone down in the annals of trash cinema for good reason.
I cannot pretend this is a worthwhile film for most moviegoers, but as a pure oddity, it is required viewing for hardened slasher fans. Pornographic actress Samantha Fox portrays the insane Vicki, and is surrounded by a group of equally inept actors. The entire film is narrated with a documentary-like voiceover from a policeman who investigated the crimes, and there is virtually no dialogue present; what is there is badly-dubbed and only accentuated by sloppy editing, bizarre montages, and amateurish special effects for good measure.
In any event, I found the film entertaining on a primal level, only because it feels like a fever dream pulled from the head of a madman. The fact that Wishman even finished it is something of a minor triumph, and it is weirdly amusing in all its badness. For the casual moviegoing majority, it is a laughable disaster, and even hardened fans of slasher films and camp trash will find elements of it almost too absurd; but midway through, I couldn't help but feel there was some earnestness behind it, and the bones of what could have been an at least average psycho-slasher flick. The result is many ranks below average of course, but it is a fun romp for people who find entertainment, genuine interest, or pure comedy in cheapjack horror. You have been warned. 5/10.
Doris Wishman's "A Night to Dismember" is a true landmark in bad filmmaking-it's hard to say whether it is a result of the filmmakers' ineptitude or the troubled production history (which included multiple reels being destroyed, causing Wishman to rework the film with stock footage and an entirely new plot grafted onto the pre-existing footage). In any case, it has gone down in the annals of trash cinema for good reason.
I cannot pretend this is a worthwhile film for most moviegoers, but as a pure oddity, it is required viewing for hardened slasher fans. Pornographic actress Samantha Fox portrays the insane Vicki, and is surrounded by a group of equally inept actors. The entire film is narrated with a documentary-like voiceover from a policeman who investigated the crimes, and there is virtually no dialogue present; what is there is badly-dubbed and only accentuated by sloppy editing, bizarre montages, and amateurish special effects for good measure.
In any event, I found the film entertaining on a primal level, only because it feels like a fever dream pulled from the head of a madman. The fact that Wishman even finished it is something of a minor triumph, and it is weirdly amusing in all its badness. For the casual moviegoing majority, it is a laughable disaster, and even hardened fans of slasher films and camp trash will find elements of it almost too absurd; but midway through, I couldn't help but feel there was some earnestness behind it, and the bones of what could have been an at least average psycho-slasher flick. The result is many ranks below average of course, but it is a fun romp for people who find entertainment, genuine interest, or pure comedy in cheapjack horror. You have been warned. 5/10.