L'esecuzione... una storia vera

"Rape Squad" is a really bad movie; plain and simple. I only wanted to watch this movie because I am a BIG fan of actress Lada Edmund Jr., but even she did next to nothing to perk-up this movie for me.

I agree with other comments made, that this movie is disturbing in many ways. Although the dialogue is hokey and atrocious, the rape scenes just seem too realistic and unsettling at times. When the menacing Foul-Mouth attacks his victims, he tortures them by making them sing "Jingle-Bells" while he rapes them. The idea of that alone is horrifying to consider. He brutalizes the women too, with many vicious punches during his attack. To be honest, I fast-forwarded through some of these scenes, because I had no desire to watch them.

But as for the acting ability and skills used in "Rape Squad", they are really quite pitiful. The dialogue is annoying and foolish often times. Not that she's a terrific actress, but even my favorite Lada Edmund Jr. had some of the WORST lines in this movie. I mean c'mon, she plays a 5'4 martial-arts instructor named "Tiny", with super-short cropped hair; I guess bad lines are to be expected. Although she's a favorite actress of mine, she only added to the obsurdity of this film.

Truthfully, I cannot give anyone good enough reason to watch "Rape Squad". The rape scenes are too much to stomach for most people, and would possibly make you push the "fast-forward" button too. Take-out the rape scenes though, and you're left with one of the most terribly directed and acted movies out there. My advice: don't watch this movie if you can help it. You won't be in right mind-set for a few weeks afterwards.

This film is most notorious for the portrayal of its rapist. He wears a janitor-like jumpsuit like Michael Meyers in Halloween (except it's bright orange) and wears a hockey mask like Jason in Friday the 13th 3-9. Did this nasty little flick influence both of those horror classics? The most bizarre part is that the rapist makes his victims sing Jingle Bells as they are raped. The actresses play their parts well considering the material, but I would have preferred to see more scenes of the women turning the table on male scum like when they beat up a pimp. Not recommended for first dates.

After being brutally beaten and raped one night by a mysterious man wearing a hockey mask "Linda" (Jo Ann Harris) learn that there have been four other women who have had to endure the same kind of treatment by this same person. He then rapes another woman named "Karen" (Lisa Moore) not long afterward. Much to their surprise they soon come to the realization that the limited information they can give to the local police is insufficient to identify their assailant--let alone allow law enforcement to make an arrest. So with few other options left to them they decide to form a "rape squad" in an effort to build awareness of this issue. At the same time, they also secretly decide to aggressively pursue and punish those who have committed these vicious acts but have somehow managed to escape conviction. Unfortunately, while they all of this is taking place they soon discover that the lunatic responsible has not only continued his acts of depravity but subsequently kills one of his victims in the process. Now rather than reveal any more I will just say that this was an okay film for the most part which suffers somewhat from the rather dated script and weak acting. It does, however, benefit from the presence of some cute actresses--in particular Connie Strickland (as "Teresa") and the aforementioned Jo Ann Harris. Again, while not exactly a blockbuster by any means, the movie itself wasn't that bad overall and for that reason I have rated it accordingly. Average.

With a totally clueless police force unable to catch a serial rapist, five victims decide on a vigilante solution. Their "rape squad" takes on the hockey masked perpetrator and any other men behaving badly. All the men in "Act of Vengeance" are portrayed as insensitive creeps, including cops, hustlers, pimps, and even boyfriends. While the middle part of the film deals with these various male annoyances, the conclusion in an abandoned zoo, is totally about the "jingle bell rapist". The films greatest weakness, besides some marginal acting, is that very little is revealed about the orange clad hockey man. In the end however, it is what it is, an above average female revenge flick. - MERK

When Linda (Jo Ann Harris) is beaten and raped by a jumpsuit-wearing, goalie-masked maniac (Hmmm, this villain seems familiar somehow), she goes to the police only to be further humiliated and infuriated.

If Linda hasn't suffered enough, her idiot boyfriend proves just how little he understands or cares about her situation.

Meanwhile, the rapist strikes again, along with his odd signature of forcing his victims to sing Jingle Bells (!!) during the attack.

Eventually, Linda's had enough. She gathers the other victims together and forms the group implied by the title. They set out to "take out the trash". With some recently-learned karate skills, Linda and company cause great bodily harm and massive property damage.

Oh no!

Goalie mask man is back, and he's not happy!

ACT OF VENGEANCE (RAPE SQUAD) is an average 1970's exploitation / thriller custom made for the drive-in crowd of its day.

BEST SCENE: Linda and her squad unleash their karate on a local pimp. Hilarious!...