Thriller - A Cruel Picture
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Movie Reviews of Thriller - A Cruel Picture
Movie Review: Finally the wait is nearly UPDATED
Summary: 5 Stars
Mere words cannot express my excitement for this release! "Thriller: En Grym Film" aka "Thriller: A Cruel Picture", "They Call Her One Eye", "Hookers Revenge", etc, is one of the most sought after cult classics ever. Fans have had to tolerate blurred and wash out VHS bootlegs lacking subtitles for years, but that is all about to come to an end with this beautiful presentation of the film uncut on DVD thanks to Synapse, the company who brought us the awesome "Vampyros Lesbos" DVD among others.
First about the film for those who haven't seen it: Gorgeous Swedish cult siren Christina Lindberg plays Frigga who cannot speak after a childhood trauma. One day she misses her bus and accepts a ride and later a dinner date, from a rather shady character who kidnaps her. After getting her hooked on heroine, he forces her to work as a prostitute, and gouges her eye out when she refuses her first client. Frigga saves her money and pays for lessons in martial arts, race car driving and shooting, before taking her revenge on those cruel customers who used and abused her and her pimp.
As the title suggests this is one viciously bleak film. From the barren wind swept Swedish landscape and eerie electric score to the hard core sex scenes and eye gouge scene which was created using a real cadaver, "Thriller" is a truly potent cult shocker. A lot of the credit for the films impact must go to Lindberg for her brilliant performance. She draws the viewer in right from the beginning, making us feel her silent suffering and savor her revenge. Her color co-ordinated eye patches were later ripped off for Darryl Hannah's character in "Kill Bill", but this is the real deal. Lindberg is a truly striking and unforgettable cult figure, carrying a shotgun and dressed all in black she is enigmatic and certainly makes shameless plagiarizer Tartino's work look pale by comparison.
As mentioned above, this is the first DVD release ever. From early reports, Synapse's DVD transfer is stunning. Not to mention that they have gone all out to give fans some great extras:
New 16:9 Anamorphic Transfer (1.78:1)
Uncut, Uncensored Version with ALL the Sex and Gore!
Original Swedish Language or English Dub Options
Optional English Subtitles
Extensive Still Galleries of Rare Behind-the-Scenes Photos, Including Many Candid Nude Photos of Christina Lindberg on the Set!
Original TV Spot and Theatrical Trailers
Outtakes
Alternate Harbor Fight Sequence Reconstructed from Rare Vault Materials
THRILLER: A CRUEL LAB MISTAKE - Rare Photos Detailing an Unused Fight Sequence Ruined by the Film Lab During Production
THRILLER: "The Story in Pictures"
Actor/Director Filmographies
Chapter Selections
In conclusion, while this film certainly isn't for everybody, it is in my opinion the single most important cult DVD release this year! Unfortunately this DVD edition is limited to 25,000 units, so I would suggest preordering now!
P.S. 4-disc "Dawn of the Dead" is another must own!
UPDATE
I got a copy of the DVD today and though I'd add a few first hand comments to the review I'd already written now that I have personally seen the DVD. Hope it's helpful......
As soon as I opened the case I was imediately impressed with the gorgeous color insert containing linear notes and some nice photo's of sweetheart Chirstina Lindberg. The menu's on the disc were cool and exploring them I found all the great special features promised. The photo galleries were especially good, I really liked the cute shots of Christina relaxing on set in between takes.
The picture quality is great, while being overall a little soft (a few seconds seem to have being taken from a deteriated print) the colors are rich and vibrant. After only seeing the film on sloppy bootleg VHS copies, indeed viewing Synapse's DVD is as though viewing the film for the first time, stunning!
Once again, I cannot recommend this one enough.
Thank You Synapse!
Movie Review: HOLY F#%*ING HELL!!!!!!! THIS IS HARSH!!!!!!
Summary: 5 Stars
Everything you have ever heard or read aboot this film is true. The rape of a young girl. Abduction. Addiction. Slavery. Heroin. Prostitute. Evil. Eye piercing. Rape. Penetration. Sodomy. Fetish. Lesbianism. Brutality. Penetration. Karate. Guns. Cars. Penetration. Money shot. Revenge. Murder. Gore. Revenge. Satisfaction.
THRILLER : En Grym Film is a brutal ride of revenge. That is first and foremost what this film is. But it is also a surreal Dali-esque mix of martial art film, European art film, drug film, hardcore porn, and spagetti western. Plus as an added bonus, one seriously messed-up car chase scene. As far out as all this seems, this is a really fantastic film. I ordered this with out ever having seen the film before. I got this because of QT's relentless mention of this film during the KILL BILL press junkets. (If you are one of those folks that loved KB, then just go ahead and get this. You will love it). I am aware of what I like to watch and figured that I would dig it. I did!!!! Thanks QT for turning me onto this flick.
I can only imagine how bad the bootlegs of this looked. Having viewed many boots of various quality over the years, I know how bad it can be. I think that this print looks fabulous. It is a low budget Swedish film from the early 1970s. How good could it look to begin with? But, I love the look, feel and mood of this type of film. I have no complaints on the visual of sound. I was very impressed. The extras are good too. There are not a lot of extras, in comparison to say LOTR EE, but I was surprised at the number of extras that were included for this film. My favorite extras were the Thriller mini-film (a 40-second, compressed version of the film comprised of frames from the film) and the Christina Lindberg nude photo gallery. This was my first exposure to Christina. A very lovely woman.
