Horror House on Highway Five (1985)
aka
A Casa do Horror
To be labelled as the most bizarrely bewildering title of all slasher movies may not seem like much of a memorable claim. But when you consider the fact that the forerunner is up against such twisted beasts as Blood Harvest, Don't Open 'til Christmas, Pieces, Bloodbeat and the almost extra terrestrial A Day of Judgement, then you begin to realise how tough a challenge it really is. When it comes to leaving you dumbfounded and gasping at the screen - jaw dropped quicker than if you just received a shattering right hook from Mike Tyson – then Horror House on Highway Five has crossed the finish line while the others are still tying up their shoe-laces. A true, true masterpiece of brain-numbing confusion, Highway Five is about as anormalistic as any movie could ever possibly achieve to be inside this solar system.
Some of the strange images that will appear on your screen over the 90 minute runtime include: A homicidal maniac in a Richard Nixon mask that may well be a dead scientist and is played by an actor named Ronald Reagan (seriously!). Then there are the two demented kidnappers - one of them believing that his brain is being destroyed by parasites, while the other acts equally like the mushrooms that he ate with his fried breakfast were certainly those of the 'magic' variety. And how could I forget the gang of college half wits who have the intelligence of an autistic bullfrog on crack. Then there's the wacky soundtrack that includes everything from St Peppers-era Beatles style trip-rock to Dion and the Belmonts-type doo-wop?
A college class investigating the creation of the V2 rocket head out to a small town (brilliantly titled 'Little Town') where it was believed that the German scientist behind the invention spent his final days in America. Legend dictates that before his disappearance, Frederick Bartholomew became a murderous psychopath and began killing off the people that he worked with. One young student - Sally Smith - is given the task of interviewing two of the scientist's former associates, the crazed Dr. Mabuser and his stuttering sidekick Gary. Meanwhile a maniac dressed as Tricky Dicky is heading along Highway 5 bumping off anyone unfortunate enough to cross paths with him. Will the classmates escape the secluded town alive? Is that really Richard Nixon trying to murder his way back into the White House? All the answers lie behind the front door of the horror house on highway 5… (IMDB Luisito Joaquin Gonzalez)
