Pretty singer/actress Marie Coleby has a charmed,affluent life in Sydney.She lives alone in a beach-side mansion with her dog and doting neighbour,old Billy Shepherd helps her out from time to time.The bearded Gordon Mason is her gardener.He is a psycho,who enjoys lying in bed with a mannequin and dreaming about torturing women on the beach.His obsession with Marie leads to rape and murder.A new resident enters the house of murder.Marie's older sister Jenny Nolan is looking for her..."Lady Stay Dead" is a sleazy psycho slasher comparable to "Maniac","Don't Go in the House","Never Pick Up a Stranger" or "American Nightmatre".There is plenty of sleaze and full-frontal nudity as well as some brutal violence.Chard Hayward is perfect as a appropriately perverted and crazed murderer.8 out of 10.I enjoyed this low-budget slice of sleaze.

I was warned from beforehand that the first half hour of "Lady Stay Dead" would be quite dull and derivative, but I can't say I fully agree with that. True, the concept of misogynistic violence was quite popular around that time, but this film definitely does bath in a strangely uncomfortable and sinister ambiance right from the beginning. There's a creepy guy, with beard and glasses, fondling a life-size mannequin doll to the tunes of a song by his favorite singer/actress Sheena. That's slightly disturbing, to say the least, especially if you know that this same freak is employed by Sheena (who's real name is Marie Coleby) as her gardener and handyman around the house. He – Gordon the pervert, as I'll refer to him as from now – secretly peeps at Marie when she's working out on the beach. He actually digs little holes in the sand to … you know … masturbate! Yeah, Gordon the pervert is quite the sicko! But then Marie yells at him quite mean and Gordon the pervert snaps. He viciously rapes her and barbarically drowns the poor girl by holding her upside down in the fish tank. All this stuff occurs during the first half hour, so how can you even think for one second that "Lady Stay Dead" is a boring film? After his little moment of temporary insanity, Gordon the pervert has to get rid of Marie's body – as well as those of the noisy neighbor and his dog – on the exact same day that her sister Jenny planned to pay an unannounced visit. Only around this time slot, there's a slight dip of boredom in "Lady Stay Dead", as it takes a little too long before Jenny realizes something isn't right around the house, but the pacing automatically repairs itself for a virulent and exciting finale. Jenny eventually locks herself inside the house with Gordon the psycho pervert trying to get in by using all of his gardening tools. "Lady Stay Dead" is a raw and mean-spirited early 80's Aussie shocker with a similar set-up like the American exploitation hits "Maniac" and "Don't Answer the Phone". Basically, these are all very sick thrillers with misogynist killers that are introduced straight from the beginning and containing explicit footage of violence against women. The body count in this film is relatively low, but Gordon the pervert insists on exhibiting the bodies of his victims in various macabre positions. That's quite disturbed enough already, I'd say.Interesting trivia detail for horror buffs: "Lady Stay Dead" comes from writer/director Terry Bourke, almost ten years after he made what is generally considered to be the very first Australian horror movie "Night of Fear".

It's a bit slow at first, but it gets going. What a camp film. I noticed Roger Ward wearing what could only be a hair piece which looked like a doormat missing the welcome sign. When they put the woman in the fish tank to drown her, she didn't fight very hard and was rather unrealistic, but I guess that adds to its camp disposition! It's not the best film I have ever seen Roger Ward in - his performance in Mad Max will always be my favored. I would suggest you try and get a copy of LSD. It's one of those films you will have a soft spot for... in a peculiar kind of way. Typical of how 1970's films were shot in Australia

The first 30 minutes are like "Oh God! This sucks" but after the sister gets to the house on the movie it gets pretty cool. Even though you know who the killer is & don't think he's scary, the music & direction make it seem like a slasher or gore movie. Its not real bloody or scary but I liked it.