Review #7: 'Thriller: A Cruel Picture' (1974)

As part of the 'rape and revenge' exploitation sub-genre that cropped up in the glory days of 70's grindhouse, Thriller - A Cruel Picture (aka They Call Her One-Eye), stands out amongst the rest due to the fact that it's actually bloody good. Frigga (played by exploitation regular and occasional porn-star Christina Lindberg) is mute due to being sexually assaulted as a little girl. On her way to the doctor she is offered a life by sleazy rich-boy Tony, (Heniz Hopf) and wined and dined before being drugged in his apartment. She wakes up to be told she's been hooked to heroin, and is forced into prostitution as Tony becomes her pimp.

When Frigga begins to show resistance, Tony reacts badly and stabs her in the eye, causing her to wear an eye-patch. After months of being forced into sex by her strange and abusive clients, Frigga uses her savings to plot a deadly and bloody revenge against the people that caused the misery in her new life. The film was banned in Sweden, and only received a heavily-censored release in the U.S.A., mainly due to the notorious eye-popping scene in which director Bo Arne Vibenius used an actual dead body for a close up of the eye being stabbed.

Quentin Tarantino frequently refers to this as one of his all-time favourites, and although hardly a masterpiece, you can kind of see why. Also, Frigga is an obvious inspiration for Daryl Hannah's sadistic assassin Elle Driver in Kill Bill (2003), and possibly for Kurt Russell's Snake Plissken in Escape From New York (1981). Frigga is a very interesting character. One half an innocent, shy girl that seems to accept her new situation with sad resignation. The other, a silent, patient killer-in-waiting. Lindberg pulls it off admirably, even though never speaking a word during the whole film.

When the film threatens to become monotonous with the scenes constantly drifting from a scene of heroin abuse to a scene of sex, the second act kicks in as Frigga begins weapons training, drag racing lessons and martial arts. And when the revenge comes, it's as stylish as a film of this budget could possibly be. Frigga mows down her victims in super slow motion, as bullet shells fly gracefully through the air, and objects explode into pieces in vivid detail. It's a style mirrored in Guy Ritchie's Lock, Stock And Two Smoking Barrels (1998), although it's much more effective in this film. It is, however, also one of the films negatives as it highlights how low the budget actually was, as fake, brown-looking blood erupts on the victims' torso's. It is also way overplayed in a scene where she uses her martial arts skills to fend off two policemen.

It clearly benefits from a director who had the honour of working with Ingmar Bergman earlier in his career as the film transcends similar films to the genre (such as Wes Craven's Last House On The Left (1972)). I would possibly urge you to watch the censored version if you can, as the unnecessary hardcore sex scenes bring the film down a level. A virtual classic in it's genre and compulsive viewing for exploitation film fans.


Directed by: Bo Arne Vibenius
Starring: Christina Lindberg, Heinz Hopf, Despina Tomazani
Country: Sweden

Rating: ****

Tom Gillespie