BORN FOR HELL: BRUTAL

 

For those alive during the time that Richard Speck committed his atrocious crime the name still can fill you with revulsion. Speck brutally held captive, raped, tortured and murdered 8 student nurses in their townhouse acting as a dormitory. Only one survivor escaped by hiding. He was sentenced to death but that result was overturned and he spent his life in prison before dying in 1991. His name is still connected with the list of famous serial killers in this country. It is only natural that his act would inspire filmmakers to use his tale in their own films.

 

Such was the case with BORN FOR HELL, made in 1976 and rarely seen. The film made its debut in Austin, TX where it was protested for its depiction of violence against women. Understandable when you actually watch the film.

 

Much is changed here and the connection to Speck is loose at best. Ex-GI Cain Adamson (Mathieu Carriere) is making his way home from Vietnam is waylaid in Belfast in 1972 Ireland. This is a time when the streets were filled with blood as battles raged between the Irish and British there. Cain is there firsthand to witness the carnage when he visits a church that is bombed. It is here that his lack of concern for human life is put on display.

Cain comes across a residence being used to home 8 young nurses. The group is preparing for their finals in a week and gather together to celebrate the birthday of one of them. In the midst of their celebration Cain enters through the back door and into their kitchen. Two of the girls take kindly to him and offer him food and something to drink before sending him on his way. 

That night Cain enters the home once more. This time his motives are completely different. He rounds the girls up in a room upstairs telling them he’ll let them free once the last girl working the night shift gets home. He ties them up and begins telling them stories of his life. He show them a tattoo on his arm that reads “Born for Hell”, a phrase he tells them his aunt gave him for not attending church regularly on Sundays. 

Cain takes one girl downstairs and talks to her, eventually trying to rape her. When she resists he strangles her with his belt. He returns upstairs and takes two more of the girls down, forcing them to have oral sex with one another. When they refuse he beats them with his belt. 

The final nurse arrives home with a friend and the carnage begins. Cain stabs both women and then goes upstairs to continue. Each girl is murdered as he moves from one to the other. The different reactions and methods make for the drama here as well as the single girl who may escape death by hiding under the bed. 

The film is definitely the type that would have played grindhouses on 42^nd Street for years. It’s not the type you’d see playing in the local multi-plex. Brutal in its depiction of violence against women one can easily see why it would be found offensive. While trying to portray the killer as disturbed the fact is he is still a sociopath and there is little sympathy to be found for him. 

The story of Richard Speck is, as I said, loosely adapted here. Little more than the set up for the story is used. But while watching the film unfold one can easily imagine Speck doing these things in real life and that can leave you with a feeling of revulsion. 

Exploitation movies by there genre alone are expected to take things to the extreme. While not a gory film this one can rise certain feelings in the viewer and they are not good ones. Perhaps that’s a good thing. It makes us realize the value of life as we watch someone extinguish that in others. Not an imaginary killer in a hockey mask or scarred face but someone we might see on the street and think nothing of. We can choose to ignore that real horror or we can watch something like this and view it as a cautionary tale of what might be. 

Severin has done a smash job her with this release beginning with a scanned 2k version of the film from a 35mm print found in the National Archives of Canada. Extras include “The Other Side of the Mirror” an interview with actor Mathieu Carriere, “Nightmare in Chicago: Remembering the Richard Speck Crime Spree” with filmmakers John McNaughton and Gary Sherman, “A New Kind of Crime: The Richard Speck Story” with podcaster Esther Ludlow, “Bombing Here, Shooting There” a video essay by filmmaker Chris O’Neill, artists Joe Coleman on Speck, the Italian trailer for the film and NAKED MASSACRE the U.S. version release of the cut. Once more Severin delivers an amazing version of a lost film.

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