Sennentuntschi (2010)

A Swiss, neo-giallo fairytale? Sennentuntschi reminded me a great deal of Fulci's Don't Torture a Duckling with its themes of religion, superstition and mob-rule but adds misogyny to the mix.

The flashback within a flashback structure is handled extremely well and keeps you guessing whether the Sennentuntschi is supernatural or mundane right up until the end.

Pretty chilling stuff if a little overlong.

Letterbox Review

Holidays (2016)

1 (Valentine's Day): Terrible, appalling, total shit. 0.5 out of 5
 
2 (St Patrick's Day): I'm guessing this was supposed to be funny and surreal? It wasn't. 1 out of 5
 
3 (Easter): A tale of how Easter's crazy mix of Christian and Pagan resurrection/rebirth myths can fuck with a kid's head, especially one whose dad has recently died. 3.5 out of 5
 
4 (Mother's Day): Watching new-age hippies cavort in the desert for no payoff was not how I wanted to spend 12 minutes of my life. 1 out of 5
 
5 (Father's Day): An interesting story about grief and the resurfacing of lost memories. The poor ending lets the whole thing down though. 2.5 out of 5
 
6 (Halloween): Dull rape-revenge stuff that has fuck all to do with Halloween. 1 out of 5
 
7 (Christmas): A bit of a turkey! 2 out of 5
 
8 (New Year's Eve): I could see the twist coming but it was fun nonetheless. I still fucking hate New Year's eve, though. 3 out of 5

Letterboxd Review

Hitch-Hike (1977)

Superficially Hitch-Hike is the story of an arguing couple (Franco Nero and Corinne Cléry) who pick up a hitch-hiker (David Hess) who turns out to be a psychopath with two-million dollars in his suitcase. Rather more interestingly, I think it can also be read as the story of a woman in an abusive relationship seeking empowerment though a crucible of fear and terror and becoming a Nietzschean superwoman (her name is Eve - the proto-woman). Ultimately this reading fails in the last 5 minutes, but that doesn't stop the change in her character throughout the rest of the film. Interestingly the director, Pasquale Festa Campanile, was normally a screenwriter who was previously nominated for an Academy Award, so I don't think this sort of sub-text is unwarranted.

Rather than your average bloody and violent poliziotteschi /exploitation film, Hitch-Hike comes over as more of a character study with exploitation elements. Each of the three main characters are well rounded and essential to the story, with the husband (Nero) being an unsuccessful journalist who relies on his wife's inheritance to survive and treats her as a possession to be protected. The hiker (Hess) is a man used to taking what he wants and treats the woman as a trophy to be won. Hess is honest in his brutality whereas Nero is the typical apologetic wife-beater. The wife (Cléry) slowly gains control over her life and understands that she is not defined by men.

Hitch-Hike is a film in the grand-tradition of "Lonely Road" films such as The Hitcher, Spoorloos (The Vanishing) and Duel where the road and the journey is as important as the characters and propels the plot. This has prompted me to build a list of similar films which I'll add to the review when complete. The photography by Franco Di Giacomo and Giuseppe Ruzzolini is stunning and really captures the wide open spaces with only a few lapses in focus. The cast is great with both Hess and Nero (against type) playing nasty bastards perfectly and Cléry bringing great strength and subtlety to her character. The soundtrack is fantastic with Ennio Morricone excelling himself with a dirty desert influenced score that fits the film like a glove.

There is one particular moment during the film that I would have assumed that the BBFC (British Board of Film Classification) would have trouble with passing uncut and that's the pivotal rape scene. Whilst there are various rapes throughout the film this particular scene, if taken out of context, has Cléry's character seemingly enjoy being raped. As the BBFC have passed the film uncut (2015), I think they agree that Cléry does not submit to the rape or actually enjoy it. She instead takes control and says, "this is my body, and I am allowing you to have sex with me". This nullifies the rape, removing control from Hess and taking it for herself. Importantly during this scene, she continually looks at her husband, displaying that he too does not own her. It's an interesting, potentially inflammatory scene and I would be interested to hear what others think.

If there is a fault, I would say the last five minutes, as alluded to above, negate a lot of the preceding character building. Yes, it's a perfect exploitation ending, but it could have been so much better.

I've hitched a fair bit in my life and also offered lifts to hikers and I know that there's always that first few seconds when you get in the car (or vice-versa) where you wonder if the person opposite you is be a nutter. In fact I've only ever had one experience even remotely like that when I once gave a lift to an armed robber going to see his parole officer, and he turned out to be quite a lovely bloke.

Hitch-Hike is a great exploitation film-cum-character study that deserves to be on your watch-list.

Letterboxd Review

Thriller: A Cruel Picture (1974)

Uncut, Synapse DVD

Young Frigga is molested as a young girl and rendered mute as a result. Later, as a teen, she is groomed, hooked on heroin, pimped and repeated raped and abused. She trains in marksmanship, unarmed combat and driving and then seeks revenge on her pimp and his clients.

