Attack of the B's!

Thriller - en grym film (1974), Bo Arne Vibenus.
Thriller: A Cruel Picture

Another Tarantino favorite, this one inspired the "visually impaired" character of Elle Driver in Kill Bill. (I also suspect this movie inspired Abel Ferrara in making Ms. 45, but that is another post for another day.)

Christina Lindberg, of 70's sexploitation fame, plays Frigga, a young woman rendered mute after a sexual assault when she was a child. She grows up into a beautiful, although naive woman, due to her parents' isolation since the "incident." Narrowly missing the bus to a doctor's appointment one day, she meets a rich and exciting man, who seems like a perfect excuse to run away from her boring/lonely life. Little does she know, her Prince Charming is scheming to turn her into a heroin-addicted, one-eyed prostitute! No longer one to take things lying down (har har), when Frigga is not being violated ten ways to Sunday, she begins learning how to be a total badass in every way! Another great female revenge movie, brought to you by 1970's grindhouse culture.

The opening scene is incredibly disturbing, with the rape of Frigga by an utterly disgusting looking old man with an unknown substance oozing out of his mouth, shot from her POV. But that is merely the shape of things to come. After the movie was filmed, shots of penetration from hardcore porno films were added into the scenes of her forced prostitution. I found these clips to be almost clinical (gynecological?), and therefore, pretty revolting. It's a very quiet movie, much more visually stimulating that aurally. The lead character doesn't speak, there is little in the way of sound effects, and the little score that was used was extremely nerve wracking. The slow (and i mean S-L-O-W) motion action scenes were really nifty, they probably inspired Vincent Gallo and the Wachowski brothers (among countless others) to include such "bullet time" sequences in their movies.

The revenge that Frigga got at the end doesn't seem nearly equal to the amount of abuse she received during the film. I think that was intentional on Vibenius' part, as it was a pretty bleak movie all around. That said, I think color-coordinated eyepatches are probably the toughest fashion statement I've ever seen. Frigga is definitely an iconic female character for lovers of garbage cinema like myself.

Grade: B