I liked the technical aspects of this film too. Cool cinematography, lighting, sets (autumn leaves), wierdo editing, costumes, eyepatches, etc. all add to the tension that builds and builds, until she explodes into berzerker mode. The story moves along and never bogs down. I totally dug it.
BELIEVE THE HYPE !!!!!
Movie Review: The epitome of a perfect exploitation/grindhouse movie.
Summary: 5 Stars
Wow, what a crazy, funny, and depraved little movie this is. I've heard mixed review's about this one and I'm glad I ignored the bad one's. I can now gladly say with pride........I ABSOLUTELY LOVE THIS MOVIE!!!! This is the epitame of a perfect exploitation movie!
Okay, still don't believe me? Check this premise out: The movie start's out with a little girl (around 5, 6, maybe 7?) walking around the wood's with an OLD man (around 50) only to have him totally molest her in the opening sequence of the film (not graphically you sicko's!). Sound strange? IT IS! So then they show her as a young woman (now traumatized and can longer speak) who meet's a guy who then proceed's to get her addicted to heroin, by quietly shooting her up in her sleep and then forces her to prostitute in exchange for heroin! Sound awesome? IT IS! This all happen's in the first 20 minutes of the film (and some people say there is nothing offensive in this movie?!?!) I'll tell you right now at this point I was already sold as a huge fan of this movie. She then she rebel's against her pimp only to have one of her eyes gouged out in graphic detail, there are rumor's that a real corpse was used for this seqeunce.......cool. Not that I condone this kind of behavior but you have to respect that kind of audacity, and you really have to keep a sense of humor watching these exploitation/grindhouse movies. The rest of the plot is about (THEY CALL HER ONE EYE!) her training for battle and plotting revenge on all who have wronged her, and she does (in violent, slow motion detail!) Now tell me that is not the coolest premise you have ever heard for a movie?!
This is a film Quentin Tarantino called "The roughest revenge movie ever made!", with good reason. Any fan's of his should give this a watch at some point in their live's just too see some of his old influences. This is a highly entertaining movie made during the golden age of exploitation, when director's did'nt take themselves too seriously and nothing, and I mean nothing was off limit's!
CHECK IT OUT!
Movie Review: Funky like my grandmas trousers
Summary: 5 Stars
I watched this movie yesterday and all i can say is...WOW!!! I could keep my eyes of the tv screen. Christina Lindberg is perfect. She goes from a shy girl to a tough woman, and looks extremely beautiful all the way through. I though the director, Bo Arne Vibenius, did a great job, and the cinematographer (i forgot the name) even better. For me, the movie wasn't slow at all, even though it doesnt have much dialogue and probably many will think it is rather slow. I absolutely love the score and all the freaky dubby effects and music. They where perfect, Its what a madman/woman would be hearing in his/her mind. The final fight scenes were enchanting. The super duper slow motion effects where a great touch. Its funny because if you keep your eyes at the guys mouth while hes getting beat up, you will see he's trying to hold the fake blood until finally he gets kicked in the head and all the blood spills out toward you( in super duper slow motion). And the ending was also perfect, paying homage to the spaghetti westerns. About the porn...its weird because it pops up out of nowhere, a extreme penetration close-up( obviously not her ) which is more funny than disturbing, but it shows to your face what is really going on and what the guy is actually putting this already disturbed girl through. Its the reason why she goes mad and gets her revenge. Like in many of the other movies made during this time, the chairs, sofas, lamps, rugs, curtains, and clothing were as funky as my grandmas trousers. I wish my house was decorated like that. The only thing I didn't like is that when she driving the car like crazy psycho on heroin, she's deliberately trying to get innocent drivers that had nothing to do with her problems to crash and die. She should have stuck to killing only those that did wrong. Or maybe she thinks they are part of a society that chose to close their eyes while innocent girls like her where being raped and hooked on heroin, making them part of the problem also. Overall, a fantastic movie with a heart. Watch it with friends.Movie Review: Wow...
Summary: 5 Stars
This film, brought from obscurity by Synapse Films, is a genuine masterpiece.
First off, I have to credit Synapse for doing an outstanding job on converting this film to dvd. Not only did they include the English dub, but they include the original Swedish dub with English subtitiles...something that Blue Underground (another cult dvd reviver) refuses to do! (????) So, you can expect great quality, and options with the audio. PERFECT!
The story is of revenge. Pure and simple. Lindberg does a great job of acting...admittedly powerful, given the fact that she doesn't speak a word throughout her performance! An example is her scene shooting heroin where you do not see the needle, but her face. I have to say, that I think it is real. Either she spent a good deal of time watching people do it, or she was in fact doing it. It just looked too real. PERFECT!
Bo's use of the viewer's imagination was the foundation. This was the most important part of the film, and I think all the other reviewers did NOT see what Bo was trying to say with this film. Your imagination is more powerful than seeing something itself. He said this with the intro, the turning point, and the ending.
intro-rape. imagine.
turning point-only friend dies in bedridden bloodbath. imagine.
ending-the horse and the rope. imagine.
Bo probably laughed at his reviews. Not many probably got it. What is sex? He'll show you. What is drug use? He'll show you. What is murder? He'll show you. What is ten times more powerful, and will remain in memory further than some of the more graphic scenes in this movie? Your imagination.
Perfect.