(1978)
REVIEWED BY-STEVE GENIER DIRECTED BY-JACK WEIS CAST-CURT DAWSON, GWEN ARMENT, BUTCH BENIT, NANCY DANCER, CATHRYN LACEY and WAYNE MACK. SOURCE-VCII VHS
"I'm looking for your most evil woman!"
Another Mardi Gras is underway, but this one is different. A string of prostitutes are showing dead as a doornail. Victims of a ritualistic killing, in the fashion of the Aztec, scarifying to their goddess of darkness, Quetzalcoatl. The victims are first stripped nude, bound to a sacrificial table, then first stabbed in the left hand’s palm, then the right foot and eventually gutted until the heart is pulled out. Meanwhile, two cops are scoping the town in search of the killer. While in the heat of the hunt, one cop falls for a hooker who herself later becomes a victim of the killers lunacy.
Well, one should know going into watching a classic grindhouse film, to expect the unexpected. Well, not in this case, what I got was pure crap. Why use the word crap, well because there is just no other way to explain this sleazy low budget borefest. At first I was under the impression, wow, this just might turn into a H.G. Lewis imitation, but never even came close. Now, most of the time I do find at least one redeeming value in even the worst of them, but it’s just too hard with MARDI GRAS MASSACRE. Sure there were tons of naked hotties bounded to a sacrifice table squirming for their very lives, and let me tell you, very stupid ones at that. I guess that can be at least one redeeming value, but hey I’m a male so it’s in my nature to gock at nude women. The score is somewhat grabbing in areas, but others I felt I was about to watch Michael Jackson’s THRILLER. Can’t forget this was filmed during the decline of rock music in the late 70's, only to be drowned out by the disco inferno.
During the set up for the film’s end, things heat up a little bit when the cops close in on the killer. Showing up at his establishment while he’s in the middle of the grand finale. First there is a chase on foot, then by car and then a hold up that never panes out. The killer is the long, drawn out conversations, lack of edits and score that just doesn’t jazz things up at all. There are shades of something breaking out, especially during the hold up scene. First just a few seconds I felt like I was watching a kick out the jams Merli crimer, but that was quickly squashed when I came to my senses.
Plot and story wise this is very simple, no real hidden agendas happening with this one. The viewer is pretty much left in a boring draw with both the acting and the long unedited scenes like mentioned earlier. Hey, I know this isn’t an Oscar contender, but at least give us something to remember what you just watched. It’s even hard to write a review for this, fear of running out of things to say. Although the sacrificial scenes were quite interesting, all the screaming and squirming. Look, now I contradicting myself here. Ok, maybe one value that is somewhat redeeming.
1 BITCH SLAP
