Nuda vendetta

This is not an easy movie to watch. There is so much unnecessary violence. And I don't mean the one dished out as part of the vengeance/revenge part that takes place in the later part of the movie. No I mean the violence you (and the main character of course) have to endure to get to the release - to the resolution we may seek for.

I do not read what movies are about, but I guess the title was quite the giveaway. Still the moment that might make you cringe the most is really quite vividly displayed. Not easy to stomach to say the least. On the other hand, it does dish out quite the vivid revenge too. As the german title for Death Wish would say: A woman sees red (no pun intended).

Not sure if you would call this women empowerment - I'll leave that up to you. Espcially because something horrible (actually a lot of not just one moment) has to happen for the woman to take justice into her own hand. But this is a movie and overall well made - you just have to know if this is even something you want to see.

"Naked Vengeance" while an entertaining flick, is really just an artless and brainless ripoff of the MUCH superior "I Spit On Your Grave," a groundbreaking film that managed to be aesthetically beautiful in all it's ugliness. This retread, with it's tacky 80s soundtrack and filming style is basically throwaway entertainment. It's filled with impossibly dumb characters and an even dumber police force, making the events that unfold seem ridiculous. Now if this movie was the first of it's kind then it might be something special, but by 1985, audiences had seen this exact scenario played out many times before, in more competent films. I did give it an extra star for the ending that culminates on New York City's famed 42nd Street. That was a nice touch. Unfortunately "Naked Vengeance" is average at best..

My review was written in May 1986 after watching the movie on Lightning video cassette.

"Naked Vengeance", alternately titled "Satin Vengeance", is a routine exploitation film, nicely ated but strictly to formula. Feature has gone directly to the home video market, with theatrical release still upcoming.

Deborah Tranelli toplines as Carla Harris, a former actress whose husband is killed on their fifth wedding anniversary when he tries to prevent a woman from being assaulted in a parking lot.

She goes to stay with her parents in Silver Lake, California, where she grew up. Virtually all the men there, including since-married old high school classmates, hit on her for a date with her increasingly uptight rebuffs angering them. Getting drunk one night, a bunch of the guys decide to visit her parents' home (where Carla has been left alone for the weekend) and get her.

Ensuing gang-rape scene is violent and graphically simulated, with Carla's parents killed by the thugs when they arrive home early. A young handyman Timmy (Steve Roderick) also is shot to death when he threatens to go to the police.

In an unconvincing plot gimmick, Carla is left for dead (though she wasn't shot) and she recovers in a hospital. There follows the genre's standard female on the warpath payoff, including some unnecessarily ultraviolent scene such as a castration and an exploding head effect.

A stupid ending has Carla popping up in New York to unbelievably find and kill the murderer of her husband after she runs out of rapists to wipe out.

Story has been filmed many times before, notably in Meir Zarchi's 1978 opus "I Spit on Your Grave". Filipino director Ciro H. Santiago directs competently, with a solid performance by Tranelli keeping the picture watchable.

As with several other recent features from Roger Corman's Concorde Pictures banner such as "Streetwalkin'" and "Barbarian Queen", film is being released on video cassette in both R-rated and unrated versions as a comeon to gullible fans. Ultimately, such a practice will sabotage the theatrical release, since the target audience will want to see the entire film, not the truncated R-rated theatrical edition.

Carla Harris really is having the worst couple of days of her life. It's her anniversary and she and her husband go out for a meal that ends in her husbands death by shooting. To help get over the death of Mr Harris she goes to stay with her parents. Unfortunately her parents live in a town where every man is destined to turn into a horny dog upon seeing women called Carla Harris. One quite brutal gang rape and a parent slaying later Carla Harris is out for revenge.

I enjoyed this film. The acting's not brilliant and maybe it borrows a little too much from 'I spit on your grave' including that movies most famous scene. This film tells a similar story to that movie but it's a little more classy in it's execution. I felt myself get drawn into the movie willing Widow Harris to exact her revenge.

The only downside for me was the overuse of the horrible theme song. If you like revenge movies this is definitely worthy of your attention as it's one of the better ones.

The plot is great as well as the presentation of it. I could not believe the rape scene to be anything but REAL. The movie as a whole is really worth viewing and is really enjoyable with all the suspense and tension in it. I think it is a classic, and you will never forget it. Actually, I viewed it for the first time in the cinema, and I find myself looking for it on the internet 15 yrs later. I could not find it yet, but i will continue my digging. In the mean time, I encourage anyone who have a copy to make it available for others as I hate to see such a great movie be forgotten. Deborah Tarnelli was really great on this film and I think this movie had contributed a lot to her later success.