La puerta forzada

This film essentially involves a socially awkward young man by the name of "Carl" (Ron Max) who works as a mechanic at a gas station. Because he was abused as a child, he harbors an extreme hatred for women which manifests itself at certain times that results in his raping and them killing them whenever he gets the chance. There is, however, one woman he doesn't hate by the name of "Nancy Ulman" (Tanya Roberts) who he wants to possess more than anybody. Unfortunately for her, not only does she hardly know Carl, but she also isn't aware that she is soon to become one of his victims. Now, rather than reveal any more, I will just say that, from what I understand, this was a remake of an X-rated movie by the title of "Forced Entry" a few years earlier only toned down for general theaters. Since I haven't seen the other movie in question, I cannot compare the two, but as far as this particular film is concerned, I didn't really find it that enjoyable as the pace was agonizingly slow and the ending needed considerable improvement as well. In any case, although I thought Tanya Roberts performed quite adequately, I thought her talents were more or less wasted and, because of the other faults just mentioned, I have rated this picture accordingly. Below average.

I wanted to watch this one sense I am a fan of films such as "Last House on the Left" and "Maniac". This film follows in this same gener only less satisfying to watch than those above. This movie is about a garage worker who leads a double life as a serial rapeist, watching young women and taking advantage of them at the apropriate moment. He stutters when he's with a girl and starts to feel nervous which I felt was unapprpriate for the movie. Then we see him making his move towards the victim and them the movie switches to a different scene and then later on in the movie like when we see the killer watching TV or drinking a beer or scratching his rabbit which is his only friend we see flashbacks of what happened between the killer and the unfortunate victim which we should have seen while he was killing the victim. This I also found unnecisary in the movie. The part that I did like in the movie as compared to "Maniac" was the fact that we get to see what the killers thinking and just why he commits these murders and I liked that. Always wanted to know just what made those serial killers tick. But this one didn't tick to much for me, I gave it a 4.

This film by Jim Sotos (the director of the surprisingly decent eighties slasher 'Sweet 16') is apparently a remake of the earlier infamous film of the same title by Shaun Costello and starring Harry Reems. Forced Entry was never meant to be a mainstream flick, but it would appear that Sotos was trying to turn it into one with this film as the plot is basically the same but we don't get any of the sexual violence, which is a bit of a shame because that's the only thing that most people will have tuned into the original for and it's always going to be difficult to make an R-Rated film based on this plot line and make it a success. The plot is very simple and focuses on a psychopath who works at a gas station. It's the old story of abuse as a child and this man suffered at the hands of his mother; which has lead to an acute hatred of women. Naturally, he decides to use his job (which involves meeting women) to find females to have his way with and murder. However, soon he meets Nancy and actually falls in love with her, which puts him at odds with his murderous rage.

On the whole, it has to be said that this film is not successful and the only part of it I really liked was the music on the opening credits sequence. Showing the violence and gore is not always necessary in films; but it is in this one. The original was meant to shock and it did; but this film's neglect towards showing the violence means that it is not shocking, not true to the original and it also doesn't feature a plot strong enough to hold up a film like this without violence. Ron Max is the lead and while he convinces as the psychopath, he isn't very charismatic and the performance feels a bit flat. Luckily, there's some female talent in the form of Tanya Roberts and Nancy Allen on hand to help the film along. The film features a voice over that shows us what the psycho is thinking and feeling and it's all rather generic stuff and the film could have done without it. There's not a great deal of interest created in the plot and the ending is both predictable and generic. The film has a handful of decent moments and it's worth tracking down as a companion piece to the original; but it's not very good unfortunately.

Unknown to most people who are not true down in the dirt fans of all the sleaze / horror that used to dwell on the seedy, shadowy screens of N.Y.'s 42nd St. theaters in the 70's, this watered down version of Forced Entry is actually a remake of a film by the same title that came out a year or two earlier. The original was an XXX rated hardcore nightmare that starred a much younger porn legend Harry Reems (from Deep Throat fame) as the brutal killer / gas station attendant. The story is almost identical to this version, but is WAY more intense & disturbing.

The basic plot of this R - rated version revolves around a disturbed service station attendant named Carl who gets female customers info when they pay for gas & such with credit cards. He then proceeds to stalk them, and brutally rape & kill them in a vicious fashion. He not only rapes & kills them, but he rants & taunts them while in the process. This remake is a vein attempt to cash in on the originals viciousness & the then current stream of "Last House on the Left" rip offs. The highlight, though, is seeing the hot, young Nancy Allen & Tanya Roberts. But, if you want real nightmares, try to track down the original XXX version starring Harry Reems under the Pseudonym Tim Long. It's much more powerful than this lame R rated rip off.

The Last Victim is one of those films that it's hard to believe actually exists — an R-rated remake of the infamous 1973 'roughie' Forced Entry that not only stars future Charlie's Angel/Bond girl Tanya Roberts, but which also features Robocop's Nancy Allen in a minor role.

While this one might not be as downright nasty as the original movie (that's an understatement: the '73 version is a utterly repugnant experience), it's still a very sleazy piece of grind-house cinema, one that I imagine neither actress is particularly proud of. Of course, for many fans of obscure, gritty exploitation, the involvement of two future stars in such a mean-spirited, misogynistic piece of trash will only add to the fun.

Roberts plays Nancy Ulman, housewife and mother of two young children (which she must have had while she was still in school, given how young she looks), who finds herself targeted by psycho garage mechanic Carl (Ron Max), the man responsible for a spate of recent brutal rapes/murders in the area. Allen plays one of the unhinged grease-monkey's earlier victims, a pretty hitch-hiker whose lack of manners seals her fate.

Fans of Ms. Roberts might be surprised, and probably more than a little disappointed, to find that the actress keeps herself pretty much covered up throughout (even her obligatory shower scene offers very little titillation). The film's gratuitous nudity comes from Carl's other victims: a pretty motorist who is raped and killed after breaking down on a remote country road, a teenager who suffers the same fate after stopping by the nutters place of work to pump up the tyres on her bicycle (this scene is particularly sleazy given the girl's tender age), and Allen's unfortunate hitch-hiker, who is briefly seen stripped and bound in a flashback.

The final assault on Nancy in her own home is a long, drawn out affair that borders on tedium, and which ends in a ridiculous manner, the killer practically handing his last victim a massive carving knife (which amusingly turns into a smaller joke-shop knife with a retractable blade while she is stabbing him).