Writer / director David Paulsen ("Schizoid") got something of a head start on the slasher craze with this offering. It predates Carpenters' "Halloween" by two years; it was filmed in 1976, but not released until 1980. It's just weird enough - and kinky enough - to be watchable, although it may not appeal to some hardcore devotees of the genre as it takes a long time to begin its murder spree, and even at that point there's really no gore to speak of. Instead, what we get is a lot of odd touches and interesting character details, not to mention a fair bit of humour.Marie (Marilyn Hamlin) goes on a weekend excursion to the country with her new husband Robert (Jim Doerr), her younger sister Shirley (Caitlin O'Heaney, "He Knows You're Alone"), and their openly gay friend Nicky (Christopher Allport, "Dead & Buried"). Soon, their good time is ruined by a psychopath wearing a goofy Halloween mask.While there are no real A-list stars here, there are certainly some very recognizable faces. O'Heaney has some seriously sexy moments (viewers will definitely appreciate the doses of nudity in this film). Allport is amusing, even if his character is somewhat stereotypical. It's great fun to see David Gale of future "Re-Animator" fame as a lumber man providing wood for a boat that Robert is building with some associates. Top notch character actor William Sanderson is a vivid, unkempt redneck / red herring. A very young Yancy Butler makes her film debut. It's not surprising that Hamlin never got much acting work, because she's simply atrocious here.There might not be enough here to completely satisfy some slasher fans, but it remains rather offbeat for its 88 minute time and it is worth a look.Six out of 10.

Savage Weekend is quite an interesting movie. It's intriguing because, while it looks like many of the countless slice and dice flicks that made up the slasher cycle, it was in fact made some time before these films became popularised and clichéd. It displays some facets that would go on to constitute the classic style slasher film, yet it was made in 1976 and only released three years later in the wake of the huge success of Halloween (1978). It seems to clearly have been a movie somewhat ahead of its time in this respect. Its story is one that would go on to become fairly standard in this sub-genre. A group of rich urban friends travel to a remote location for from R&R, before long a masked psychopath begins picking them off.Notably, the characters here are adults, in this respect it deviates from the later slasher template which focused almost exclusively on teenagers. One thing these adults do have in common with their teenage descendants, however, is that they seem to spend an inordinate amount of time having sex. In fact Savage Weekend is pretty ram packed with abundant nudity. On the other hand, it also spends an unusually long time on the plot set-up, with a reasonable amount of character development before the killer finally kicks into action. Maybe it spends a little too long on the build-up in fairness, as it does feel at times that the movie could do with a little more thrills and suspense but in the final half hour, the bloody action is certainly ramped up.The cast was also quite notable for featuring a couple of actors who would go on to star in two 80's cult classics - William (Blade Runner) Sanderson and David (Re-Animator) Gale play a couple of the local hicks. The other most prominent presence in the film was unquestionably the boom mic, which popped up so often and in such hilariously prominent ways that I felt that it should really have been given a special mention in the end credits.

I was interested in watching 'Savage Weekend' after hearing it mentioned in the same breath as 'Black Christmas' and 'Silent Night, Bloody Night' in being a type of proto-slasher flick as, despite being released in 1979, it was filmed pre-'Halloween'. However, apart from being made in the 70s and featuring a killing spree, it has nothing in common with the aforementioned films and is really more of an exploitation flick than a slasher. Maybe some would consider this hair-splitting, but the main thing is that, regardless of how you categorise it, 'Savage Weekend' is basically an exercise in almost totally forgettable film-making.The plot has a rich New York businessman taking a vacation upstate with a group of friends to his summer house where a creepy local has been hired to build a large boat for him. While there they hang out, sunbathe, flirt, and have sex a lot which for some may seem a bit gratuitous. For my money, the sex is an important part of the attempt at a plot as it is the sexual politics among the city types, the libidinal frustrations of the locals, and the interactions between them which pushes the film forward (albeit at a slow pace) and indeed the sexually charged atmosphere is well crafted in parts and may have resulted in a better film.Two-thirds in, the violence kicks in. However, the release of the sexual tension isn't executed well and the sloppy editing lets the film deflate before your eyes and robs the kills of any suspense or anything to sate those in search of 'Friday the 13th' style Tom Savini kills…save for the needle kill, that is. In conjunction with the painfully, painfully obvious red herrings and consequent (yawn) "twist" reveal, as well as the lacklustre final confrontation, when the film finished my overall feeling was one of boredom. Sure there are a few good scenes, and a couple of good ideas, but taken as a whole this movie offers nothing. Whether you chalk it up as a slasher or an exploitation film, this rates quite poorly and can be safely avoided.***********************Public domain movie. Watch free here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RKz3-WBcVv8

This is an awesome horror movie that does not receive the recognition it deserves. I also recommend that you also view the sequel, Not Another Savage Weekend, which was produced as an independent film in January, 1994. I have not seen this short film in a long time because it is very rare. It did develop a huge cult following amongst independent film fans and college campuses in the mid to late 1990s, but I have no idea where to obtain a copy today. I do know that it took place 20 years after the original Savage Weekend. It turned out that the lead character of "Mother" Nicky had not really died, but rather fell into some sort of coma. He awakens one day, not knowing that years have passed, and when he discovers that his friends have been murdered, he begins to search for the killer. He even visits a couple of bars. If anyone knows where to find a copy of this film and how we can get it properly listed here at the IMDb please let me know.