In the good olde days of silent films, the moustache-twirling villain would kidnap the damsel, carry her off with much oomph and flailing of arms, then tie her to a railroad track from which she would be rescued in the nick of time by the hero, the villain would be vanquished, and the couple would live happily ever after.
In the 1970s, things were a little different; in this particular offering, the damsel is grabbed by a masked sicko who rapes her while she sings "Jingle Bells" for his amusement.
As with most bona fide rapes, the damsel defends her honour as best she can which results in her being stripped naked and slapped around. This guy is big though, and he warns her that if she puts too much effort into it, she won't live to tell. She does the math, and survives without too much collateral damage. At the police station she is informed she is the latest victim of a serial rapist with a bizarre "modus operandi".
While at this time the police did not handle rape cases with the same discretion they do today, it is difficult to believe they were quite this insensitive even in the 1970s. Clearly this film had a political motive as much as any other...entertainment?
It is here that it begins to lose its way, the victims meet up and form a group to track him down, taking martial arts classes into the bargain, but while the second wave of feminism would undoubtedly have approved of this, they would most definitely not have approved of the accompanying gratuitous nudity. Happily, the bad guy is eventually vanquished and they all live happily ever after. Apart from the two he murders, that is.
In the 1970s, things were a little different; in this particular offering, the damsel is grabbed by a masked sicko who rapes her while she sings "Jingle Bells" for his amusement.
As with most bona fide rapes, the damsel defends her honour as best she can which results in her being stripped naked and slapped around. This guy is big though, and he warns her that if she puts too much effort into it, she won't live to tell. She does the math, and survives without too much collateral damage. At the police station she is informed she is the latest victim of a serial rapist with a bizarre "modus operandi".
While at this time the police did not handle rape cases with the same discretion they do today, it is difficult to believe they were quite this insensitive even in the 1970s. Clearly this film had a political motive as much as any other...entertainment?
It is here that it begins to lose its way, the victims meet up and form a group to track him down, taking martial arts classes into the bargain, but while the second wave of feminism would undoubtedly have approved of this, they would most definitely not have approved of the accompanying gratuitous nudity. Happily, the bad guy is eventually vanquished and they all live happily ever after. Apart from the two he murders, that is.