Cheap Thriller - A Cruel Picture (DVD) Price

Related Products

Customer Reviews of Thriller - A Cruel Picture

Hardly Rough In The Revenge Department
Yep...I fell for Quentin Tarantino's recommendation on this one. Before "Kill Bill", I was unaware of this film but I figured if he, being an exploitation afficianado, loved this film, I might find something memorable or entertaining here as well. When I read "roughest revenge movie ever", I'm thinking of "I Spit On Your Grave". If any movie can top that one, I will gladly tip my hat. "Thriller" does not come close to being in the same league as the aforementioned, at least in terms of revenge. <
><
> <
><
>However, the circumstances under which "One-Eye" is living, the setting is ripe for brutal revenge. Afer experiencing a traumatizing molestation as a child, she is kidnapped by this Leisure-Suit Larry type of guy, looking suspiciously like Larry Dallas with a mustache. He shoots her full of heroin for a while and preps her for a life of forced prostitution where clients of all types and fetishes come to his swingin' pad to have their way with her. In fact, one such client becomes the reasoning for our "hero" being named "One-Eye". In the grand scheme of things, this has little or nothing to do with anything relevant in the movie. <
><
> <
><
>After about the first 15-20 minutes, "Thriller" takes a turn into more of a pornographic nature with many sexual situations laid out on screen for all to see. Some situations are left out but it's hard to tell if that was done with purpose or just an oversight. The rest - consisting of anything short of oral sex, is on screen for all to witness with the occasional close-up. Pretty much nothing is left to the imagination and nothing is implied. Somewhere amidst all of this sex, One-Eye finds the time to take karate and sharpshooting lessons to eventually exact her revenge. <
><
> <
><
>Nevermind the obvious questions about how she was able to find the time to prepare herself with kung fu or why her pimp would even allow her out long enough to learn these skills. If you've seen any of these Euro-sleeze exploitation movies before, you alredy know that logic eludes these films almost entirely. If you have not experienced these types of movies, the obvious lack of continuity, narrative and sense is very apparent from the outset. Still, this could have been a relatively exciting film had the big build-up to the apparent revenge had been something more than it turned out to be. After sitting through about 75 minutes of porn and drug addiction mixed in with occasional scenes of preparation to exact her revenge, One-Eye finally goes on her "rampage" against her aggressors and, in the end, it is no more "brutal" or "rough" than anything you've ever seen cable TV, only with much less stylization. <
><
> <
><
>So yes, the big finalé is all a giant waste. After pulling no punches with the pornography scenes, the "killing spree" at the end is no more exciting or heart-pounding than something you might have seen on Hill Street Blues. Even One-Eye finally getting her pimp was a big build up to nothing. With the sex, nothing is left to the imagination. When she kills her assailant, you get nothing. In a way, this could be the result of voyeurism on my part - wanting to see grizzly death sequences after seeing so much explicit sex. But that's the point of exploitation films - nothing is supposed to be implied or left to the imagination. It's the trade-off for sacrificing story, character development, acting and all of the other traits of a good film. If you must see this movie, rent it first. Otherwise, skip to something that lives up to it's moniker.

---

Turn it on for the slo-mo violence, stay for the hard core sex
Some people say that the hard core sex scenes are clumsily edited into this movie. I strongly disagree. Seeing in extreme close-up the one customer plow her back passage with his John Thomas and then deposit his creamy appreciation on her buttocks did a great deal to advance the story line for me. Without that scene, I would have been asking far too many questions. Bravo! <
> <
>

---

So bad it's BAD!
This film really doesn't even seem to try in the ol "Revenge Movie" genre. All of the action scenes are in slow motion and just terrible really. I mean a few scenes would be ok but in the end it makes the film really look dated and shoddy. <
> <
>I'm sure it has it's fans, what film doesn't but this is also the true X rated version also with all of the super dirty old school porn inserts. Blech!!!! It is just disgusting and dated. It doesn't enhance what she goes through and makes it just look cheap. In the end though I believe that the hardcore inserts were needed to get people interested because the film is absolutely ridiculous. You'd do better to find the "Pinky Violence" films or even some Pam Grier movies like "Coffy"/"Foxy Brown". This film could have been a classic without the hardcore garbage and better violence. During that time period they could have learned to do it better even on a low budget as many films proved this time and time again.