Welcome to Spring Break

Starring:Nicolas De Toth, Sarah Buxton, Rawley Valverde, Lance LeGault, Michael Parks, John Saxon, Ben Stotes, Kristy Lachance, Gregg Todd Davis, Yamilet Hidalgo, John Baldwin, Luis Valderrama, Fred Buck, Debra Gallagher, Turk Harley, Christina Kier, Buffy Dee, Tony Bolano, Shana Rodman, Donna Lee (VII)
Director: Umberto Lenzi
Studio: Lions Gate
Product Type: DVD

Average customer rating:

Banal
Demented like a FOX!!!!!!!!
Endless hours of amusement for the brain dead !
A Stunning Apex of Cinema
Why?

Welcome to Spring Break
Starring: Nicolas De Toth , Sarah Buxton , Rawley Valverde , Lance LeGault , and Michael Parks
Director: Umberto Lenzi
Manufacturer: Lions Gate
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

General | Horror | Genres | DVD | Video

Slasher Flicks | Horror | Genres | DVD | Video

Teen Terror | Horror | Genres | DVD | Video

General | Science Fiction & Fantasy | Genres | DVD | Video

DVDs Under $7.49 | Today's Deals in DVD | Special Features | DVD | Video

( W ) | Titles | Features | DVD | Video
Similar Items:

Pranks
Graduation Day
Horror House on Highway 5
House On Sorority Row
Happy Birthday to Me

ASIN: B0001FVDIM
Release Date: 2004-04-20

Customer Reviews:

Banal.......2005-04-09

Perhaps it was only a matter of time before someone mixed together the spring break movie with a slasher flick. Or, should I say, a slasher flick with a spring break movie? That such a fusion took place in the late 1980s should come as no surprise since that decade saw the flowering and subsequent wilting of both of these cinematic genres. What is surprising, to me at least, is that none other than longtime Italian sleaze director Umberto Lenzi presided over this questionable hybrid. Lenzi, who made tons of memorable films from as far back as the 1950s, is probably best known for giving birth to the notorious cannibal craze with "Man From Deep River" and continuing the tradition with the nauseating "Eaten Alive." He also made the great giallo "Seven-Blood Stained Orchids," the over the top thriller "Violent Protection," and a bunch of micro-budget war flicks that have unfortunately not found their way to DVD yet. How did Lenzi go from gialli and cannibal flicks to "Welcome to Spring Break"? Because Italian film directors followed the money. If slashers made money, they made slashers. If movies about spring break made money, they made spring break movies. Easy, eh?

"Welcome to Spring Break" introduces us to several divergent individuals. First we've got college football player Skip (Nicolas De Toth) and his buddy Ronnie (Rawley Valverde) arriving in Florida to let off a little steam. Skippy botched a play during a big bowl game and constantly hears about it from people he runs into, so he's hoping some fun and sun will alleviate his woes. Second, local authorities including Sheriff Strycher (John Saxon), Coroner Willet (Michael Parks), and the Reverend Bates (Lance Le Gault) are dealing with the aftermath of the execution of Diablo (Tony Bolano), the leader of a local motorcycle gang called the Demons who went to the chair for murder. His body disappears from the local cemetery at roughly the same time a leather-clad dude on a motorcycle starts offing some of the local ladies. Third, the sister of one of Diablo's victims, Gail (Sarah Buxton), works as a mouthy bartender at one of the local watering holes soon frequented by Skip and Ronnie. Everyone starts to come together after Ronnie perishes in a dark alleyway after a confrontation with the Demons. Skip teams up with Gail to figure out who slew his friend, and both quickly end up asking the sort of pesky questions that make Strycher and his friends nervous.

