Spine is one of the most sought after tapes out there. It's incredibly rare, SOV, and it has awesome Big Box artwork. It's the lone horror film released by a pornographic video company. I've been seeking for this ever since I started collecting. So was it worth the wait?
A young nurse is found brutally slain in her home. The only clues are the peculiar wounds targeting her spine and the name "Linda" written in blood on the wall. More nurses begin turn up mutilated in the same fashion. As police struggle to track down the killer, he invaded the home of another nurse to torture her and her house guest.
One of the things that jumped out to me with Spine was the acting. Yes most of it is your typical SOV "phone it in" acting. However, we find semi-star, Janus Blythe (The Hills Have Eyes) has somehow found her way onto the set of this Z grade production. Blythe is actually great in her role. Her facial expressions truly emulate the terror her character is experiencing. She actually elevates her torture scenes and makes them less comfortable to watch, which is the intended tone. Hard to tell if she was acting or just crying about how awful this film was.
Spine wants to be sleazy. It kind of is. But it has very minimal nudity and virtually no gore. We see half a nipple (I'll give credit where it's due. Almost every review says there is absolutely no nudity) and some blood splatter. That's it. It's hard to stand up against some of the dirtier movies in the genre without those key ingredients. Even more baffling is that it was released by a pornographic video company but lacks pretty much all graphic content.
The first half of Spine is filled with brain numbing dialogue. It's almost impossible to watch. It becomes a little better in the second half with a heavy focus on the home invasion. But at the end of the day Spine lacks the trademark SOV charm that makes these films endearing. It takes itself too seriously without the talent or production value to portray it as such. I can't in good conscious recommend this to anybody.
Body Count:4
Side Note: Even the Co-Director says that the only good thing about this is the Box Art. Damn.
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