Barn of the Naked Dead
Barn of the Naked Dead
R | 01 August 1974 (USA)
Barn of the Naked Dead Trailers

Three showgirls on their way to Las Vegas have car trouble and are stuck all night out in the desert. The next morning cheerful Andre offers them help in fixing their car. However, Andre is really a maniac with a lot of family problems; his mother ran out on him when he was a child so now he keeps kidnapped women chained up in his barn and trains them to perform circus tricks. Andre's father is still around of course, but because the old homestead is next to a nuclear test site he has been transformed into a raving homicidal mutant that Andre keeps locked up in a shed.

Reviews
Bereamic

Awesome Movie

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Kien Navarro

Exactly the movie you think it is, but not the movie you want it to be.

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Marva

It is an exhilarating, distressing, funny and profound film, with one of the more memorable film scores in years,

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Jenni Devyn

Worth seeing just to witness how winsome it is.

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BA_Harrison

Three showgirls driving to Las Vegas decide to take a shortcut, only to experience the inevitable: car trouble. Assistance arrives the next morning in the form of Andre (Andrew Prine), who drives them to his remote home in the desert. But rather than help the girls, Andre forces them to become part of his human menagerie - a group of unlucky women that he has abducted and chained up in his barn, and who he severely punishes should they step out of line.It would take something REALLY special to live up to a wonderfully trashy title like Barn of the Naked Dead. This film doesn't quite cut it, despite a premise that promises plenty of deviant behaviour and violence. Yes, there is a barn. Yes, there is some nudity (albeit brief). And, yes, people die. But those looking for an outrageous slice of '70s exploitation will probably come away a little disappointed. The minimal gore is of the 'bright red paint' variety and is wholly unconvincing, the mistreatment of the women is less unsettling than one might imagine, and the sleaze is rather tame.However, although for much of the running time the action is likely to leave exploitation fans wanting, the unexpected ending, in which all but two of the captive women are brutally killed by Andre's horribly disfigured father, actually proves very effective. If only the rest of the film had been as bold, we'd have a film that would get talked about a lot more often.5.5 out of 10, rounded up to 6 for IMDb.

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HumanoidOfFlesh

Three young dancers Simone,Corine and Lisa are stranded in the Nevada desert after their car breaks down.A young man named Andre drives them to his ramshackle farm in the middle of nowhere.Unfortunately Andre is a dangerous psychopath and misogynist,who keeps women chained in a barn.He quickly becomes convinced that Simone is his long dead mother..."Barn of the Naked Dead" aka "Terror Circus" is a neglected classic of 70's horror.I can't believe the low rating this film has-it certainly deserves more positive reviews.It's sleazy and grimy horror film with several truly terrifying moments.The desert setting is completely barren and moody.The female victims of Andre are weak and utterly broken.The central performance of Andrew Prine is genuinely unsettling.There is also Prine's father,a repulsive freak deformed by atomic radiation.9 out of 10.A cult classic.

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slm1998

I honestly see no reason why this movie should exist, it does not benefit anybody in any way. You can see a summary in the other reviews, but I will just say that I agree with what everyone else has said...this movie is truly awful. The cougar is amusing because it is more than likely just stock footage of a cougar that is poorly edited in. I saw this movie under the title "Barn of the Naked Dead" which is quite misleading. There is a barn, but I don't recall any naked dead people at all. This movie did teach me a valuable lesson, never rent a video that has an index card with an amusing title in a plastic case instead of an actual box, nothing good can come of it.

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Steve Nyland (Squonkamatic)

Weird, Disturbing GarbageOne axiom is true about any given art form: It did not exist before a person made it. One of my primary interests in evaluating art forms in a critical manner is to contemplate the motivation behind the decision to execute the work. I have no idea why anyone would have made a movie like BARN OF THE NAKED DEAD, though after seeing it I can understand why folks want to see it: Great title.Existing these days as scummy old rental tapes [including a preposterous version called NIGHTMARE CIRCUS, that is worse if possible] and the occaisional underground re-record, I managed to snag one of the original rental tapes by Ariel Entertainment, whoever they were, and was able to assess an "uncut" 87 minute print of the film. I was not prepared for what it had to offer.I love low rent "B" grade horror, especially European 1970's stuff, and have just begun delving into some of the American made examples beyond DON'T LOOK IN THE BASEMENT or COUNT YORGA. I was enticed by the name Andrew Prine, a magnetic veteran actor of many a B exploitation movie romp -- his role in SIMON KING OF THE WITCHES might be one of the great overlooked performances of the 1970's. His role in BARN OF THE NAKED DEAD is one that I hope he eventually got over, because films like this can wreck a career especially when an actor throws himself into the role, something that he was not apparently able to resist. I wonder if he got to view his daily rushes, or even if there were any daily rushes -- My thought is that the entire film was shot in about a week & a half, and exposed/edited only afterwards when nobody could stop the cinematic car wreck that unfolds onscreen.THE PLOT: Man has lived in near isolation on former Army nuclear testing grounds in Nevada [interesting premise], family having long since deserted or otherwise been rendered ioperable. Prine compensates his lack of company by sitting up in a duck tower with a rifle and putting a bullet through unsuspecting car engines.These cars are all driven by skanky looking 70's B supporting actresses, whom he cons into coming back to his farm. There they are taken prisoner and chained inside of a large barn. The majority of the film consists of footage of the girls chained up to these little posts and cowering with fear, trembling with cold, and discussing their situation. Between conversations Prine lurches in [sometimes dressed as a big top circus M.C.] and drags one of them off to be abused -- verbally, psychologically, physically, and in the movies sole moment of true interest [though the outcome was cut], by a snake. Ahem. He also talks to himself and plays with a toy windup bigtop. He is not a person but a mannerism -- weird behavior for a movie plot with legs attached. I doubt if he was allowed a single 2nd take.At the end of the film a not too secret horrifying secret is revealed, and everyone dies except the two girls that went crazy during their ordeal, which I guess is to make you think, "Gee ...". The End. How they all die I will leave to be a discovery for those stupid enough to seek it out: Don't let my description of a thirty second clip of Snake Sleaze tempt you: BARN OF THE NAKED DEAD just plain sucks.The "cinemetography", on all levels of considerations, sucks. The script sucks, apparently an attempt to adapt the Ed Gein story to a contemporary "issue", though just what that issue would be remains undefined ... Be angry at the Army for atmospheric atom testing, maybe. Don't take the long scenic route when you can fly, perhaps. Watch out for maniacs that have been exposed to nuclear fallout? Nahh -- too easy. Maybe it will come to me at some point, but like I said this film seems to have been made without any real intent, unless that intention is to disturb.And rest assured, BARN OF THE NAKED DEAD is disturbing. Folks may have some bondage romp in mind but BE WARNED: this film lacks even the slightest touch of erotic charm. There is sleaze, but it is not arousing sleaze, unless wondering how the girls go to the bathroom when chained up gives you a rise -- that was the only thing that the film made me wonder about. Then again I guess they didn't need to, since all of the barn scenes could have been shot in one afternoon, so maybe nobody had to go before they were finished.Avoid this film. Avoid it like you would a burning car at a gas pump.Avoid it like you would avoid an open cesspit. Avoid it like you would avoid someone with a bad case of bubonic plague. Don't be suckered in by a kinky box cover or descriptions of unspeakable horrors. They are unspeakable, allright -- so awful that I can't manage one more word.

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