Homebodies (1974)

I watched this movie with my grandmother when I was about 6 years old. The movie was PG, so I could get away with watching it then. What a hoot! We managed to watch that movie every time we could catch it on and the last line in the movie kept us laughing for the longest: It's me, Mattie.I know that a movie about old folks killing to keep their homes may be totally horrific to today's society that salivates over brutality performed on perky-breast blonds, pencil-waist brunettes, and their associated blockhead boyfriends. The irony of "Homebodies" is that you're force to have to acknowledge those old folks for what they were doing -- whether you liked it or not. They refused to be pushed around and their tactics were crude, yet effective.Having said that, I watched it again recently and I found it just as funny, but with a better understanding. While I could say that the murders were truly without warrant, they were in better context than what you see in most slasher flicks nowadays, where the killings are for shock value and good measure.

A moody old song sets the right tone for what actually is a vastly underrated and extremely fun horror gem. "Homebodies" handles about a group of old folks banned from their houses and forced to abandon their familiar neighborhood in order to make way for new building projects. The drama this type of events causes is real but the emotions and action taken by these elderly are, of course, far over the top and deliciously absurd. The last mind strong tenants of an apartment complex go on a merciless killing spree and make everyone who tries to exile them disappear. Before turning into a complete pitch black comedy, "Homebodies" has a quite tension level and even an unsettling atmosphere at times. As illogical and exaggerated the premise may sound, these old folks look far scarier than any other serial-slasher in a funny mask. The character development of this film is simply great. Every single one of these mums 'n dads is intriguing, like the spooky blind guy or the lady who still talks to her long-deceased father. There are a few nice and bloody make-up effects and an endless amount of efficient black humor. Near the end, the story regretfully (and maybe even inevitably) loses some of its terrific initial impact as the female lead, played by Paula Trueman, turns entirely senile. The whole film turns senile with her… Still, "Homebodies" ought to get more praise and recognition from the cult-chasing horror fans! Recommended highly!

I found this movie under the Comedy section of Blockbusters (God knows why...it should be in Horror) about 10 years ago. It looked interesting so I rented it. It's certainly different. It's about a bunch of elderly people turning into killers to prevent their building from being torn down. The acting is pretty good and the killings are pretty scary (but within a PG rating)...but this is treated as a comedy. I found nothing funny about the situation at all. And when they start killing each other off over nothing the movie went too far. Lousy ending too. Still, it's worth catching if you want to see something different and the acting is quite good from the entire cast.

I saw this on HBO back when they were only on from 5P to 2A (This is 1976 for those of you too young to remember). It has some bad acting, and the content was dark, to say the least, but it had some really good points. Firstly the soundtrack was great, featuring the tile song "In Sachet" and secondly, a wonderful actor by the name of Ian Wolfe, who if you ever saw him, you would remember him from one of his umpteen TV appearances. (He started acting in his mid-50's and continued until he was 94 years old in the Warren Beatty powered 'Dick Tracy') The cement-pouring scene is worth the price of renting it, if you can find it. I could not locate it to rent on the major internet DVD rental site. (Don't want to break any IMDB rules). If you do find it, check it out. You'll think twice about sticking your aged loved ones in a retirement home.... I guarantee it... :)