The Taking of Christina

When a beautiful young woman is kidnapped and raped by two robbers, she seduces them so they will let their guard down. This is a very sexy film, although it may be hard for some to watch. The rape is graphic and brutal, but is a definite turn on

Director Armand Weston followed up his groundbreaking (THE) DEFIANCE (OF GOOD) with this no less impressive rape 'n' revenge flick, also co-written (or "conceived" as the slightly pretentious opening credit would have it) and produced by performer Jason Russell. For the record, his wife Tina – one of the earliest genre superstars - was responsible for editing and make-up. Neither one appears on screen on this occasion yet they had been the stars of Weston's maiden effort PERSONALS from 1972. Though Christina would seem to adhere to a certain exploitation sub-genre centering on violation and subsequent retribution, Weston and Russell cleverly subvert audience expectations at every turn, creating a work as compellingly singular as their previous collaboration.

An opening title card informs that the movie we're about to witness was inspired by true events taking place in the state of California on the first three days of October 1974. Titular Christina (lovely brunette Bree Anthony, star of Lloyd Kaufman's DIVINE OBSESSION, in a career-best performance) is the virginal bride to be of handsome if growing somewhat impatient Larry (Jack Thompson, looking rather like current mainstream actor Paul Rudd) whose ardor she is quick to dampen at the heavy petting stage. Unbeknownst to the happy couple, a pair of petty thugs are knocking over a gas station nearby, loose cannon Frank (a pre-Dan McCord Roger Caine billed under his real name Al Levitsky) accidentally icing the elderly attendant (Daniel Fitzgerald) in the process. Making a run for it with his more levelheaded partner Sonny (Eric Edwards, whose amazing career on both sides of the cameras extends to this very day), the pair wind up at a sleazy bar where good-natured prostitute Mary Jo (Terri Hall, star of Gerard Damiano's STORY OF JOANNA) tried to chat up blue-balls Larry just moments before. She and gal pal Louise (C.J. Laing for once not cast as a victim) hook up with the bad guys, resulting in some truly excellent three-way action (with Laing doing her deep throat specialty) once the too intense Frank angrily backs out. The latter apparently doesn't like to pay for what he assumes he can get for free anyway. So sweet innocent Christina, waiting for her boyfriend outside the movie theater where she works, is abducted for this particular purpose. Dragged off to the house they've broken into (with its rightful owners conveniently absent), Christina's brutally (if non-explicitly) abused by nasty Frank who rushes out for booze right after. Leaving the girl tied to the bed, Sonny proceeds to clean her up and gently perform cunnilingus before penetrating her as well. Though shot like a love scene (with soft lighting and romantic guitar music), this still amounts to rape given the non-consensual circumstances. To further confuse the audience, this sequence is cross-cut with an equally tender encounter between Larry (who thinks he has been stood up) and Mary Jo. Following her ordeal, Christina appears to have a change of heart as she comes on to her captors, urging them to take her along. Has the girl got a major case of Stockholm syndrome all of a sudden ? Is she trying to escape by putting the two men up against each other ? See and find out.

Professionally shot by the pseudonymous but hardworking "Harry Flecks" (actually Joao Fernandez, who incidentally shot most of Damiano's classics as well as the cult favorite THROUGH THE LOOKING GLASS), this looks as good as any Hollywood indie production of the period. What really sets it apart though is the remarkably thoughtful screenplay offering rare opportunities for in-depth characterization to a talented cast. Anthony, who'd been mauled by villain extraordinaire Jamie Gillis only the previous year in Claude Goddard's WINTER HEAT, moves from vacuous virgin to scheming angel of vengeance with utter credibility. Levitsky and Edwards make for a contrasting pair of hoodlums, the latter providing a neatly subversive twist on his usually being cast as Mr. Sensitivity. Most surprising to me is Terri Hall's sympathetic turn as the kind and classy lady of the night, a part that could easily have taken a turn to Cliché City. A trivia in-joke occurs when her character tantalizingly strips for Larry and he remarks on how well she moves and asks if she's a dancer. Though she smiles and denies this, in real life Hall had of course been a member of the Stuttgart ballet. After DEFIANCE and Christina, Weston pretty much abandoned this type of edgy, risk-taking material. Unsurprisingly, this led to an amount of (postponed) mainstream acceptance with admittedly exceptional films like EXPOSE ME, LOVELY (1976) and, of course, TAKE OFF (1978), both of which are now regarded as prime examples of the genre at its finest.

This rape-sex flick from the director Weston is a trashy movie with no erotic value, none what so ever. Even the fans of S & M will be very disappointed with the silly scenes of subjugation. 3/10. 3 because the lead playing Christina is cute.

A virginal girl who still believes in sex after marriage is kidnapped by two vicious thugs.She is repeatedly raped and sodomized by her kidnappers until she takes a shotgun and kills them violently.Inject also arousing threesome with two hookers and lengthy masturbation scene and you have a winner."The Taking of Christina" by Armand Weston takes no prisoners.The rape scene is ugly and uncompromising and the climax is perfectly executed and bloody.The characters are actually quite well-developed and the plot is as politically incorrect as they get.One of the roughest porno/rape and revenge flicks I have ever seen.Watch it in pair with "I Spit on Your Grave" and be enthralled.8 rapists out of 10.

At the start of this film, we are told that the events depicted within are based on actual events that happened in California...and then we're told that any resemblance to actual events is purely coincidental! However, that's not indicative of the quality of the film - as despite the fact that seventies cinema is overpopulated by these rape/revenge flicks, this one is better than a lot of them as it delivers a fairly interesting story with some faintly fleshed out characters, and it's all wrapped up in an unusually think layer of SLEAZE. The title suggests that the film focuses on a girl called Christina; but this isn't actually the case, as the central characters are Frank and Sonny - a couple of ex-convicts who parade around in their car looking for money and whores. Christina's story is loosely implemented into the film towards the beginning, but she doesn't feature in an important way until it's nearly the end. First, we get to find out what kind of men Frank and Sonny are; before they kidnap and rape Christina.

I do like a good, gritty seventies exploitation thriller, but I usually don't expect much more than bare bones from them. This one delivers a little more as the three central characters actually have some character. The acting is typically rubbish, with all the performers giving performances typical of this sort of cheapo exploit movie. Both Roger Caine and Eric Edwards have plenty of pornography credits to the names, as does 'Christina' Bree Anthony, who reminds me a bit of a seventies version of Seduction Cinema's Misty Mundae with her cute, yet seductive look. It's not exactly difficult to guess where the plot is going if you've seen more than one of these films before; but despite this, the film remains interesting mainly because of the characters and the director's keenness to implement as much sleaze as possible. There isn't a great deal of sex in this film (compared to others in the genre), but what there is rough enough to make an impact, and the fact that it doesn't overtake the entire film is definitely a positive element. Overall, this might not do much for your average movie fan - but fans of seventies exploitation will want to check it out.