Thriller - en grym film (1974)

Director:

Bo Arne Vibenius

Writer:

Bo Arne Vibenius (writer)

Release Date:

5 June 1974 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Thriller

Tagline:

The first film, ever, to be banned in Sweden!

Plot:

A young woman, muted after a sexual assault as a child, is trained to seek violent revenge on those who have wronged her after being kidnapped and forced to work as a prostitute.

Plot Keywords:

Revenge | Heroin | Death | Brothel | Martial Arts

Cast

Christina Lindberg	...	Frigga / Madeleine / One Eye
Heinz Hopf	...	Tony
Despina Tomazani	...	Lip-stick lesbian
Per-Axel Arosenius	...	Frigga's Father
Solveig Andersson	...	Sally
Björn Kristiansson
Marie-Louise Mannervall	...	Woman in village
Hildur Lindberg	...	Mother's Friend
Stig Lokrantz
Olle Nordlander
Marshall McDough
Gunnar Palm
Pamela Pethö-Galantai	...	Young Madeleine
Lennart Robertsson
Hans-Eric Stenborg

Also Known As:

Hooker's Revenge (USA) (reissue title)
They Call Her One Eye (USA) (censored version)
Thriller (Sweden) (short title)
Thriller: A Cruel Picture (USA)
Crime à froid (Canada: French title) (video title) [fr]
Desenlace mortal (Spain) (original subtitled version) [es]
Enögd (Finland: Swedish title) (informal title) [sv]
Thriller (Italy) [it]
Thriller - ein unbarmherziger Film (West Germany) [de]
Yksisilmäinen (Finland) (informal title) [fi]

Runtime:

104 min | UK:80 min (heavily cut) | USA:82 min (R-rated version) | Australia:92 min (R-rated cut)

Country:

Sweden

Language:

Swedish

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Finland:(Banned) (cut) (1975) | Sweden:15 (re-rating: 1974) (heavily cut) | Sweden:(Banned) (original rating: 1973) | UK:R (original rating: 1974) | USA:Unrated (uncut) | UK:X (re-rating: 1976) (heavily cut) | Australia:R (cut) (1976) | West Germany:18 | Italy:VM18 | USA:R (heavily cut) | Canada:18+ (Quebec)

Filming Locations:

Drottningholm, Stockholms län, Sweden

Company:

BAV Film

Trivia:

A long standing rumor surrounding the film was that a real corpse was used for the scene where Madeleine's eye is taken out with a scalpel. In a March 2006 interview, Christina Lindberg confirmed this. The body was of a young girl who had committed suicide. Makeup was added to the eye, and the shot was filmed in the hospital that had received the body.

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: When the police car runs over a piece of grass between two roads, you can clearly see tire tracks from earlier takes.

Movie Connections:

Edited into 42nd Street Forever, Volume 1 (2005) (V)

A compelling saga of revenge.

Madeleine (Christina Lindberg) is rendered mute after a horrible childhood rape. 15 years later, her life takes a new turn for the worse when, after missing a bus, she accepts a ride from Tony (Heinz Hopf), who unsurprisingly turns out to be a real monster, getting her hooked on heroin and forcing her into working as a prostitute. Her spirit - she badly scratches a customers' face - enrages Tony to the point where he gouges out her eye as punishment, obliging her to wear a patch from that point on.

Madeline eventually can take no more. Targeting both her kinky customers (including one lesbian) and her boss, she uses her down time to plan revenge, receiving lessons in firearms, driving, and martial arts. She then goes about seeking retribution for everything that she has suffered.

Although heavily exploitative - the full-length cut has violence aplenty and some especially graphic sex shot in close-up, this film has its arty and expressive side to it as well. It's often just as quiet as its main character, opting for a slow - very slow - and steady approach (even the final action scenes are shot this way). However, its sense of grim inevitability and somber mood are quite affecting, and Madeleine is quite sympathetic and appealing as played by Lindberg. The incredibly winsome performer accomplishes just as much with facial expressions alone as she could with dialog. There are, in addition, shots from Madeleines' P.O.V. to allow us to see through her eye(s), and experience things from her perspective.

We truly get a sense of a life irreparably shattered in "Thriller: A Cruel Picture". Although sticking with it may require patience on the part of some viewers, it does offer its rewards.

8/10