Berdella

Last updated
Berdella
BerdellaPoster.jpg
Film poster
Directed byPaul South
William Taft
Written byWilliam Taft
Produced byPaul South
William Taft
StarringSeth Correa
Marc Saleme
Vito Spino
Steve Williams
Narrated byGeorge Taft
CinematographyRocky Varela
Edited byPaul South
Music byTopp Boom
Production
companies
Savage Cinema
Northeast Film Group
Distributed byNortheast Film Group
Release dates
  • 10 September 2009 (2009-09-10)(Kansas City, Missouri)
Running time
83 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish

Berdella is a 2009 American horror film written and directed by William Taft, and co-directed by Paul South. A limited theatrical release, it is based on the crimes of Robert Berdella, an American serial killer who raped, tortured, and murdered at least six men in Kansas City, Missouri during the 1980s. It stars Seth Correa as Berdella, and co-stars Marc Saleme, Vito Spino, and Steve Williams. [1]

Contents

Plot

Beginning in 1984 and ending in 1988, the film follows Robert Berdella, a homosexual bazaar owner and sexually sadistic serial killer who is introduced drunkenly bludgeoning Jimmy Hower, a man who Bob had been holding captive in the basement of his Kansas City home, 4315 Charlotte Street. Bob subsequently goes to work and skims pornographic magazines in the park, returning home afterward to sell drugs to his friend, Larry. Bob then invites over a drug addict, and slits the man's throat after he stumbles onto a file pertaining to Jimmy.

During a game of poker, Bob serves the other players chili that is implied to contain human remains, and later drugs, sexually assaults, and murders a yard worker named Mike Walton. The next day, Bob masturbates to photographs of his crimes, disposes of Walton's body, and heads out to tend to his shop, leaving a pair of junkies who he had been counseling alone in his house, which the two ransack, infuriating Bob.

After selling a victim's skull to an oblivious buyer, Bob visits a gay bar, where he entices one of the addicts who had earlier robbed into returning to 4315 Charlotte Street. There, Bob angrily tortures and mutilates the man, gouging out the junkie's eyes and going on a religious-themed rant before finally suffocating the addict with a plastic bag while repeatedly yelling, "You fucking robbed me!" Bob later bails Larry out of jail, and subjects him to similar torture and mutilation, eventually asphyxiating and decapitating him after lobotomizing him with a power drill and an injection of Drano.

Bob goes on to abduct a prostitute named Cliff, who he intends to condition into becoming his sex slave, keeping him tied up on the second floor of 4315 Charlotte Street. While at work, Bob begins suffering from chest pains after being attacked by a relative of Jimmy Hower. The film ends with Bob being informed that he will have to close his bazaar, and with Cliff escaping and begging a passing meter man to call 911. A series of intertitles state that Bob was arrested for murder, plea bargained his way out of a death sentence, and died of an apparent heart attack in 1992.

Cast

Release

The film had a limited theatrical release in 2009, [2] and was made available on DVD in 2010. [3]

Reception

Dread Central's Erik W. Van Der Wolf awarded the film a score of 3½ out of 5, and concluded, "Berdella is far from perfect and definitely looks like a low budget film in just about every aspect, but that didn't stop Taft and South from delivering something worth watching." [4] Todd Martin of Horror News praised the film's cinematography and Seth Correa's performance, but otherwise found Berdella to be "so-so" and wrote, "while I didn't hate it I still didn't really see anything special about it that would make me want to watch it again either." [5] Writing for The Pitch , Alan Scherstuhl condemned Berdella, deriding its "halfwit script, wretched acting, glib amorality, and inability to establish a clear relationship between the action that takes place in any one scene to whatever happens in the next." [6]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Danny DeVito</span> American actor (born 1944)

Daniel Michael DeVito Jr. is an American actor and filmmaker. He gained prominence for his portrayal of the taxi dispatcher Louie De Palma in the television series Taxi (1978–1983), which won him a Golden Globe Award and an Emmy Award. He plays Frank Reynolds on the FXX sitcom It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia (2006–present).

