This movie was so-so. It had it's moments, but wasn't the greatest.

It's funny, it's tense, it features two great performances from two actors and the director expertly creates a web of odd tension where you actually don't know what is happening for the majority of the run time.

Although I seem to have had higher expectations than I thought, the movie is super entertaining.

There are moments in this movie where the great movie it could've been peek out... They're fleeting, here, but they're worth savoring, and they happen often enough to make it worth your while.

Absurd sees George Eastman as Mikos Stenopolis, an insane maniac who is capable of regenerating dead cells, a trick which renders him almost indestructible. As Mikos terrorises a small community, a determined priest (Edmund Purdom) and local cop Sgt. Ben Engleman (Charles Borromel) attempt to track him down and deal him the only way they know how: by destroying his brain.Despite its alternate moniker 'Anthropophagus 2', and the presence of the hulking George Eastman as a bloodthirsty monster, this film really has little in common with director Joe D'amato's other infamous nasty 'Anthropophagus', apart from the fact that it too earned itself a place on the official DPP list of films thanks to a whole heap of cheap and nasty gore.If anything, Absurd (AKA Horrible) bears more similarities to (ie., it rips off) John Carpenter's classic 'Halloween' stealing liberally from that film's plot and emulating its characters: Nikos is D'amato's Michael Myers (he is even referred to by a child as 'The Bogeyman'); Purdom's priest is this film's Dr. Loomis; and nurse Emily (Annie Belle) is Laurie Strode. As if that wasn't enough, Absurd also borrows musical cues from Carpenter's menacing Halloween theme.Of course, D'amato is nowhere near as adept at film-making as Carpenter, and fails to conjure up even a fraction of Halloween's atmosphere, scares and style; this means that, when the director isn't spilling entrails and splitting skulls, the film is extremely dull, with scenes unnecessarily drawn out to mind-numbing length. In fact, only the finalé—in which a blinded Eastman stumbles after a disabled girl—displays any kind of ingenuity or tension.

Absurd. Apt title. But, still a slasher flick which delivers some potent violence. A seemingly indestructible maniac, portrayed by George Eastman in street clothes, whose cells regenerate(..this also causes an abnormally sized brain which makes him insane)at an accelerated rate, is attacking innocent people without reason. Out to stop him is Greek priest, Edmund Purdom, who understands his unusual condition and knows his weakness..if you damage the brain, Eastman's a goner. After being impaled on a spiked gate attempting to escape priest Purdom, Eastman is taken to a hospital where he's considered a lost cause, until the startled surgical staff recognize his amazing recuperative abilities. Escaping from the hospital, after using a drill which pierces completely through the skull of his attending nurse, Eastman takes it to the road, killing several innocent bystanders he comes in contact with(..some poor soul sweeping who shoots Eastman three times almost point-blank before being hoisted onto a table, his skull penetrated by a band saw;and future director Michelle Soavi, whose motorcycle stalls, seeing if Eastman is alright after he's hit by a vehicle, being strangled for his efforts)along the way. The car which hits him is owned by Ian Danby and Eastman soon finds his house, the vehicle in the drive way but he and his wife gone..the bulk of the remaining screen time is devoted to Eastman terrorizing Danby's kids, and babysitters. Purdom joins forces with Charles Borromel(..as Sgt Ben Engleman)in their search for Eastman.The film's strengths are Eastman's towering menacing figure and the ultra-violence with a particularly unpleasant fate for poor Annie Bell. Along with the aforementioned carnage left in Eastman's wake, he uses a pick axe, burying it into the skull of the babysitter, forces another victim's head into an oven(..protracted, disturbing sequence as we watch her struggle to free herself as the director often shows us the flames rising, eventually seeing the girl's face starting to burn)finishing her off by slowly jabbing her in the throat with shears(..she had stabbed him multiple times in the neck, before he seized her), soon setting his sights for the kids, Kasimir Berger(..in a dreadful performance as the obnoxious boy child, Willy, who is told to get help, with the damn stupid kid not leaving, instead re-entering the house!)and Katya Berger(..as seemingly invalid Katia, neck brace, strapped in place to her bed due to a spinal condition). The final set-piece is rather effectively staged as we follow Katya's trying to remove her straps in order to free herself as other activities occur outside the room such as her guardian Emily(Belle)trying to defend the kids against the gargantuan Eastman and idiot brother Willy crying for safety(..if the dummy had sought after help as Emily had commanded, then he might not have forced her from the room to find him risking her own well being in the process!). I agree with others that director Aristide Massaccesi has issues with the pacing as the story and characters outside the violent attacks themselves are nothing to write home about. But, one idea, the bedridden Katia having to defend herself against Eastman(..actually gouging his eyes with a drawing compass, putting him at a disadvantage)once she unstraps herself, works beautifully as a form of building suspense, although it also goes on a bit long in the tooth. The showdown between Eastman and Purdom isn't exactly a showstopper, although how Katya settles the score with an ax is quite memorable. Being included on the Video Nasty list helped earn it a reputation, but the slow moving plot will alienate a great deal of those seeking a wall-to-wall gore film. When the violence erupts, however, Aristide Massaccesi delivers the goods in detail, pulling his camera right into the bloody carnage as the victim shrieks in horror. A tighter pace, absent the kid Willy, with less drawn out stretches which cause the viewer to look at his/her watch wondering when Eastman might strike next, would've made a difference. There's nothing particularly stylish or atmospheric about this film(..it certainly doesn't stand next to it's distant brother, ANTHROPOPHAGUS), in my opinion, and the characters aren't that interesting, but when Eastman emerges, it picks up considerably.

