(1973) *1/2
Once again I was baited by a goofy title and provocative cover art only to be mortified by the content within. This is not the first time this has happened to me in October and I daresay it won't be the last.
Olaf, the sinful dwarf in question (who looks alarmingly like Jack Black), lures young women to a squalor ridden boarding house on the outskirts of town. It is here where he and his deranged mother chain their victims up in the attic and force them into a life of heroin addiction and prostitution. The attic is a nightmarish Hell hole, with naked, strung out, barely conscious women lying on filthy mattresses. It gets more disturbing when the first customer enters the room, casually removes his hat and tie, and decides which which girl he's going to violate tonight. It's heinous and depraved, and some of the sex scenes almost certainly involve real penetration, though it doesn't get that graphic.
The story centers around Peter and Mary, an unsuspecting young couple who are forced to stay at the boarding house because its the only place they can afford. They're struggling at the moment but Peter naively promises that "things will get better". *Mild Spoiler Alert! - things get much worse before they get better.* The first in many sex scenes is a passionate one between the lovers and it is accompanied by elegant violin music. If not for the mincing little person peeping through the glory hole, it could almost be seen as quite romantic. As Peter goes off to look for work the next day, Mary is in danger of facing the same fate as the other girls. Since you're not likely going to see this movie anyway, I will divulge that justice eventually gets served. But can there be a true happy ending in such a film? How can these girls possibly go on to live normal lives?
I gave it an extra half star because it delivered the shock value it promised. But here we are 40 years later and women are still being abducted across the globe and forced into lives of sexual slavery, in conditions every bit as despicable as those depicted in this movie. Movies as ghastly as this one are interesting to observe from time to time, but they sure do suck the fun out of Horrorthon.
5 comments:
Eesh. That feeling you describe reminds me of Blood Sucking Freaks, which must go on my Depravity list. This too, it sounds like.
Oh man, that does sound like a total downer of a film. For that very reason I have been staying clear of the torture and depravity this year with the exception of Slaughtered Vomit Dolls which was more than any one of us should ever have to endure.
Yikes. This sounds exactly like everything I never want to see!
Wow! At first I was jealous you'd be watching this without me -- but this was a great review! "Horror" as we know it that occurs in many people's realities creeps me out to the point where I spend H-Thon watching the more escapist-type movies.
i'm depressed just reading the review.
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