Wednesday, September 19, 2007
GENRE-XPLOSION: SWEDISH PORNO REVENGE!
Genre-xplosion is a short, spoiler free introduction to some of the strange and obscure movies and comics that I enjoy. Some of them are brilliant masterpieces... some of them aren't. All of them are entertaining.
THRILLER: A CRUEL PICTURE (1974)
Swedish Porno Revenge
Directed- Bo Arne Vibenius
Written- Bo Arne Vibenius
STYLE: ****
SUBSTANCE: ****
BLOOD/GORE: ****
NUDITY: ****
Scale built on quantity, not quality.
SET-UP:
As a young girl Frigga (Christina Lindberg) is molested in a park by an older man with a mouth full of chewing tobacco (I thought it was blood at first). This traumatizes her to such a degree that she stops speaking. 15 years later, she is kidnapped from her parent's farm, hooked on heroin and forced into a prostitution ring by a pimp named Tony (Heinz Hopf). Pushed to her limits, Frigga begins training herself in guns, karate and stunt car driving in preparation for the day she fights back.
SEX AND VIOLENCE:
This movie contains pornographic levels of sex. No orifice or member is left unfilmed and the heroine is constantly in a state of undress. There's also lot of slo-mo blood in this flick and if you are not a fan of eyeball trauma stay far, far away from this one.
THOUGHTS:
I usually don't like movies that feature rape as a major plot point. When it is treated with respect, it's too uncomfortable a subject for me to sit through and when it is used in B-movies, it is all too often used as an excuse for a violent sex scene or voyeurism. Sadly, this movie falls more into the latter category, but it rides a very fine line. The sex scenes in this movie are the most graphic scenes I have ever seen in a movie with an actual plot line. In fact, this movie might even be classified as a porn flick by some (it's definitely pornographic), the only difference is the scenes in Thriller were not shot in an overly sexualized way. The music is intense and offsetting, the camera shots are way too close and unflattering and Frigga does not fight back nor does she enjoy the act either, causing the viewer to sympathize and want the scene to end, much in the same way Frigga does. Whether or not this was the director's intention, these graphic scenes (which are rumored to have been added later to get the movie shown in U.S. porn theaters) really helped to bring home how terrible Frigga's circumstances were, which was difficult since she didn't speak.
Don't get me wrong though, this movie is still an exploitation flick, but it is filmed in such a minimalistic way that everything has a very stark realism to it. There was very little music and the whole movie has a very, very slow pace. Even the fight scenes and death scenes are slowed down to an almost intolerable rate, which I found very intriguing.
Thriller is a strange, stylistic movie that turned a lot of mainstream motion picture conventions on their ear. In fact, Frigga's eye-patch sporting character is rumored to be the inspiration for Elle Driver in Quentin Tarantino's Kill Bill movies. If this sounds like your type of movie, I suggest you check it out.
THRILLER: A CRUEL PICTURE (1974)
Swedish Porno Revenge
Directed- Bo Arne Vibenius
Written- Bo Arne Vibenius
STYLE: ****
SUBSTANCE: ****
BLOOD/GORE: ****
NUDITY: ****
Scale built on quantity, not quality.
SET-UP:
As a young girl Frigga (Christina Lindberg) is molested in a park by an older man with a mouth full of chewing tobacco (I thought it was blood at first). This traumatizes her to such a degree that she stops speaking. 15 years later, she is kidnapped from her parent's farm, hooked on heroin and forced into a prostitution ring by a pimp named Tony (Heinz Hopf). Pushed to her limits, Frigga begins training herself in guns, karate and stunt car driving in preparation for the day she fights back.
SEX AND VIOLENCE:
This movie contains pornographic levels of sex. No orifice or member is left unfilmed and the heroine is constantly in a state of undress. There's also lot of slo-mo blood in this flick and if you are not a fan of eyeball trauma stay far, far away from this one.
