Thriller: A Cruel Picture
(1974)
This movie, also called They Call Her
One-Eye, has always ranked as one of my guilty pleasures. It
easily falls into the rape-and-revenge category of sexploitation films.
In fact, after re-watching this movie and Sex and Fury almost back-to-back, I
strongly suspect that Quentin Tarantino must have been a Christina
Lindberg fan, because there are too many elements from BOTH of these
movies in his Kill Bill flicks
for it to be a coincidence.
I am going to ignore the story and just highlight the naughty bits in
my review. Christina Lindberg plays the lead character, called Frigga,
Madeleine, and One Eye at various points in the plot. I will just call
her Madeleine. The movie begins with Madeleine as a very young girl
being sexually assaulted, the trauma from which leaves her mute. The
assault is implied, but not shown. Jump ahead to years later, when
Madeleine is a
pretty young woman.
27:00 minutes. After Madeleine
claws the face of who would
have been her first "client" (he runs out screaming), evil pimp Tony
pins her to the
bed and pokes her left eye out with a scalpel. You actually see the
scalpel cut into a real eye, since the director used a cadaver (which
caused all sorts of controversy). My vidcap is taken right before the
actual insertion, but that's essentially the camera angle and distance,
so: not for the squeamish.
30:00 minutes. Madeleine's
first client, a photographer, undresses her and snaps pictures while he
is hurting her. Topless Madeleine nudity with a side of painful
humiliation for about a minute.
35:30 minutes. Madeleine's
second client is a large man who likes rough sex. Also, for this and
all
subsequent scenes between Madeleine and this guy, there are explicit
inserts of, well, explicit insertions. We see cock and pussy, but
always in isolated close-ups, employing genital doubles (at least for
Christina Lindberg). He does
her on her back and on her hands and knees. The scene lasts almost
2-1/2 minutes, with copious Madeleine nudity.
49:00 minutes. Madeleine's
third client, a woman, slowly opens Madeleine's robe to reveal her
breasts, pushes her roughly back onto the bed, touches her face and
body, lifts her back into a sitting position, then roughly kisses her.
Madeleine is shyly humiliated throughout. The scene lasts about 2
minutes.
52:30 minutes. This is the
beginning of a montage: A topless Madeleine shoots up heroin. Hardcore
sex insert. The photographer taking pictures and we get three nice
poses of Madeleine including full frontal nudity.
Madeleine learning martial arts self-defense training. The lesbian
client slapping and then kissing a fully nude reclining Madeleine.
Madeleine putting away her money. Madeleine learning how to shoot, how
to drive fast, and more martial arts. Madeleine being fucked doggy
style by the large guy (with hardcore sex inserts). Madeleine being
kicked out of martial arts training because she is discovered with
drugs in her purse. Madeleine watching two army guys spar in a field.
The photographer taking more pictures, probably of Madeleine
masturbating since we immediately see hardcore inserts of fingers
rubbing a pussy. A topless Madeleine shooting up heroin again. More
hardcore sex inserts, including a finger up an asshole this time. A
topless Madeleine counting her money. The large guy doing Madeleine
doggy style. The lesbian (now completely naked) straddling Madeleine
and repeatedly slapping her face, then moving her hips against her.
A needle squirting heroin out the tip, followed by a hardcore insert of
a cock fucking an ass. This hardcore sex bit is interspersed with
Madeleine's face. Her expression indicates she is not enjoying the anal
sex. The scene concludes with the cock pulling out in time to squirt
semen onto her.
That's the end of the 5-1/2 minute montage, although the very next
scene begins with a topless Madeleine practicing karate chops on her
hand.
Which actually concludes the sex and nudity portion of this film. The
final 48 minutes involve Madeleine avenging herself on her clients, the
pimp, and unfortunately some random people who just happened to get in
the way. There is a hilarious bit where Madeleine is in a police car
chasing her evil pimp and a truck driver purposely pulls his truck in
the way, blocking her, no doubt thinking he is striking back against
The Man, since he looks out his window at the police car and sticks his
tongue out. Madeleine steps out of the police car with her shotgun, the
guy ducks, and she blows the guy's window out. Kind of a funny bit.
SUMMARY: Madeleine is pinned to
her bed and her evil pimp gouges her eye out. Madeleine is photographed
nude while being hurt. Naked Madeleine submits to humiliation and rough
sex from a photographer, a large guy and a lesbian on several
occasions. A naked Madeleine is straddled and slapped. Careful editing
and use of hardcore sex inserts makes it looks like Madeleine is
painfully fucked in the ass.
All in all, a dark but enjoyable rape-and-revenge flick, featuring
oodles of nude Christina Lindberg, with surprising eye-gouging footage
and hardcore sex inserts. The GIMP-est thing about it is the concept of white slavery, forced
drug addiction, and being prostituted out. There is no bondage.
Although arguably Christina is raped throughout, she does not fight
back. But she is breathtakingly hot and watching her being used and
abused is stimulating. I would give this a higher grade as a classic
70s sexploitation film, but as a GIMP flick it rates maybe a C+.
According to comments on Amazon, the Synapse DVD is uncut, even though
it shows a rating of "R." Confusingly, there is a "Limited
Edition," and a "Vengeance
Edition," and I don't know if there is a difference. I am still
struggling by with my deteriorating VHS copy.
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