<i>The People vs. Larry Flynt</i> 1996 biographical film by Miloš Forman

The People vs. Larry Flynt is a 1996 American biographical drama film directed by Miloš Forman, chronicling the rise of pornographer Larry Flynt and his subsequent clash with religious institutions and the law. It stars Woody Harrelson, Courtney Love as his wife Althea, and Edward Norton as his attorney Alan Isaacman. The screenplay, written by Scott Alexander and Larry Karaszewski, spans about 35 years of Flynt's life, from his impoverished upbringing in Kentucky to his court battle with Reverend Jerry Falwell, and is based in part on the U.S. Supreme Court case Hustler Magazine v. Falwell.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jason Mewes</span> American actor (born 1974)

Jason Edward Mewes is an American actor, comedian, film producer, and podcaster. He is best known for playing Jay, the vocal half of the duo Jay and Silent Bob, in longtime friend Kevin Smith's View Askewniverse franchise.

<i>Liquid Sky</i> 1982 science fiction film by Slava Tsukerman

Liquid Sky is a 1982 American independent science fiction film directed by Slava Tsukerman and starring Anne Carlisle and Paula E. Sheppard. It debuted at the Montreal Film festival in August 1982 and was well received at several film festivals thereafter. It was produced with a budget of $500,000. It became the most successful independent film of 1983, grossing $1.7 million worldwide.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Robert Berdella</span> American serial killer (1949–1992)

Robert Andrew Berdella Jr. was an American serial killer who kidnapped, raped, tortured, and murdered at least six young men after forcing his victims to endure periods of up to six weeks of captivity. His crimes took place in Kansas City, Missouri, between 1984 and 1987.

<i>Mickey Blue Eyes</i> 1999 American romcom crime film

Mickey Blue Eyes is a 1999 American romantic comedy crime film directed by Kelly Makin. Hugh Grant stars as Michael Felgate, an English auctioneer living in New York City who becomes entangled in his soon-to-be father-in-law's mafia connections. Several of the minor roles are played by actors later featured in The Sopranos.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nick Stahl</span> American actor (born 1979)

Nicolas Kent Stahl is an American actor. Starting out as a child actor, he gained recognition for his performance in the 1993 film The Man Without a Face, directed by and co-starring Mel Gibson.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Adrienne King</span> American actress

Adrienne King is an American actress and artist. She made her film debut in the television film Inherit the Wind (1965)—followed by uncredited roles in Between the Lines (1977), Saturday Night Fever (1977), and Hair (1979).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ti West</span> American film director

Timon C. West is an American film director, producer, screenwriter, editor, cinematographer, and actor, best known for his work in horror films. He directed the horror films The Roost (2005), Trigger Man (2007), The House of the Devil (2009), The Innkeepers (2011), the Western In a Valley of Violence (2016) as well as the X film series. He has also acted in a number of films, mostly in those directed by either himself or Joe Swanberg.

<i>Frankenstein 1970</i> 1958 science fiction horror film directed by Howard W. Koch

Frankenstein 1970 is a 1958 science fiction/horror film, shot in black and white CinemaScope, starring Boris Karloff and featuring Don "Red" Barry. The independent film was directed by Howard W. Koch, written by Richard Landau and George Worthing Yates, and produced by Aubrey Schenck. It was released theatrically in some markets on a double feature with Queen of Outer Space.

<i>August Undergrounds Mordum</i> 2003 American exploitation horror film by Fred Vogel

August Underground's Mordum is a 2003 direct-to-video horror exploitation film created and distributed by Toetag Pictures. It is the sequel to 2001's August Underground, and was followed by August Underground's Penance in 2007. The film is purposely shot in an amateur way to pass it off as a faux snuff film.

