By Lee Pfeiffer
Brutalization is just the latest example of a film being re-titled and packaged for DVD in order to disingenuously imply that it is a sexploitation title. In fact, the original title of the movie is Because of the Cats, an admittedly esoteric creation that may bare relevance to the plot but undoubtedly didn't have movie fans lining up at boxoffices around the world. The 1973 Dutch crime thriller has been released on DVD by the niche market company One7Movies. The film does indeed begin with a shocking sequence of sexual abuse as a middle-aged couple return to their Amsterdam apartment only to find it is being robbed by a gang of young men in stocking masks. They humiliate the couple by stripping and gang raping the woman while making her helpless husband observe the degrading act. Police Inspector van der Valk (British actor Bryan Marshall) is assigned to the case and sent to the affluent town of Bloemendaal where clues indicate the young men reside. It turns out the gang is also behind a series of local robberies in which homes are routinely trashed and family heirlooms maliciously destroyed. In keeping with the era, van der Valk is no ordinary cop: he's a maverick. Upon arriving in town, he seduces Feodora (gorgeous Alexandra Stewart), a local prostitute. He's rather obnoxious with local police colleagues and doesn't think twice about joining "persons of interest" in a few drinks while he interviews them about the case. The clues lead to a group of well-heeled young men in their late teens and early twenties who call themselves The Ravens. This is no street gang, however, but rather a cult-like organization that prides itself on a code of secrecy and military-like discipline. van der Valk observes that virtually all of the suspects have several things in common: they are from affluent families and have been spoiled throughout their lives by indulgent parents who never spent any "quality time" with them. Cracking the gang becomes even more important when one of their members turns up dead in what appears to be a scuba diving accident. van der Valk suspects murder by other gang members who may have believed the young man was about to talk to authorities. The detective also investigates a similar cult of young women known as The Cats who interact with The Ravens and occasionally engage in sex orgies with their members.
The film, which is largely unknown in the United States, was originally rated X but was cut to adhere to an R rating. Few people ever heard of it, let alone saw it. Presumably the DVD release is the unrated European cut. The rape scene is certainly shocking with frontal nudity but it's not as overtly brutal as it might have been. There are other instances of full nudity peppered throughout the film but most of the other sequences are presented somewhat tastefully. As a mystery, the film is surprisingly effective. Director Fons Rademakers has a crude but compelling way of presenting the story in an engrossing way, even if some of the plot devices and characters become occasionally confusing. He also makes good use of the Dutch locations and although the film features shocking acts of violence, they are never overly-exploited. As a leading man Bryan Marshall gives a strong performance. He's hip, hunky and charismatic...and one wonders why he never progressed beyond the supporting actor stage. (James Bond fans will recognize him as one of the British submarine commanders from The Spy Who Loved Me.) Alexandra Stewart adds the requisite sex appeal and there are some other familiar faces to be found including another Bond movie veteran, George Baker (On Her Majesty's Secret Service) and future Emmanuelle sex siren Sylvia Kristel as a teenage girl gang member. The performances by all of the supporting players are extremely good. The film moves to a satisfying conclusion as the mystery to the young man's death is tied to an unexpected and rather exotic cause.
The DVD presentation is good, considering source material for a film such as this can be a "take what you can get" scenario. The DVD also includes an original British trailer with crudely inserted English language titles. In all, an impressive and interesting film. Recommended.
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