Absurd (film) - Alchetron, The Free Social Encyclopedia

Absurd (Italian: Rosso Sangue; also known as Anthropophagus 2, Zombie 6: Monster Hunter, Horrible and The Grim Reaper 2) is a 1981 Italian horror film directed by Joe D'Amato and written by (and starring) George Eastman. The film is a follow-up to Antropophagus.

Absurd was one of the infamous Video Nasties of the United Kingdom, and became one of 39 titles to be successfully prosecuted under the Obscene Publications Acts in 1984. It was originally released in both a cut and uncut version with identical sleeve design by Medusa Home Video in 1981. The original tape is sought-after and is an expensive collectable among fans.

It was released in 1980s in the United States as Monster Hunter by Wizard Video. To add to its questionable fame, the film inspired the name for German black metal act Absurd, whose members later switched their interest from gore films to far-right extremism and committed murder in 1993.

The film was considered, at the time of its release, as a "sequel" to the Zombi series of horror films, under the title Zombie 6: Monster Hunter. An incorrect description on the back of the box promoted the film as a sequel to those zombie films for a period of time.

Absurd (film) Film Review Absurd 1981 HNN

Plot

Mikos Stenopolis (George Eastman) is a man who was experimented on in a church-sanctioned scientific experiment that gave him a healing factor, but inadvertently drove him insane. The Vatican priest (Edmund Purdom) who helped create him pursues the homicidal Mikos to a small American town, attempting to kill him by impaling him on a set of railings which disembowel him, but he is revived later in a local hospital. The madman escapes after brutally murdering a nurse, and goes on a killing spree. The priest informs the hospital and authorities that the only way to kill Mikos is to 'destroy the cerebral mass'.

Absurd (film) ABSURD 1981 REVIEW 2017 YouTube

While attacking a motorcyclist after escaping from the hospital, Mikos is struck by a hit-and-run driver. The driver of the car, Mr. Bennett, and his wife are going to a friend's house to watch a football game, leaving their two children at home with a babysitter. Their daughter Katia is confined to her bed because of a problem with her spine, while her younger brother believes that the 'Bogeyman' is coming to get him.

Mikos makes his way to the Bennetts' home, and begins to murder everyone there. Peggy, a family friend, is stabbed in the head with a pickaxe, and the babysitter has her head forced into a lit oven and is stabbed in the throat with a pair of scissors, but not before sending the brother off to get help. Katia struggles from her bed to take on the killer herself. Mikos breaks into Katia's bedroom and attacks her, but she manages to stab him in the eyes with a set of drawing compasses. She then stumbles down the hallway as the blinded killer staggers after her. He stalks her through the house, but Katia manages to elude him. The priest arrives and struggles with Mikos, and Katia grabs an axe from a decorative suit of armor and decapitates Mikos with it. The police and the rest of the family arrive to discover Katia standing in the doorway, covered in blood holding Mikos's severed head.

Background

Absurd is in many ways a 'non-sequel' to Anthropophagus, as the only real connections between the two films – besides George Eastman and Joe D'Amato – is the presence of a homicidal man (played by George Eastman in effectively the same role as the one he played in the first film) who is disemboweled in both films, and who comes from a Greek island.

On its release some critics accused the film of being nothing more than an Italian version of Halloween. There are some similarities between the two films – references to a 'Bogeyman' and a babysitter and her charges in peril from a silent and seemingly indestructible killer. Director D'Amato also attempted to make the film more attractive to the American market by setting it in the States, even though it was shot in Italy.

Release

Absurd was released in October 1981 in Italy.

Absurd was placed on the DPP's list of video nasties in 1983 in its uncut state in the UK, but a version was released theatrically with two minutes and 23 seconds of cuts to it that same year.

An uncut DVD version of the film was released under the French title, Horrible, via Mya Communication on July 28, 2009. Also, an uncut DVD version including a long version of the film was released under the German title Absurd via XT-Video on December 15, 2010. An old VHS release exists under the title Monster Hunter.

The BBFC rated Absurd with the BBFC '18' classification with no cuts necessary. That’s the first time for the film in the UK. Previously, it was censored with that rating. The new Blu-ray, released by 88 Films, had its street date on February 13th, 2017.