Thriller – A Cruel Picture movie

Year: 1974

Duration: 01:29:38

Directed by: Bo Arne Vibenius

Actors: Christina Lindberg, Heinz Hopf, Despina Tomazani, Per-Axel Arosenius, Solveig Andersson

Language: Swedish (English, French, Brasilian, Spanish subtitles)

Country: Sweden

Also known as: Hooker’s Revenge, They Call Her One Eye, Thriller,

Description: Classic rape and revenge movie! A young girl, forcibly became a prostitute, a sophisticated revenge men molested and raped her soul over her body.

Review: Director Bo Arne Vibenius (Breaking Point – Pornografisk Thriller) uses stark photography and a subdued, no-frills tone to tell the tragic tale of Frigga, a darkly beautiful young lady whose life seems to be nothing more than one long After School Special. At an early age, she finds herself being raped by a creepy old man in a park, an act that will ultimately leave her entirely mute. Years later, she mistakenly hops into a snazzy little car with a suspicious fellow who claims to want nothing more than to give her a lift. Yeah, right. Before you can say BAD DECISION, Frigga is hooked on drugs and living life as a prostitute. And if she doesn’t do as she’s told, she will be forced to kick her heroine habit cold-turkey, which isn’t very good for your physical OR mental well-being. Or so I’ve been told. Oh, and it seems one little misstep can lead to the vicous removal of an eye. Hardcore, to say the least. However, when her parents commit suicide after receiving a forged letter from Frigga that basically tells them to screw off, she decides to get a little revenge. Using the money she’s squirreled away for a rainy day, she learns how to drive, how to handle an array of firearms, and, more importantly, how to deal some serious damage through the practice of martial arts. It’s only a matter of time before these three skills come together in a dazzling display of violent revenge. In slow motion, of course.

Everything about the film Thriller – A Cruel Picture is nasty, dirty, and depraved. I don’t mean that in a prudish, cinema-is-oh-so-naughty kind of way, either. No, I’m referring to the characters themselves, a group of horny, abusive, no-nonsense individuals who wouldn’t hesitate to beat you to a bloody pulp if you stepped even a millimeter out-of-line. Tony — Frigga’s pimp — is a sadistic bastard for the ages, a man who has absolutely no problem turning a troublesome hooker into a sticky red stain on a dirty brown mattress. Vibenius films the entire thing as though one were watching the events unfold from a distance; though you feel for Frigga and sympathize with her plight, you still feel entirely detached from the proceedings. It’s an odd way to approach a revenge story, I think, whereas most storytellers want you to feel for the hero/heroine so their bloody, violent retribution is completely justified. Frigga IS justified in her scheme to exact revenge on her tormentors, don’t get me wrong. That said, it’s as though you’re viewing the events from the outside looking in. You want this young lady to kick a little behind. You want her to gun down those who have done her wrong. But after all is said and done, you won’t feel the need to give her a hug and tell her everything’s going to be okay.

I think a lot of that has to do with the last half-hour or so of the film. While the first two acts portray Frigga as some sort of spineless, drug-addled simpleton, the third reel character arc is a bit much to swallow. Had she not gone from meek and mild to deadly and destructive within the span of, oh, ten minutes or so, perhaps things would have played out differently for me. The picture spirals quickly into outrageously wild action without much warning, which is both jarring and exciting. It’s a thrill to watch this innocent little girl blast her way through a stable of sadistic clients, but you can’t help but feel you’ve accidentally changed the channel to some low-budget Art Camacho film on Cinemax. This is no slight to the actors, of course. Heavens, no. Everyone plays their part with near-perfection, especially the lovely Christina Lindberg (Anita: Swedish Nymphet and Every Afternoon). No, I think the problem lies within the script itself, which seems unable to handle Frigga’s transformation from hooker to hitwoman organically. Still, the film is far from lousy, and it’s still one of my all-time favorite revenge flicks. Just because the film suffers from a slightly-skewed third act is no reason to write it off as a total failure.

Screenshots:

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Thriller – A Cruel Picture

Thriller – A Cruel Picture subtitles

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