I remember seeing this with my dad in the movie theater when I was 10yrs old. Man how times have changed I couldn't imagine taking my 10yr old son to see this.
shareEven for a 10 year old in 1980 this was disturbing and cutting edge.. what did you think of seeing this so young??
shareIt must have left an impression on me since I remember it so fondly. The violence in the movie was graphic and shocking. But you have to remember the times. Vietnam was still fresh. Lots of movies at the time had Vietnam themes or characters that were veterans. I remember watching other similar movies before this that had people getting their heads chopped off. You had all those b movies that were made in the Philippines that could show anything they wanted without being censored.
My dad was a Vietnam veteran and my best friends father was a Vietnam veteran who had both legs blown off in the war and he walked around on his hands. So seeing stuff like that and constantly hearing them talk about the war at a young age kind of brought a different perspective on life even at 10yrs old.
My dad liked these kinds of movies and had no problems taking me with him to watch them in the theater. I remember him taking me to see the gauntlet at 7 yrs old and animal house at 8 yrs old. I do remember him taking me to see an R rated movie when I was 8 yrs old can't remember what it was but they showed a trailer for Halloween and it was just music and the glowing pumpkin with a voice talking. That gave me nightmares for months I wouldn't sleep in own room for a while.
This was the first time I had seen a full-length 'X' certificate film when, aged 17, I saw 'The Exterminator' in a North London cinema in February 1981. The reason why I use the words 'full length' is because it was preceded by a British horror short called 'Dreamhouse' which also had a X certificate. I had not known about this in advance and actually considered Dreamhouse to be a much better and more frightening film than 'The Exterminator' although the fact that the BBFC cut the latter film heavily also reduced its impact on me. I still remember the Vietnam decapitation and the mincing machine sequences very well, although I quickly forgot much of the rest of the film and had to rent it on video in the mid-80's just to be able to recall it.
(Unfortunately there is no IMDB entry for 'Dreamhouse' although there are entries for other films with similar titles. It can however be viewed on You Tube, see link below.)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fHOuHKzEuy4
All children need to see this movie.
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