House on the edge of the park

At the beginning of the film, serial killer Alex ( David Hess ) chases a girl named Susan ( Carolyn Mardeck ) through the night streets of New York . He watches her to the local park, where he attacks her, rapes and strangles him to death.

After some time, Alex and his strange friend Ricky ( Giovanni Lombardo Radice ), close the underground garage for the night, where they both work when they are visited by a young couple, Tom ( Christian Borromeo ) and Lisa ( Annie Belle ). They ask to fix their Cadillac , Alex refuses, and the simple-minded Ricky decides to help and easily fixes the breakdown. In gratitude, Tom invites both to a party at his friends' house in New Jersey . Before leaving, Alex stops near his locker, in which he stores the murder tools, and picks up a dangerous razor from there.

Four arrive at a luxury Jersey villa owned by Gloria ( Lorraine De Celle ), and there are also Glenda and Howard. After some time, it becomes obvious that this is a group of rich people who are looking for thrills. They solder Ricky and make him dance to striptease under disco music, and Lisa teases Alex, first seducing and then pushing him away. Then the young people sit down to play poker , and Alex notices that the owners of the house are cheating on the nearby Ricky. Alex is furious and takes out a razor. He got into a fight with Howard, during which he throws a man into the pool, and then urinates on him. Taking Howard out of the pool, the raging Alex takes him back to the house and ties him to the piano, announcing that he is now running the party.

Alex and Ricky begin to beat the owners of the house, after which Alex cuts Tom's face with a razor. While Ricky keeps the men who have become hostages, threatening them with a " rose " from a broken bottle of wine, Alex solicits for Gloria and Glenda. Lisa tries to escape, but he catches her and rapes her . Suddenly he hears a doorbell and makes Gloria answer: the teenage neighbor Cindy is the nightly guest. Alex grabs her and brings her into the house.

First, he makes her sing, and then begins to chop with a razor. Ricky understands that everything has gone too far and is trying to stop a frenzied comrade, but he responds with a blow to the stomach, but after that he tries to apologize to his friend. At the same time, Tom manages to free himself and take possession of the gun . He shoots Alex several times and throws him into the courtyard through the glass doors. Tom tears off the pendant from Alex’s neck and explains that it belonged to his sister Susan, whom the killer then tracked down in the park. He says that together with Lisa came up with a plan to lure a maniac into the house, and then kill and pass it off as a measure of self-defense . Alex falls into the pool and Howard, whom the girls untied from the piano, finishes him with a control shot in the head.

Returning to the house, Howard is going to kill Ricky, but Gloria stops him, Glenda tries to help the wounded Cindy. Tom and Lisa discuss their plan and Tom says that despite some shortcomings, everything worked as it should, and calls the police .

• David Hess - Alex
• Giovanni Lombardo Radice - Ricky
• Annie Belle - Lisa
• Christian Borromeo - Tom
• Lorraine De Celle - Gloria
• Gabriel Di Giulio - Howard
• Marie Claude Joseph - Glenda
• Bridgette Petronio - Cindy
• Carolyn Mardek - Susan

Filming took place in three weeks in September 1979. Most of the film was shot in New York , some scenes were shot at a studio in Rome . The role of Ricky could initially go to the director and actor Michele Soavi .

The film has much in common with Wes Craven’s “ Last House on the Left, ” ranging from the similarities between the title and the plot with the hostage-taking in a private house, to the participation of David Hess in both films as a killer.

On February 27, 2011, information appeared about a sequel titled Ruggero Deodato will once again take the post of director, and Giovanni Lombardo Radice will return to the role of Ricky ^[1] .

• The House at the Edge of the Park on the Internet Movie Database
• House at the edge of the park on the Rotten Tomatoes website