<i>Alien Raiders</i> 2008 American film

Alien Raiders is a 2008 American science fiction horror film, starring Carlos Bernard, Rockmond Dunbar and Mathew St. Patrick. The film is Ben Rock's first feature film as a director. The film was produced by Daniel Myrick, John Shiban, and Tony Krantz.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Scott Stewart (director)</span> American film director

Scott Charles Stewart is an American film director, writer, producer and visual effects artist. He was one of the principal co-founders of The Orphanage, a prolific Los Angeles effects house that worked on dozens of high-profile projects. As a director, he helmed the dark fantasy action-horror films Legion and Priest, and the alien abduction thriller Dark Skies. He also executive produced the television series Dominion, a sequel to the former film. Stewart has also directed, produced, and realized dozens of short films and television commercials.

<i>555</i> (1988 film) 1988 American horror film directed and produced by Wally Koz

555 is a 1988 American horror film directed by Wally Koz, and written by Roy Koz. A direct-to-video release, it stars Mara Lynn Bastian, Charles Fuller, Greg Kerouac, Greg Neilson, B.K. Smith, and Bob Grabill. The plot involves the police searching for a murderous necrophile who, every five years, murders five couples over the course of five nights, with the latest killing spree taking place in Chicago, Illinois.

<i>The Bunny Game</i> 2011 American experimental horror film

The Bunny Game is a 2010 American avant-garde exploitation horror film co-created and co-written by Rodleen Getsic and Adam Rehmeier. A prostitute searching for her next fix is kidnapped by a truck driver and subjected to extreme physical and sexual violence.

<i>Dead Before Dawn</i> 2012 Canadian film

Dead Before Dawn is a 2012 Canadian adventure-horror comedy directed by April Mullen, written by Tim Doiron, and starring Devon Bostick, Martha MacIsaac, and Christopher Lloyd. It introduces "zemons", a combination of zombie and demon. It is Canada's first stereoscopic live-action 3D feature film, and Mullen is the first woman to direct a live-action, fully stereoscopic 3D feature film.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">O'Shea Jackson Jr.</span> American actor, rapper and songwriter

O'Shea Jackson Jr. (born February 24, 1991), also known by the stage name OMG, is an American actor, rapper and songwriter. He is the oldest son of Ice Cube and, in his feature film debut, he portrayed his father in the 2015 biopic Straight Outta Compton.

<i>The Cabining</i> 2014 American film

The Cabining is a 2014 horror comedy directed by Steve Kopera. The story centers on two failing screenwriters who travel to a remote artists’ retreat, seeking inspiration. The retreat proves anything but serene, as the artists die off one-by-one.

Jimmy Lloyd was an American actor who played Tex in the 1947 film serial The Sea Hound.

<i>Pony Express Rider</i> 1976 film by Robert Totten

Pony Express Rider is a 1976 American Western film directed by Robert Totten and starring Henry Wilcoxon, Maureen McCormick and Joan Caulfield. In 1860 young Jimmie Richardson joins the Pony Express to help find the man he believes killed his father.

References

  1. ↑ Haberfelner, Mike (December 2008). "An Interview with Bill Taft, Writer, Co-Producer, Co-Director, and Paul South, Co-Producer, Co-Director of Berdella". searchmytrash.com. (re)Search my Trash. Retrieved 13 February 2017.
  2. ↑ Wells, Mitchell (26 December 2008). "The Butcher of Kansas City". horrorsociety.com. Horror Society. Retrieved 24 April 2022.
  3. ↑ Wells, Mitchell (25 June 2010). "Berdella on DVD". horrorsociety.com. Horror Society. Retrieved 24 April 2022.
  4. ↑ Wolf, Erik W. Van Der (2 September 2010). "Berdella (2010)". dreadcentral.com. Dread Central. Retrieved 13 February 2017.
  5. ↑ Martin, Todd (23 June 2015). "Film Review: Berdella (2009)". horrornews.net. Horror News. Retrieved 13 February 2017.
  6. ↑ Scherstuhl, Alan (24 September 2009). "Berdella: The Movie is torture to sit through". thepitchkc.com. The Pitch . Retrieved 23 April 2022.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.