Lady, Stay Dead
Lady, Stay Dead
| 10 September 1981 (USA)
Lady, Stay Dead Trailers

A young woman is looking after her sister's house, unaware that her sister and neighbor have been murdered by their handyman who also happens to be a serial killer.

Reviews
SpuffyWeb Sadly Over-hyped
Solidrariol Am I Missing Something?
FuzzyTagz If the ambition is to provide two hours of instantly forgettable, popcorn-munching escapism, it succeeds.
Ezmae Chang This is a small, humorous movie in some ways, but it has a huge heart. What a nice experience.
Sam Panico Night of Fear and Inn of the Damned are two of Australia's first horror films. Their director, Terry Bourke, would go on to create this film, a quasi-slasher stalker film that's packed with plenty of weirdness.Gordon Mason is a handyman that's obsessed with Marie Coleby, a young singer who treats everyone around her with snarling contempt. The film starts with what seems like him taking care of her needs, but he really just has a blow up doll that he pretends is her. She treats everyone around her like garbage, but Mason demands an apology from her, unlike everyone else. Later, he spies on her being tied up by a boyfriend.Later that day, he breaks into her apartment, continually plays one of her songs and rapes her, thinking that it's what she wants from what he watched before. Oh yeah - this dude also spends much of the film wandering around in mirrored shades, wearing a speedo and showing off one hell of a porn mustache.After all that, she ends up biting Mason, so he holds her upside down and drowns her in a fish tank. Welcome to Australian film!Mason gets caught by a neighbor, so he kills the man and his dog, too. But the killer had no idea that Marie's sister, Jenny, is coming to visit. She instantly finds Marie's jewels in the fish tank and the neighbor's dead dog. Soon, Mason has transferred his stalkerly affection to her and only two policemen (the younger one being Roger Ward from Mad Max and Turkey Shoot) can save her.What follows are the kind of antics that set Australian films apart: cops being set on fire, dead bodies being hidden in sheds, people being shot over and over, cops trying to drown their suspects and so much more.This film didn't come out in the US until 1986 and has never been released on DVD or Blu-Ray in this country. Is it worth a release? There have certainly been worse films put out. It's cheesy and not a little ridiculous, but it ends up being pretty tense by the end.
PeteStud They just don't make em like this anymore- Like I SPIT ON YOUR GRAVE, HOUSE BY THE LAKE, MANIAC, THE FAN (81) etc this film delves right into a psychopaths fantasies and allows the actor to fully rip roar and indulge in the character without restraint. The plot pretty much revolves around a rich mean spirited high class diva who talks to everyone like scum, including her mentally deficit gardener who just happens to also be a obsessed psychopath who , when not being berated by her, spends his time jerking off in the sand thinking of tortured women and making love to a mannequin dressed like her as her music plays in the background. Eventually he acts upon his sick delusions and when her boyfriend is forced to leave their villa for a weekend the gardener enters her house then rapes and kills her. The rape scene and dialogue are pretty disturbing.(ie " never mind those limp yuppie guys- if you ever want it rough and hard, ask me and I'll give it to you whenever you want..") Then her concerned sister comes to the house to see how she is, unaware of the rape-happy madman still hiding there, What follows is a intriguing cat and mouse. The violence in this film is great and I did not find it boring at all. This is easily one of the best of the Australian horror/exploitation that came out that era. Unfairly ignored and loathed it stands up today as a gross horrifying and sometimes unintentionally funny home invasion film thats as good as anything else. track this down. If you like bleak films and twisted psychos you'll get a great fix from this.
aussiekerrie It's a bit slow at first, but it gets going. What a camp film. I noticed Roger Ward wearing what could only be a hair piece which looked like a doormat missing the welcome sign. When they put the woman in the fish tank to drown her, she didn't fight very hard and was rather unrealistic, but I guess that adds to its camp disposition! It's not the best film I have ever seen Roger Ward in - his performance in Mad Max will always be my favored. I would suggest you try and get a copy of LSD. It's one of those films you will have a soft spot for... in a peculiar kind of way. Typical of how 1970's films were shot in Australia
midnight_wanderer The first 30 minutes are like "Oh God! This sucks" but after the sister gets to the house on the movie it gets pretty cool. Even though you know who the killer is & don't think he's scary, the music & direction make it seem like a slasher or gore movie. Its not real bloody or scary but I liked it.