REVIEW: THRILLER - A CRUEL PICTURE

Before more well-known cult revenge films I SPIT ON YOUR GRAVE and MS. 45 there was 1974's Swedish exploitation classic THRILLER (also known as THEY CALL HER ONE EYE and HOOKER'S REVENGE). Although it's not near as interesting to watch as later entries of its ilk, it does have some really great moments of slow-motion kills and surprising gore. The plot is simple: a girl named Madeleine (Christina Lindberg) misses the bus to school and accepts a ride from a stranger. A stranger who uses heroin to turn her into a hooker. Soon as she manages to escape, she finds both her parents have died, and thus begins training for her rampage of vengeance. You can imagine how the rest of this plays out.

What really made THRILLER stand out for me were two key elements: the inclusion of harcore penetration shots in the sex scenes (very obviously added later, the walls in the room change color from shot to shot) and the close-up of a pimp's scalpel going into a hooker's eyeball. It looks real because it IS real! Lindberg revealed in a recent interview that an actual corpse of a suicide victim was used for the shot. Man they have some really f'd up laws in Sweden. Or someone was a huge movie buff. Anyway, the limited edition DVD from Synapse Films shown above clocks in at 107 minutes and has all the sex and violence. The "Vengeance Edition" shown below runs 104 minutes and only has the bloody stuff. The limited edition had a great collection of trailers for the movie, not sure if they're on the other disc or not.

For anyone wondering what a "grindhouse" movie is, this is the genuine article.