A deeply troubled American Vietnam soldier, enters a violence-plagued Belfast from Saigon, where he encounters a house with nurses who share let, besieging them at night, binding their hands, gagging their mouths, promising not to hurt them. Cain(Mathieu Carrière)a cold, dark-hearted man, whose wife was impregnated by a soldier pal of his, is haunted by a terrible upbringing thanks in part to his mother. So the central female members of his life wronged him, and adding the weight of Vietnam and being left with next to nothing, no monetary means to sustain him, finding it difficult to get home, an unstable Cain is bound to snap, and the nurses will feel his quiet rage as he sexually humiliates them, while also often plunging his switchblade knife into their bodies. The film, while not as violent as it could've been, is extremely unsettling and depressing. The innocent victims do not deserve their fates and Cain removes each woman one by one, seeming harmless, only to run them through a series of emotionally and physically damaging acts. His methods are cruel and demeaning. Carrière presents his homicidal sadist with a calm exterior, trotting his pretty lambs to the slaughter as the other nurses await their doom in a bedroom, tied and frightened. While we perhaps aren't partakers to actually seeing the knife sticking into the bodies of his victims, the actions themselves are just as chilling, as is Cain's ways of conducting them. It doesn't seem to bother him. He orders the nurses to commit embarrassing sexual acts, either with him or each other. He strangles one female nurse with his belt when she wouldn't beg for his sexual embrace. One nurse, so distraught at what has happened to her friends and associates, uses Cain's knife to stab herself in the chest..watch his multitude of reactions to her collapsing body, it's a very unpleasant sight. Cain has "Born for Hell" tattooed on his arm and he proudly shows it off to the nurses. At first, it seems, he merely wants their money, but as he remains it's obvious that Cain succumbs to the sick, depraved desires that are going through his mind. "Born for Hell"(Also known as the "Naked Massacre")is in the same mold as "Last House on the Left", "The Night Train Murders" & "The House at the Edge of the Park", a twisted psycho with uncontrollable urges lashing out against vulnerable women. This film plays completely straight with no humor whatsoever creating an even more distressing tone. The environment of the setting where the killer commits his deeds only adds to the overall impact of this unflinching tale of hopelessness, despair and savagery.
Despite being both powerful and haunting, I wouldn't call it entertaining, and I will probably never watch it again. Many will find it hard to sit through because the killer shows no mercy, leading his victims to certain death.
Despite being both powerful and haunting, I wouldn't call it entertaining, and I will probably never watch it again. Many will find it hard to sit through because the killer shows no mercy, leading his victims to certain death.