Joe D'Amato's "Rosso Sangue" aka. "Absurd" of 1981 is sometimes named a sequel to D'Amato's shocking highlight "Antropophagus" of 1980. This is not really true, as while both films star George Eastman as the vicious villain, and both films are extremely gory, the story lines have nothing at all to do with each other. I loved "Antropophagus", which is not only tremendously gory, shocking and disturbing, but also scary as hell. I also enjoyed "Rosso Sangue", but it is not nearly a great as its aforementioned predecessor. The film is, once again extremely gory, and exploitation-icon George Eastman is once again predestined for the role, but the film is not nearly as scary as "Antropophagus", and neither is it anywhere near as shocking. A small town is infested by a genetically mutated man (Eastman), who has the urge to brutally murder everybody he sees, as a result of a nuclear experiment gone wrong. Not only does he have the urge to murder, however, his mutations also made him very strong and immune to injuries... The film's main qualities are the great score, the extreme gore, and George Eastman. The huge Eastman really is one intimidating fellow, who always fits in his mostly sardonic roles. His greatest moments were Mario Bava's 1974 masterpiece "Cani Arrabiati" ("Rabid Dogs"), and "Antropophagus", but Eastman truly is an enrichment to any of the films he starred in, and "Absurd" is no exception. While he is not quite as scary-looking as in "Antropophagus" here, Eastman single-handedly carries the film with his maniacal performance. The other performances are quite forgettable, but this is not really of any importance. Overall, this is not nearly as great as "Antropophagus", but it is definitely a film that any fan of the very brutal kind of Horror/Exploitataion should enjoy. Recommended to my fellow Italian Horror buffs.

Joe D'Amato and George Eastman's follow-up to the notorious "The Grim Reaper" (Antropophagus) is sick, twisted and – oh yes – deliciously absurd! There's no real story and the amount of genuine chills is limited, but the gory murder sequences are sensational and they easily rank among the craziest stuff ever caught on film. Eastman once again portrays a Greek psycho-killer, though a different one than the fetus-munching monster in Antropophagus (love that title!), cheerfully butchering half the population of a small American town. Nikos isn't your ordinary madman, but a scientific guinea pig whose blood coagulates much faster and hence he instantly recovers from severe wounds, like gunshots or impalement. He's pursued by an unintelligible priest, a chain-smoking copper and his black assistant who isn't allowed to talk without permission. No wonder none of these blokes is capable of catching or even tracing Nikos and the body count increases immensely. Whenever George isn't barbarically killing someone using band saws, surgical devices or axes, "Absurd" is rather dull, slow-moving and borrowing story ideas as well as direct quotes from John Carpenter's landmark slasher Halloween. There's babysitters in peril, young kids spotting the bogeyman everywhere around the house and dangerous killers escaping from hospital beds. Still, if you're looking for really good horror cinema, just wait for the climax which is quite suspenseful and it makes the popular title "Absurd" all the more meaningful.