Thriller: A Cruel Picture
[a.k.a. They Call Her One-Eye + Hooker's Revenge]
Dir: Bo A. Vibenius
Stars: Christina Lindberg, Heinz Hopf
Brief: Lives entirely up to its Swedish title: Thriller: en grym film

Right from the first scene, depicting the molestation of a young girl, this is remarkably unrelenting stuff. 15 years later, the heroine (Lindberg), turned mute by her ordeal is kidnapped, turned into a junkie and forced in prostitution. Oh, and had an eye destroyed by her pimp (Hopf) - in loving, close-up, slow-motion that is rumoured to have involved a real corpse - after clawing the face of her first client.

Finally, it becomes too much, and she starts - with striking methodicalness - to prepare her revenge. She learns shooting, martial-arts and driving skills, and loads up with a sawnoff shotgun, as well as a handgun hidden in her hair, and goes around blowing away everyone she deems unworthy [Though how does she know where to find them? I imagine it's not as if they hand out their home addresses...], before challenging her pimp to a duel in the bleak yet beautiful Swedish countryside.

The impact on Kill Bill, both in storyline and style (Elle Driver, in particular), is obvious - not to mention Ms. 45 - but Vibenius has a far less frenetic approach. Indeed, his style is so deliberate, you may be forgiven for dozing off, even during the fight scene, which uses such slo-mo as to become almost surreal. It's a refreshing antidote to the MTV-style editing beloved by the likes of Alias. Less successful is the hard-core sex; while it certainly has an impact, it's a double-edged sword, and is hardly necessary. Lindberg, clad in a long trenchcoat and colour-coordinated eye-patch is grand, and this is certainly unique. Fun? No. It's hardly even entertaining, and must have freaked out the drive-in crowd during its mid-70's run. But memorable? Sure. And ripe for a remake starring Christina Ricci? Hell, yes.

[August 2005]

See also...
  • Assault of the Killer Bimbos
  • Kill Bill, Volume One
  • Kill Bill, Volume Two
  • Lady Vengeance
  • Thelma and Louise

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