As Vítimas

Greetings And Salutations, and welcome to my review of Victims; here's the breakdown of my ratings:

Story: 1.75 Direction: 1.25 Pace: 1.50 Acting: 1.50 Enjoyment: 1.50

TOTAL: 7.50 out of 10.00

For a TV movie from the 80s, Victims sure packs a punch. As the film began, I realised I was watching a TV movie, and my heart dropped a little. However, as it progressed, I started to appreciate the depth and scope of the story and the talent of the performers - I'd become entangled in the film before the first quarter had finished.

The story tells of a multiple rapist whom the police have finally captured. They bring in all the victims willing to come forward for an identity parade. Sadly, due to a fubar at police headquarters, they are all assembled in one room. And, people being people, they begin to chat. It soon dawns on all the women that they're there for the same reason. At the hearing, this unfortunate assembly of victims comes to light, and the case against the molester is automatically discarded due to possible collusion. This decision infuriates the woman, and they form a cabal to keep an eye on the offender since the police can no longer pursue him until he commits another violation. What makes the narrative so powerful are the characterisations of the victims. You have a complete gamut of emotions and beliefs. The writers William Wood and Conrad Bromberg cover every conceivable array and combination. You have Ruth Hession, the driving force behind the group. She's tough, scared, and motivated. She doesn't want another to go through what she did. Chloe Brill is not as hard and appears less afraid but is just as determined. Nellie Ramirez is a Mexican mother and grandmother who looks at the entire violation as an embarrassment and another hardship with which to live. And there are many more. These women's beliefs and attitudes provoke the thought, what would you do in such a dire and depressing situation? And that immerses the viewer into the story. Another plus for the writers is their resolution not to hold anything back. The rapist is a broken man who mistreats the women in cruel and vicious ways. Not only breaking their body but tearing away at their very sanity. This film should chill you to the bone. But the coup de grace is the all-too-true ending.

Director Jerrold Freeman delivers your standard TV movie cinematography. There's nothing too special in his approach. However, that is a good thing for this type of story. Not getting too flashy allows the tale to be told more realistically and makes the movie more powerful, especially when the bruises show. Less is more. The pacing is at a stroll for most of the picture, but it accelerates and slows at the right moments. For example, the flashbacks of the attacks come quick and jerky. Freeman also shows them from a blurred perspective, displaying the victims' confusion. As we advance through the narrative, the flashbacks get longer and appear more distinct but still a tad fuzzy. It's a simple technique, but it works brilliantly.

The cast is superb. Victims possess one of the strongest female casts I've had the pleasure to watch. Every one of the actresses is outstanding in their portrayals. There are no small parts, and there's a heartfelt ambience to their depictions.

I highly recommend finding a copy of Victims - try YouTube - it's well worth your time. It's a shocking, entertaining, and thought-provoking picture: And one that should move you. It did me.

Now, tell me that you love me. Come on, say it. Louder, I didn't hear you. Good, now check out my IMDb lists - The Game Is Afoot, Chiller Thriller Killers, and Dramatization Of Life to see where I ranked Victims.

Take Care & Stay Well.

I was on the edge of my seat through this movie. Phil Austin, who plays a gun salesman had a small roll but as they say "No small rolls only small actors." He does a great job setting up the whole plot and raising the level for those viewing. I would watch it again just to watch Phil. Most movies they put on television cause me to flick through the channels, you know surf through but when I hit this movie it took me by the collar and sat me in my seat then held my attention. Like a Shadow Parker book, the whole movie takes you on a ride and doesn't let you out until the ride is over. The director does a good job and would seek out more of his work.

Conrad Bromberg wrote this teleplay from a treatment by himself and William Wood involving Howard Hesseman as a perfectly despicable rapist, one who avoids doing time in the jug due to one of those convenient legal loopholes. His female victims won't stand for it, of course, and ban together to fight fire with fire. Interesting, if by-now familiar scenario, bolstered by good performances from Kate Nelligan and Hesseman, no-nonsense direction from Jerrold Freedman. Nelligan always lends an air of urgent believability to her characters, and the actress is splendid when she gets her ire up. Hesseman, a comfortable television icon from his days at "WKRP", does a complete about-face here, portraying the sexual assailant with slovenly, slobbering fierceness. Taut drama is pretty straightforward for network TV, and does not shy away from the touchy subject matter at hand.

Kate Nelligan is Ruth Hession, a woman raped by Charles Galloway (Howard Hesseman), who feels an injustice is done when the case against him for multiple rapes, is dismissed because of collusion and tainted identification. Ruth stalks Galloway to seek revenge. Nelligan brings her intelligence and cool elegance to Ruth, and gives her a nervous laugh when she is waiting with the other victims for a police lineup. Her best scene is perhaps a medium shot against a wall where she explains why a psychiatrist can't help her, though the climactic slow motion view of Nelligan as she turns to shoot Galloway is unflattering.

The teleplay by William Wood and Conrad Bromberg locates Galloway living next to a steel mill, which is an amusing analogy. The flashbacks to Ruth's rape has him ranting against women's control, in particular his mother, and we see that his home features a photograph of Galloway resumably as a child with his mother who looks flamboyantly trampy. Galloway's choice of wife as someone who barely speaks English doesn't add any depth to our understanding of him. The treatment prefigures William Mastrosimone's play Extremities, particulary in Ruth's confrontation with Galloway, in an effort to humiliate him the way he did to her. There is also an unexpected laugh line when Nelligan is on Galloway surveillance - "What really gets me is that he's probably got neighbours who think he's a nice guy". Director Jerrold Freedman's use of the music score by Lalo Schifrin is acceptable for the thriller genre, and he presents the rape flashbacks with a dreamy soft-porn vaseline lens and subjective camera. These extended scenes certainly make the viewer uncomfortable and de-eroticise the act. Freedman has Galloway lead Nelligan to phallic drilling machinery and the editing of their movement to Nelligan's look of loss creates suspense, with Galloway's silhouette appearance making a gothic impression, and de-camping his security guard outfit. Amy Madigan has a small role as another woman raped by Galloway, but has little chance to shine.