BY LEE PFEIFFER
The 1970s spawned a peculiar sub-genre of crime movies: the rape revenge sagas. Ostensibly, the films were designed to celebrate female empowerment and denounce sexual exploitation of women. In reality, that was just window dressing for the true purpose of the productions, namely, to exploit women. True, they did demonstrate scenes of violated young ladies exacting some just desserts on male stalkers and abusers, but there was an overall suspicion that the films' intended audience wasn't liberated females but men who enjoyed cinematic depictions of women being abused. A prime example is "Act of Vengeance", a 1974 American International cheapie that was also released under the cruder but more accurate title of "Rape Squad". The movie opens with Linda (Jo Ann Harris), a self-employed 20 year-old, having the misfortune of being stalked by a slimeball named Jack (Peter Brown), who wears a red jump suit and a hockey mask (thus inspiring later, more memorable screen villains.) He brutally rapes Linda while adding an additional humiliating element to the crime: he forces her to sing "Jingle Bells" during the assault. Linda survives the ordeal but finds the police are inefficient in tracking down the villain, understandably because he was masked. Turns out Jack is a serial rapist who has subjected numerous other young women to the same horrific fate. Linda meets and bonds with the other victims (played by Jennifer Lee, Lisa Moore, Connie Strickland and Patricia Estrin) and they decide to take matters into their own hands by personally tracking down their attacker and also attempting to come to the rescue of other women who are in danger of being sexually assaulted. To brush up on their self-defense skills, they are taught martial arts by a pro, Tiny (Lada Edmund, Jr.) and-presto!- the women are turned into female versions of Kato on the spot. The film then follows the women as they thwart the bad guys by subjecting them to humiliating beatings. But their primary mission is to track down their mutual rapist and dish out their own brand of justice.
Director Bob Kelljan was already an old hand at helming exploitation films including the Count Yorga horror flicks and "Scream Blacula Scream". If his desire was to depict the terror of sexual assault, he certainly succeeded. The rape scenes are hard to watch and chilling in their realism, made all the more disturbing by the perversions of Jack. (In addition to making his victims sing "Jingle Bells", he requires them to praise his sexual performance and speaks to them in a calm, friendly voice even as he subjects them to despicable acts.) However, the main attributes of the movies pertain to its goofy aspects. Every one of the victims is a knock-out and, despite knowing that Jack is still stalking them, they persist in parading around braless in the skimpiest outfits imaginable. If that isn't enough to keep male audience members awake, they find time to relax by sharing a hot tub (totally nude, of course!)The finale finds our heroines engaging in cliched behavior from other "women-in-jeopardy" films by being lured to meet Jack in the dead of night in a creepy, abandoned zoo. Now, what could possibly go wrong with that strategy? Naturally, they end up separating and- oh, yes, one of them suffers a broken heel that impairs her ability to run. The only predictable element missing is the presence of Vincent Price.
The performances by the female leads range from passable to laughable. All of the male cast members play characters who are killers, rapists or just plain jerks. (The esteemed comedic actor Stanley Adams inexplicably turns up in a brief, embarrassing turn as a pervert.) In the 1970s, the crime of rape was depicted in major films such as "Death Wish" and "A Clockwork Orange". Those scenes, too, are difficult to endure but at least the films were making a serious comment on the degradation of societal norms. "Act of Vengeance" is disguised as a message movie but exists only to titillate, although it does provide plenty of laughs as well (some of them actually intentional).
Once again Scorpion has given a "B" movie a first-class presentation with an excellent transfer. Extras include a new on-camera interview with actress Jennifer Lee Pryor, who played a member of the Rape Squad. She's quite loquacious and discusses her memories of the film, providing some interesting anecdotes and claims, quite correctly, that the female heroines preceded Charlie's Angels, who were seen as ground-breaking female heroes. The original trailer is also included as well as a gallery of trailers for other Scorpion titles.
(At this time, the Blu-ray does not appear to be available on Amazon. It can be ordered here.)