BERDELLA

A text introduction is met with an earnest voiceover that disclaims, in true THE TEXAS CHAIN SAW MASSACRE style, that the following footage is based on true events - and only the names of the unfortunates concerned have been changed.

What BERDELLA actually is, is an account of four years in the life one of America's lesser known serial killers: Robert Berdella. Between 1984 and 1988 he abducted and murdered six men, but not before keeping each one captive in his Kansas home for months on end, torturing them in the hope of them becoming his compliant sex slaves.

The first time we meet Bob (Seth Correa) is in July 1984. He's walking home drunk along a lonely road when his pal Larry (Steve Williams) pulls up and offers him a lift. Larry's also pissed, and laughs off Bob's claims that he has a boy chained up in his cellar back at home. But, when Bob gets dropped off, we follow him indoors and see that he does indeed have a boy waiting for him - and witness as he hacks at his bare flesh with a claw-hammer.

By day, Bob owns his own bric-a-brac store at the local flea-market, Bob's Bazaar Bizarre. He's rude to the customers he doesn't know, but a popular figure within his immediate community. One of the reasons for this is because he's so helpful with the homeless and drug dependent in the area. He'll often taken needy cases in, counsel them, provide roofs over their heads and even administer fixes for some addicts.

But, despite his good guy persona and his harmless demeanour - he's forever telling folk "I'm not a violent man" - things are very different on a night, behind closed doors.

Moving through short, well-edited scenes in time capsules that occur several months apart, BERDELLA chronicles the four-year period in which Bob literally got away with murder because those around him were too ignorant to see what was right in front of their noses. Even his best friend, wife-beating slob Larry, jokingly dismisses his pal's weird ways by flippantly asking whether he's carrying AIDS (sadly, an accurate example of people's ignorance towards homosexuality in the 80s).

BERDELLA is filmed on what looks to be a very low budget. The raw feel of the images on screen look akin to 16mm, and the rather flat audio stays true to this. In line with the low budget, the performances are wildly uneven. While Correa is brave and convincing as the almost oblivious brute, some of the periphery characters - Williams, Denise Carroll (as Larry's estranged wife) - are embarrassing to watch.

But despite these traditional shortcomings of the shoestring horror genre that BERDELLA adheres to, it works overall as an effective little snapshot of how evil can hide behind a veneer of respectability in today's society.

Part of the film's success is down to its authentic feel. It looks and sounds like it was made in the 1980s. Hairstyles, fashions and decor stay true to the decade, while exteriors are kept vague enough to avoid any anachronisms cropping up. Topp Boom's music is very reminiscent of the horror films of that era, all brooding synthesisers and atmosphere. The natural lighting and lack of sets necessitating genuine houses for interiors lends the film a claustrophobic edge, not unlike that of William Lustig's MANIAC or John McNaughton's HENRY: PORTRAIT OF A SERIAL KILLER (the one film I'd guess BERDELLA tries most to emulate - with occasional success, it must be said).

Another healthy element of this otherwise dark and disturbing film is a very welcome strain of subtle black humour. Simple observations such as the STOP sign above the heads of the junkies being fixed up by Bob on his settee, or the moment when a homeless young gardener suggests that he's just found a piece of a human skull on Bob's lawn and Bob casually dismisses it as nothing more than a "misshapen rock", exhibit a wry, intelligent and mischievous element to William Taft's screenplay. They help this material from falling into the trap of being simply oppressive, unrelenting fare.

As does the straightforward, taut and sustained co-direction of Taft and Paul South.

Northeast Film Group's DVD of their own production is a decent affair.

BERDELLA is presented uncensored in its original "unrated director's cut" in an appropriately gritty 16x9 transfer. Colours are strong, blacks are solid and grain is moderate. Images carry a slight softness to them and overall the lo-fi unfussiness of the picture adds to the film's authentic 1980s feel.

English audio is provided in 2.0 and is an occasionally muffled prospect. This is, I'd wager, a true representation of how it was recorded. In a nice move, the DVD equips the film with small but perfectly readable optional English subtitles.

An animated main menu page leads into static sub-menu screens, including a scene-selection menu offering access to the film via 12 chapters.

Extras begin with two short deleted scenes, both of which are worth a viewing. The first is a 1-minute scene of Bob getting assaulted by drunken jocks; the second is a 30-second silent offering which has been accurately titled "Additional Torture".

Two trailers follow, both of which are two minutes in length. The second is the more graphic of the two. A 39-second teaser trailer is of less interest.

A 13-page gallery presents a host of provisional poster designs promoting the film, as well as a couple of behind-the-scenes stills.

Proving to be nice touches in terms of contextual information, are a biography on Berdella and a well-researched "timeline" of his most dastardly deeds which both follow in text format.

The true story of Bob Berdella is in equal parts fascinating, gruesome and chilling. Taft and South's film is also all three of these things for the most part. It comes undone at times due to its low budget restrictions and its failure to enlighten upon the main character, but as a stark and disturbing account of the grisly acts perpetrated by this lesser-known killer it succeeds in getting under the skin.

BERDELLA is worth seeking out, and makes a good accompanying piece to the engrossing 2004 docu-drama BAZAAR BIZARRE (available on UK DVD as SERIAL KILLERS: THE STRANGE CASE OF BOB BERDELLA).

Review by Stuart Willis