It seems that the authorities have some explaining to do about the Bolano case. The Demons think that the cops framed their leader for murder in order to break up the gang, and they may well have a point. We soon learn that the killings before the execution and the ones going on now seem connected. But how could a dead killer rise from the grave to wreak bloody revenge on the community that sent him to the chair? Or is something more down to earth afoot? It soon becomes obvious that almost any of these characters could be the murderer. Why not Gail? The death of her sister provides more than enough motivation to try and frame the rest of the Demons for further atrocities. Strycher, too, seems a little strange. He goes out of his way to force Skip to leave town once he learns the young man is uncomfortably close to some deep secret. Further evidence points to Strycher when Skip and Gail find some rather embarrassing objects in his trailer home. The movie bandies about possible suspects with aplomb, only bringing us the truth in the final frames. Anyone familiar with Italian cinema knows what red herrings, multiple suspects, and a killer clad in black means: Lenzi's "Welcome to Spring Break" is a giallo film.

While I enjoy gialli, and still express surprise when I stumble over one I've never heard of before, "Welcome to Spring Break" is a rather inept film. The acting is atrocious, absolutely cringe inducing stuff that has the capacity to melt your eardrums if you don't take a break every twenty or thirty minutes. And it isn't just the no-names shouldering the blame: Michael Parks, a veteran actor of some repute, goes way overboard as the coroner tormented by a tragic secret. Moreover, the kills leave a lot to be desired. The motorcycle psycho usually dispatches his victims by means of a miniature electric chair strapped on his bike. Ridiculous? You bet, and cheesy as all get out, too. But the film's biggest flaw is its inability to successfully integrate spring break elements with the slasher theme. Lenzi throws in a bunch of stock footage of kids partying, plenty of girls strutting around in bikinis, and even has a running gag concerning one young female college student earning money for her tuition the hard way, but all of these elements don't really fit in with the rest of the film. One soon suspects they serve a more sinister purpose: padding the movie out to an acceptable runtime. The DVD contains no extras.

The Italian film industry began to decline by the early 1980s, and had one foot in the grave by the time "Welcome to Spring Break" came out in 1988. Lenzi's film shares similarities with other Italian hackfests that came out around the same time, namely casting preppy type jocks in starring roles while still allowing the cult actors of yesteryear the opportunity to earn a paycheck. I kept thinking about Joe D'Amato's "Killing Birds" while watching Lenzi's picture. Preppy actors who can't act? Check. Cult actor slumming for a paycheck? Check (Saxon here, Robert Vaughn in "Killing Birds"). Oh well, if you're a Lenzi fan you'll take the good with the bad, and this one definitely falls in the latter category.

Demented like a FOX!!!!!!!!.......2002-01-13

Welcome to Spring Break is the best movie put out in nothing short of forever. I don't understand how others can degrade such a cinematic achievement. Think of when Ronnie Rivera dumps condoms on Skip Banacheck while telling some inapplicable parable about Easter (hiding some eggs perhaps). Think of drama like this, and realize the error of your ways. Think of the horror that springs into all hearts when the chilling heavy metal of the killer sounds. I most politely suggest that anyone who dislikes this movie think of the extended wet t-shirt contest. How can anyone resist the beauty of Welcome to Spring Break? Skip the others and get to the movie right chea, as it is better than the disturbingly passionate twist put on marriage by Hemingway in The Garden of Eden. It's a good book, but come on, reading!

Endless hours of amusement for the brain dead !.......2001-12-19

What is John Saxon doing in this ridiculous exercise in film making for morons ???

Granted Saxon was never a star, but this stinker is even worse than a lot of his other bad choices ! Anyone giving this turkey five stars must be suffering from dementia...Hey Folks, If you only miss one movie this year, make it this one !!

I'm still trying to get the stench out of my VCR......

A Stunning Apex of Cinema.......2001-10-27

this movie is good. i like it. so it is good, and i like it. that means that you should see it. because it is good.

Why?.......2001-09-11

This movie is a joke, right?. What is John Saxon doing in this?. It's a good thing no one has ever heard of this movie. They should stay uninformed.

DVD:

DVD

DVD

DVD

Dennis Miller Live from Washington D.C.

Love on the Run : DVD

Tiny Heroes (REGION 1) (NTSC)

DVD: The Flight of the Phoenix

John Wayne - Western Edition II