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Unhinged
[BCI]
1982; color
Directed by Don Gronquist
Starring: Laurel Munson, J.E. Penner & Sara Ansley
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Unhinged is yet another obscure British horror film starring no one particularly famous, here or in it's native land. (If the IMDB entries are accurate neither the producer / director or actors had much of a career prior, or post, making this movie.) It does however have the distinction of being banned by Parliament three years after it's release. Which, obviously, is exactly what inspired it's DVD release a couple decades later. In hindsight, I'm not sure why this particular video nasty was deemed nastier than some other similar '80s slasher type flicks. From what I could surmise the nastiness was implied more than graphic. (An observation, not a complaint!) Although perhaps Parliament had access to a better print and saw something particularly gross and / or shocking in the dark murky scenes where I couldn't quite figure out what I was seeing. Anywhoo, the story here revolves around three relatively attractive young ladies who fancy rock music, going braless and showering. After what we assume is a typical morning (showering, dressing, arguing with mum over the phone, etc.) our heroines hit the road and start making their way to whatever rock related event they're supposed to be attending that day. Oh but wouldn't you know it, with the onset of night comes a driving rain which in turn causes the driving girl to lose control of the car thus sending all parties skidding into a muddy ditch. Next thing you know - literally, the screen goes black after the car comes to a stop - one of the girls awakens with a start only to be more startled to find herself in a strange bed with two equally strange people looming over her. As we soon learn, the creepy woman actually lives in the house with her equally creepy, possibly even creepier, mother (interestingly, we later learn the creepy guy is a relatively harmless local jack-of-all-trades type and mostly only creepy in the looks department) and as we are also soon to learn over dinner, this isn't exactly a peaceful co-habitation. As expected, it doesn't take too long for the girls to start realizing there's much more than mother daughter disharmony afoot in this old house full of weird antiques yet minus any working phones and begin plotting their escape / trip home. Well, the two who we see at least. The blond we are told is "too banged up" to partake in dinner eating or parlor sitting. Which I assumed meant she was already dead. (I was wrong about that by the way. She does re-emerge later in the film long enough to have some dialogue before, naturally, dying of unnatural causes.) I will not go into further detail, especially about the whole "paralyzing climax" thing teased on the box cover, partially in an attempt not to spoil but also because I don't think the ending made a lot of sense. Regardless, Unhinged is not without it's charms and worth a viewing for genre fans.
—Bunny
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