THOUGHTS:
I usually don't like movies that feature rape as a major plot point. When it is treated with respect, it's too uncomfortable a subject for me to sit through and when it is used in B-movies, it is all too often used as an excuse for a violent sex scene or voyeurism. Sadly, this movie falls more into the latter category, but it rides a very fine line. The sex scenes in this movie are the most graphic scenes I have ever seen in a movie with an actual plot line. In fact, this movie might even be classified as a porn flick by some (it's definitely pornographic), the only difference is the scenes in Thriller were not shot in an overly sexualized way. The music is intense and offsetting, the camera shots are way too close and unflattering and Frigga does not fight back nor does she enjoy the act either, causing the viewer to sympathize and want the scene to end, much in the same way Frigga does. Whether or not this was the director's intention, these graphic scenes (which are rumored to have been added later to get the movie shown in U.S. porn theaters) really helped to bring home how terrible Frigga's circumstances were, which was difficult since she didn't speak.
Don't get me wrong though, this movie is still an exploitation flick, but it is filmed in such a minimalistic way that everything has a very stark realism to it. There was very little music and the whole movie has a very, very slow pace. Even the fight scenes and death scenes are slowed down to an almost intolerable rate, which I found very intriguing.
Thriller is a strange, stylistic movie that turned a lot of mainstream motion picture conventions on their ear. In fact, Frigga's eye-patch sporting character is rumored to be the inspiration for Elle Driver in Quentin Tarantino's Kill Bill movies. If this sounds like your type of movie, I suggest you check it out.
Labels: genre-xplosion
Comments:
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This really is one of the more disturbing films I've seen. The "creepy uncle" character at the beginning -- spinning with the camera like he's in a gauzy romantic comedy, instead of a molest-a-thon -- really sets the tone for the whole unsettling affair.
It's hard not to be a little in love with Christina Lindberg, but the sex scenes -- clearly a stand-in, or "stunt vajayjay" -- are so weirdly interspersed with the plot of the film (and the jump cuts from rifle training to some dude's jangling scrote should come with a screeching brakes sound effect) that it makes it hard to know how seriously to take the movie. I think you're spot-on about the tone of the rape scenes; they sort of make you, as a viewer, feel hollow and ugly just for watching. But the randomness of their placement in the film makes it impossible to prepare for them, or turn away from them in time.
A bizarre movie. The casting was superb, but every other decision made -- from the editing to the scoring to the neverending slo-mo shots -- was just bizarre.
God bless you for introducing me to it.
It's hard not to be a little in love with Christina Lindberg, but the sex scenes -- clearly a stand-in, or "stunt vajayjay" -- are so weirdly interspersed with the plot of the film (and the jump cuts from rifle training to some dude's jangling scrote should come with a screeching brakes sound effect) that it makes it hard to know how seriously to take the movie. I think you're spot-on about the tone of the rape scenes; they sort of make you, as a viewer, feel hollow and ugly just for watching. But the randomness of their placement in the film makes it impossible to prepare for them, or turn away from them in time.
A bizarre movie. The casting was superb, but every other decision made -- from the editing to the scoring to the neverending slo-mo shots -- was just bizarre.
God bless you for introducing me to it.
# posted by 
: Thursday, September 20, 2007
: Thursday, September 20, 2007
That is a great review, indeed Thriller-A Cruel Picture has a funk that is certainly it's own.
I was one of the guys that tracked down the filmmaker and got the rights for the film and believe me, it is odd watching it at home. Watching it with Bo 30 years after the making was utterly surreal.
I did a bunch of blogging on the film and there are some interesting behind the scenes things in there. Not Safe For Work (yes that is capped)...but a look beneath the eyepatch.
http://david-z.blogspot.com/search/label/Bo%20Arne%20Vibenius
I was one of the guys that tracked down the filmmaker and got the rights for the film and believe me, it is odd watching it at home. Watching it with Bo 30 years after the making was utterly surreal.
