The Incredible Torture Show (1976)

User Rating:

4.0/10   

Director:

Joel M. Reed

Writer:

Joel M. Reed (written by)

Genre:

Horror

Tagline:

Join The Fun!... Human Dart Boards... "Home Style Brain Surgery"... Dental Hijinks!

Plot:

Sardu runs the theatre of the macabre. Sardu is into S&M. Sardu likes to kill people in public and make them think it's fake.

Plot Keywords:

S&M | Macabre | Sick | Stage | Torture

Cast

Seamus O'Brien	...	Master Sardu
Viju Krem	...	Natasha D'Natalie
Niles McMaster	...	Tom Maverick
Dan Fauci	...	Sergeant John Tucci
Alan Dellay	...	Creasy Silo
Ernie Pysher	...	The Doctor
Luis De Jesus	...	Ralphus
Helen Thompson	...	Master's Assistant
Saiyanidi	...	Master's Assistant
Alphonso DeNoble	...	White Slave Dealer (as Alphonso)
Carol Mara
Linda Small
Illa Howe
Lynette Sheldon
Jenny Baxter		(as Janis Beaver)

Also Known As:

Blood Sucking Freaks (USA) (reissue title)
Bloodsucking Freaks (USA) (promotional title)
Heritage of Caligula
Sardu (USA) (informal alternative title)
Sardu, Master of the Screaming Virgins (USA) (original script title)
The Heritage of Caligula: An Orgy of Sick Minds (USA) (video title)
The House of the Screaming Virgins
Akuma no shitatari (Japan) (DVD title) [ja]
Bloodsucking Freaks (Argentina) [es]
Bloodsucking Freaks (Italy) (original subtitled version) [it]
Incredible Torture Show (France) (video box title) [fr]
Sardú, el teatro del miedo (Argentina) [es]

Runtime:

91 min | Australia:89 min (uncut version) | France:88 min | USA:88 min (director's cut)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Argentina:18 | Canada:(Banned) (Nova Scotia/Ontario) | Canada:16+ (Quebec) | Canada:R (Manitoba) (re-rating) | Finland:K-18 | Germany:(Banned) | New Zealand:R18 | USA:Open (rating surrendered) (1984) | USA:R (re-rating) (1981) | USA:X (original rating) | Australia:R

Trivia:

This film was effectively "banned" (not rated by MPAA at all) in the U.S. following protest by Women Against Pornography.

Goofs:

Continuity: When Ralfus begins sawing the girl's hand off in the 'dismemberment' scene, the saw is to the inside of the shackle. When the camera view changes, the saw is to the outside of the shackle.

Quotes:

Tom Maverick: [while almost falling because he stepped on something] They shouldin't have stuff lying around, people could fall.
[picks up a severed head]
Tom Maverick: Ugh!
[drops the head]
Sergeant John Tucci: What's the matter Tom? Never got a little head before?

Movie Connections:

Referenced in The Big Hit (1998)

Unbelievable

Now this is a BAD movie!

Having heard about this movie for quite a while I was expecting something fairly grotesque. What I found was a movie that reaches new depths in BAD. BAD acting, BAD plot, BAD special effects, BAD humor, basically BAD everything.

I laughed most of the way through the film due to the incredibly stupid dialogue and amazingly cheesy effects. I've seen better special effects in junior high school cinematography films. The actors/actresses are worse than what you see in the average grade school play. There's a reason nobody went on to more than one or two more low budget films from this turkey. I don't know about anyone else but if I was getting all my teeth pulled out I wouldn't sit around looking bored. Then again teeth don't exactly pop out in under 2 seconds either. It looked like he was simply picking them up off her tongue, which is pretty much what he was doing.

All in all a truly monumental waste of time and film. I'd really be torqued off about it if it had cost me a penny to watch but it didn't so I only feel like I wasted the time, not money.

Anyone else think that Sardu bore an amazing resemblance to Eric Idle?