Revenge

This was originally called simply "Revenge" but the title was probably changed to avoid confusing it with other films so named, including an American film released the same year.

There is nothing American about this tale of revenge though, rather this is a typical low budget English drama that was quite common in especially the 1960s, albeit with a slightly unusual theme.

The principal characters are the loved ones of a young girl who has been murdered by a sexual predator, a local man believed to be responsible for at least one similar crime. The film begins with this man being released from police custody, apparently against the weight of the evidence.

Obviously this does not go down too well, so our misguided heroes follow him and their brief, distant interaction convinces them he is indeed the killer, so they decide to kidnap him and beat a confession out of him. What could go wrong?

A lot of things, naturally, and there is not one but two twists in the tale. One warning though - don't try this at home Or anywhere else.

Joan Collins stars in this well-crafted British suspense-drama about a grieving family who take the law into their own hands and seek revenge on the man who raped and murdered their young daughter. Sidney Hayers' direction is smooth, the cast(particularly Collins and James Booth) is terrific, and there are some effective shock and suspense sequences, but it's all been done before, and it's pretty dreary and unpleasant stuff.

After the funeral of their young daughter, the family learns that the man who was suspected for rape and murder is let go because of the lack of evidence. The father, along with his older son and friend whose daughter was also killed by the same man devise a plan to kidnap and hopefully get the confession out of him. However things turn bad, when one slip after another leads to them turning on each other and having second thoughts that maybe they've got the wrong man.

There's potential there, but the compact, stiff script doesn't really tap into it enough and leaves plenty of the looming heavy-handed themes high and dry. Emotionally the film makes a huge dent, but more so in a bleakly intense and serious tone. The film itself is pretty fundamental and scandalously melodramatic as it rears it ugly head into brusque crudeness. Watching the characters lose control of the situation, and going on to tear each other apart as the misguided kidnapping triggers a disastrous domino effect is strangely gripping and at times rather uneasy. One interesting moment sees an unusual state of sexual tension between two characters, which has you thinking, was there something there before it erupted. Maybe it goes too over-the-top, and in doing so loses some creditability. Sidney Hayers' direction is efficiently workman-like, with little in the way of style, but he manages to draw up a tautly knitted atmosphere and milks out a few ample shocks. The violence and sexual context might not be explicit, but it's gritty and in what matters effective. Ken Hodges' sturdy camera-work is intrusively lensed and Eric Rogers' miss-guided musical score comes off daftly staged. The performances fall into the overacting category, but come off committed. Joan Collins who's no stranger to that tag, is gracefully fine and gives it her all. An edgy James Booth scorns about, and delivers a serviceable job with a complicated character trying to overcome his anger, which eventuates to guilt. Ray Barrett, Tom Marshall, Kenneth Griffith and the gorgeously rich Sinéad Cusack also star with tolerable turns.

There's flaws, but it's decently done to make it a passable cliff-hanger thriller.

Surprisingly, upon watching this, I found that I had never seen it before and that it was most enjoyable, if a little distasteful. The locations, shops and house and pub interiors are most evocative and if some are sets they are very good ones. Joan Collins is also surprisingly good but then she really only has to play at being a barmaid. Gripping from the start, this is a really well paced and intelligently told thriller. Things lurch a little two thirds in but by then we have bought into the rather lurid tale and it was always going to leave something of a bad taste anyway, with little girls being taken on their way to school, so what harm a little incest along the way. Just as the film seems to be loosing pace we have a surprisingly and confrontational ending that leaves you wondering just who the intended audience was for this. Well worth a watch for the open minded.

Revenge goes by a lot of names, After Jenny Died, Behind the Cellar Door, Inn of the Frightened People and Terror from Under the House.

Starring Joan Collins and James Booth this neat little thriller really impressed me.

It tells the story of a young girl who is kidnapped, raped and murdered. Her father along with son and best friend conspire to murder him in an act of revenge but things don't go entirely to plan.

Wonderfully written, this tense thriller may go in a couple of silly needless directions but get's to the point and thoroughly delivers including a fantastic finale.

With a title like Inn of the Frightened People I assumed I was in for a dumb horror, instead Revenge is a a great little thriller that I would solidly recommend.

The Good:

Well written

Great ending

The Bad:

A couple of needless additions to the plot

Some parts stretch the imagination a tad

Things I Learnt From This Movie:

Small village pubs have rotating lamps

This movie almost made me want to work in a pub