in stupid and revolting filmmaking.”
Reviewed by Dennis Schwartz
A classic in stupid and revolting filmmaking
that has no redeeming social value, but is not “the most disgusting movie
ever made” as claimed by film critic Roger Ebert. In fact it just might
have been the best date movie ever, in a perverse manner of speaking. But
the subject matter of rape is too delicate an issue with serious implications
to be taken lightly and handled in such a dehumanized way as it is here.
It probably takes a twisted mind to consider such trash as a guilty pleasure
treat, as one of those bad B-films that is laughable because one of the
rapists is a slow-witted nerd. But then again, each person must find their
own taste in films and banning films is not the way for a free society
to go–as happened to this flick after Ebert got on his high horse and
ravaged it as unwatchable. Yet I found not one single thing I enjoyed or
admired or needed to see, or any reason to recommend it except as a shocker
that has a buzz about it among certain cult-horror freaks that should be
commented on.
If you think it’s an honest portrayal of a
gang rape, there seemed no evidence of that as all the undeveloped characters
acted out the rape as a means of shocking the viewer and offered nothing
else. Also the rape was disgusting but not realistic, while the revenge
part was totally unbelievable and even debased the victim further by admitting
a need for violence as a response. It’s also hard to consciously say you
could overlook the ugly content as a woman is degraded and violently raped
for half an hour and still think of yourself as someone cultured or a humanitarian,
when there’s nothing more to the rape plot than as a means of exploitation.
It remains unforgettably forgettable as a cheesy horror B-film about a
rape-revenge. If Meir Zarchi’s vile story line and gloomy presentation
of the mise en scéne and amateur directing weren’t bad enough, the
limp acting is its crowning achievement in bad filmmaking.
Aspiring novelist Jenny (Camille Keaton, grandniece
of Buster Keaton) leaves her NYC haunts to rent a house in the secluded
upstate Connecticut country for the summer
to write her first novel. Inspired by the serene river that runs near her
house while lounging on her hammock in the shade, the writer is taunted
by two country bumpkin slackers in a motorboat who purposely ride near
her as their motor makes too much noise and forces her to retreat to the
house. Later these same two meatheads return using a rope to pull Jenny’s
canoe and force her into the woods. There they are joined by their ringleader,
the older, married, women hating, doltish gas attendant Johnny, who is
wearing his marine hat while he brutally rapes her as she’s screaming and
held down by the others. The guys bait the retarded grocery delivery boy
Matthew to lose his virginity, as after some booze he gets atop her limp
body but proves impotent. The rape is prolonged as the young men let the
battered nude redhead escape through the woods, where the harmonica playing
Andy catches up with her and brutally does her from behind while she’s
slumped over a rock. This is followed by the other Deliverance-type of
yokel, Stanley, slapping her around and ramming a bottle up her private
part while she’s on the floor of her house. Concerned that she will tell,
Johnny gives Matthew a butcher’s knife and orders him to kill her. Matthew
can’t get up enough nerve to stab the unconscious Jenny in the heart, but
he tells his pals he did–fearing they would dump him as a friend otherwise.
A few weeks go by without word of a body found,
as the gang wonders if they should go back to the scene of the crime to
investigate. Instead of calling the police, Jenny plans her sweet revenge.
The last half an hour is about her seducing two of the rapists and exacting
what goes for a feminist fantasy revenge against such brutes. She hangs
one of them from a tree while he’s sexually aroused and castrates the other
in a bathtub after giving him a body rub. Then she locks him in the bathroom
while he bleeds to death and she goes downstairs to listen to an opera
record ignoring his screams of pain. The other two rapists are cut down
by their own motorboat and are left to bleed to death in the water. No
reason is given for why Jenny went on this rampage, or was anything revealed
about her that showed she was anything but used as a plot device. But if
it’s a recognition that one violent act deserves another, then those who
share that Old Testament biblical “eye for an eye” sense of justice have
found themselves a film to crow about.
[...] got on his high horse and ravaged it as unwatchable. Yet I found not one single thing I enjoyed or admired or needed to see, or any reason to recommend it except as a shocker that has a buzz about it among certain [...]