I did a bunch of blogging on the film and there are some interesting behind the scenes things in there. Not Safe For Work (yes that is capped)...but a look beneath the eyepatch.
http://david-z.blogspot.com/search/label/Bo%20Arne%20Vibenius
Holy COW!
Thanks for stopping by and playing a part in allowing me to view this movie!!!
Thanks for the link as well! Your blog is great!
Thanks for stopping by and playing a part in allowing me to view this movie!!!
Thanks for the link as well! Your blog is great!
I had been reading little references about this flick (under the title "One-Eye" in those pre-DVD days) in weird movie books for years and had always been intrigued to see it. But I had never been able to find a copy anywhere... even with all of the countless bizarre video stores that existed in Ohio where I grew up. Needless to say the Quentin Tarantino references made me want to see it even more.
So, when it finally came out on DVD a few years ago, a friend bought it and I was excited to finally see it.
All I can say is... YIKES! Usually I like my exploitation movies to be as lowbrow and mean-spirited as possible. This is a rare example of an exploitation movie that actually went over the line to the point of turning me off. I wanted to like this movie so much and I just couldn't. Miss "One-Eye" herself is such a cool looking character, with her black clothes, black hair, black eyepatch, and shotgun. And the graphic violence was wonderful.
But I couldn't stomach the rape/ ugly sex scenes. I'm serious, I can watch people get their eyeballs stabbed out all day long and it just makes me laugh. I guess because I know it's fake. But show me a super close-up of real sex organs during real intercourse and I'm ready to vomit. So I squinted like a whimp and fast-forwarded to the end battle where she kills everybody and I thought that was awesome. Don't get me wrong I'm not a pro-censorship guy but this is a rare example of one movie I would actually prefer to watch with the sex scenes trimmed waaaay down, to just get the idea across without all the excesssive, grainy 1970's style, hairy porn shots. Then I probably would have thought it was great. But in it's current DVD incarnation, I just ain't there!!
So, when it finally came out on DVD a few years ago, a friend bought it and I was excited to finally see it.
All I can say is... YIKES! Usually I like my exploitation movies to be as lowbrow and mean-spirited as possible. This is a rare example of an exploitation movie that actually went over the line to the point of turning me off. I wanted to like this movie so much and I just couldn't. Miss "One-Eye" herself is such a cool looking character, with her black clothes, black hair, black eyepatch, and shotgun. And the graphic violence was wonderful.
But I couldn't stomach the rape/ ugly sex scenes. I'm serious, I can watch people get their eyeballs stabbed out all day long and it just makes me laugh. I guess because I know it's fake. But show me a super close-up of real sex organs during real intercourse and I'm ready to vomit. So I squinted like a whimp and fast-forwarded to the end battle where she kills everybody and I thought that was awesome. Don't get me wrong I'm not a pro-censorship guy but this is a rare example of one movie I would actually prefer to watch with the sex scenes trimmed waaaay down, to just get the idea across without all the excesssive, grainy 1970's style, hairy porn shots. Then I probably would have thought it was great. But in it's current DVD incarnation, I just ain't there!!
There are actually two versions out from Synapse.
One is "Thriller: A Cruel Picture"
which has all the naughty bits.
The other is "Thriller: They Call Her One Eye" with all the naughty bits cut out.
So they were still thinking of you when they released the DVD. :)
Funny thing is, according to the previous poster, it was banned in Sweden because of the violence, not the sex.
Different strokes.
One is "Thriller: A Cruel Picture"
which has all the naughty bits.
The other is "Thriller: They Call Her One Eye" with all the naughty bits cut out.
So they were still thinking of you when they released the DVD. :)
Funny thing is, according to the previous poster, it was banned in Sweden because of the violence, not the sex.
Different strokes.
Interesting. Maybe I would try to track it down under the violence only title. Haha.
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# posted by : Friday, October 19, 2007
: Friday, October 19, 2007<< Home
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