Christina Lundberg as Frigga is just brilliant; just as cool as fuck. Starting as vulnerable and shy, then rebelling against her situation, then slowly becoming a puppet-like addict beaten into submission, then slowly bulding in confidence, until she become a killing machine intent on revenge and escape. You know those movies where you want to be the hero, well I wanted to be Lundberg's character. There is something mythic about Frigga, the black coat, the eye patch; a real angel of death. It can't be coincidence that her name is from the goddess Frigg, wife of Odin One-Eye.

Even though the sex scenes were added to appeal to the then new pornography trade in Scandinavia they are handled very well and you are distanced by the clinical way it is filmed. Instead of titillation you feel incredibly uncomfortable, and if you find that of these scenes turn you on, you're a very strange person indeed. Do they add anything? I think that they do, although they do make the film a little long.

The slo-mo kills were pretty good, although quite tame considering the extreme nature of the rest of the film. Still good though. The film contains a real a-z of British 70s cars: Capri, Granada and even a Escort Mk1 (my first car) Mexico. The soundtrack is great, full of phasing, oscillations, reverb and loops. There is, on occasion, some absolutely stunning camera-work.

The picture on this Synapse DVD was great. They kept a lot of the grain, dirt, scratches and burn marks whilst still making it watchable. The term "Grindhouse Classic" was invented for films like this.

Horrible, unflinching, nasty, cruel, depressing and brilliant.

Original letterboxd review

Ms. 45 (1981)

This review is for the French uncut (80 min) DVD by MEP Video which had a great picture and sound, although the dialogue and music seemed a little unbalanced.

Spoilers ahoy!

Shy and mute Greek-American Thana (portrayed extremely well by Zoë Lund) seeks revenge and control after being raped. That's the basic premise. Does Ms. 45 rise above the usual rape-revenge exploitation films of the period?

The tone and theme of the film is set almost immediately with some women from a clothes factory suffering the usual "everyday sexism" as they walk down a New York street. It's now 35 years later and it's sad to say that not much has changed.

The first rape itself is filmed well and does not contain any of the excess that regularly featured in exploitation films of the time. Shots are short and do not linger. There is no nudity. Instead the man is portrayed as an animal, rutting. A nice touch is that during the aftermath the soundtrack fades out to complete silence, highlighting Thana's state of mind and inability to give voice to her rage and impotency. Thana being a mute also highlights her powerlessness.

During her second rape Thana manages to kill her attacker and then dismembers his body. She then takes his symbol of power, the gun. Unfortunately this action also exacerbates her already fractured mental state and, after seeing visions of the man, she killed she walks the streets. A little later she kills a man with the rapists gun; using a man's source of power to regain her own. This idea that she can regain control is furthered and re-enforced when she watches a friend swear at, and scare away, a man who was trying to flirt with her. She realises that she doesn't have to take it, that she can act instead of react. She will use men's inability to control themselves to control them... violently.

It's not just rape that enables Thana, it's everything around her; the cat-calls, the inappropriate touching, beatings, invasion of personal space, the way even a regular conversation can sound sleazy. It's a constant and unending sense of male entitlement that pushes Thana over the edge. At one point Thana writes "I just wish they'd leave me alone" on a piece of paper. The name Thana comes from the Greek Thanatos, a daemon personifying death.

The scene on the park bench where she listens to a man that has been cheated on by his wife could have ended up as a "not all men" scene, but is treated intelligently and with care. In fact the end of this particular scene is one of the most shocking moments in the film.

On to the ending. One of the stand-out scenes in the film is of Thana dressed as nun kissing her rather phallic shaped bullets, almost like communion or the kissing of a cross. Killing has become almost a holy mission. She has now lost control and is about to descend into misandry. Then her boss kissing her boots and the fact he was just about to go down on her shows Thana's dominance and is the final act of male submission to her. This whole sequence displays an interesting juxtaposition of sex, religion and death that Ferrara would later revisit in Bad Lieutenant.

The final slow motion scene is excellently shot and jam-packed with symbolism. At one point there is a woman behind Thana holding a knife at her crotch, like a penis. Also, the man she is killing is dressed as a bride; the emasculation of man? Thana is finally stabbed in the back by the penis wielding woman who she herself cannot kill. Thana's first and only word as she lies dying? "Sister".

Zoë Lund is a great protagonist. Vulnerable but also showing great strength. A superhero for the grim and dark streets of New York City. Even the title brings to mind a superhero: "Ms. 45". Thor, Hulk, Black Widow, Iron Man, Ms 45, why not?

Realistic, gritty, powerful and considered. I think that Ms. 45 is the best rape-revenge film I've seen. In fact, because of the other more exploitative films in this sub-genre, even calling it a "rape-revenge" detracts from just how good this film is. Ms. 45 features some terrific cinematography and shot choice; Thana standing next to a "Men" toilet sign being a case in point. The soundtrack, or lack of it, is excellent and used sparingly.

After a long history of repression, abuse and inequality don't be surprised when extremism (misandry in this case) raises it's head. You reap what you sow, as they say. While, in this case, extremism/misandry is understandable, does it solve the problem or merely exacerbate it?

Original letterboxd review