***“Grotesque” or “Confused”?***

A Los Angeles girl and her friend (Linda Blair & Donna Wilkes) travel to Big Bear Lake to relax at the remote abode of the former’s parents. Her father is a renowned horror effects artist (Guy Stockwell) and her plastic surgeon uncle is also coming out (Tab Hunter). Unfortunately, a curious group of malevolent punks is on the loose and puts the kibosh on the get-together, but the family has a secret.

“Grotesque” (1988) takes the cabin-in-the-woods slasher plot and mixes-in some “The Goonies” (1985) crossed with the cartoonish villains of the Mad Max trilogy. It’s an eccentric concoction and fairly entertaining. Yet the campy punks (the Mad Max element) seem like they walked in off of another set because everyone else takes the material seriously (up to a point, that is).

The town features the worst police department in history. Their entire strategy to nail the punks revolves around a good cop/bad cop interrogation. What about fingerprints, blood traces, murder weapons and other such evidence? This was 1987 (when shot), not 1787.

At the end of the day “Grotesque” holds enough surprises and bizarreness to amuse the viewer, depending on one’s tastes. But it drops the ball on the female front in light of the splendid resources. I’m not tawkin’ ‘bout nudity or sleaze but how about learning how to photograph women?

The film runs 1 hour, 33 minutes, and was shot in Fawnskin, California, and the Big Bear Lake area.

GRADE: C