Reasonably amusing B movie with a number of familiar faces, "Grotesque" was the brainchild of actor and sometime director Joe Tornatore, and it's clear that he's having a fair bit of fun with the horror genre. Ever cute and appealing Linda Blair is Lisa, who travels with her good friend Kathy (the lovely Donna Wilkes of "Jaws 2", "Blood Song", and "Angel") to the mountain retreat of her father Orville (Guy Stockwell, "Santa Sangre"), a special effects artist. Unfortunately, there's a gang of degenerate punks - a common enough element in movies of this time - who are hellbent on retrieving the treasure that they are convinced the old man is hoarding. Having seen the whole thing, it becomes clear for this viewer, now, just what Tornatore and his screenwriter Mikel Angel were attempting with this movie, as the opening sequence turns out to be a movie within a movie. The balance of the thing is played mostly straight, although the way that one false scare is set up for an absurd length of time makes one think that Tornatore and Angel were making fun of this sort of thing in the first place. Makeup effects are really quite tacky but this, again, may well be another attempt to sort of wink at the audience and just have fun with conventions of low, low budget genre flicks. The entertaining cast also includes veteran matinée idol Tab Hunter as the uncle Rod, Brad Wilson as maniacal punk leader Scratch, in a hilariously way over the top performance, Nels Van Patten as giggling associate Gibbs (he may remind the viewer of his uncle Timothy's performance as the villain in "Class of 1984"), sexy Sharon Hughes (the inspiration for Prince's song "Little Red Corvette") as Donna, Charles Dierkop ("Messiah of Evil", "Silent Night Deadly Night") as the local sheriff, cult icon Robert Z'Dar as gang member Eric, John Goff as a producer, Tornatore himself as Charlie, and wrestling star Mike Lane (who'd worked with Bogart on the legend's last film, "The Harder They Fall"). (It's also worth noting that Goff's long time friend and fellow exploitation veteran George "Buck" Flower was the movie's pre-production coordinator.) Some good shocks and atmosphere, but the movie does plod a bit too much. The final third is a bit of a surprise, though, as it goes in a direction that people might not expect - it does, however, lead to a delicious scene of revenge, even if some might feel it doesn't go far enough. Ultimately, though, it's impossible to review this and not bring up the ending, which actually completely pulls the rug out from under us - some people watching may be quite amused, others extremely disappointed; personal taste will likely decide one's reaction. Personally, I found this silly little movie quite a hoot. Seven out of 10.
Review of Grotesque
