At the risk of being verbose and/or redundant, I was too young to see the movie when it first came out, but I was fascinated by the ad campaign. A few years later, I read a review by, I think, a writer named Ed Naha that was extremely critical of it. Oddly enough, that review only intensified my desire to see it. In 1980, it was re-released and was playing at a local theatre in Wayne, NJ, my old stomping grounds, and I inveigled 2 less-than-enthusiastic friends into seeing it with me. They remained unimpressed, but I was haunted by the film. Whether it was the gritty documentary feel of it, the naturalistic acting, the contrast between the buffoonish authorities and the repellent killers- who knows? I wasn't a fan of slasher-type movies, which were starting to become popular then, but this movie affected me pretty profoundly. There were little touches in it that just seemed completely and depressingly authentic. For example, the scene where the character Krug is raping Mari. The camera focuses on their faces as the rape occurs. Upon completion of his nauseating act, Krug pulls away, leaving a trail of bloody saliva on her face. To me, there's nothing sensationalistic or exploitative about this shot, but it conveys far more eloquently than all the Fridaythe13th/Halloween/adnauseum slasher movies you can name the repulsive horror and brutality of such an act. Voyeuristic? Perhaps, but not in such a way that compels identification with the rapist, which is one of the reasons I think a film like "Friday the 13th" and its numerous sequels and imitators are so sick. Right after this rape scene, by the way, Mari vomits and Krug looks crestfallen, even chagrined. I know David has said in interviews that this was to show a human side to this character, as if Krug finally realized he crossed a line into utter inhumanity. I saw it differently as a viewer; I always interpreted this as an indication of the character's near total break with reality and descent into a realm that borders on true madness- as if he expected her to be appreciative about his sexual prowess, rather than repelled and sickened, and his disappointment when observing the empirical reality that this was not the case. To me, there was no clearer demonstration of the depravity of the characters involved. Also, I shouldn't want to slight the other actors. As an ensemble, I think they worked together with near perfection. Marc Sheffler, in particular, was very convincing as a drug-addicted adolescent and, considering that the actor was much older than the part was intended, this is a commendable achievement. It's a shame that his acting career never progressed much further than this film.
Ed T.
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