Forced Entry

This notorious early roughie, though credited to one "Helmuth Richler", was indeed directed by our old friend Shaun Costello (aka Russ Carlson and at least half a dozen more noms de porn) who adopted this one time only (?) pseudonym on both sides of the camera. Though the long sideburns and tinted glasses prove distracting, his voice should be instantly recognizable to those familiar with his later quickies. He plays the character of David, boyfriend of the first victim (Jutta David, also in Danny Stone's 1973 cult fave HIGH RISE) and the only male performer except for Harry Reems who plays the deranged anti-hero Joe. Make that VERY anti, by the way !

A pre-credit newspaper article commenting on the syndrome commonly suffered by shell-shocked Vietnam veterans unable to re-adapt to everyday life after the war and therefore susceptible to battling imaginary enemies lends an air of seriousness if not quite respectability to the sordid saga viewers are about to endure. Haunted by B&W newsreel footage with a heavy predilection towards mangled corpses and various forms of disfigurement, gas station attendant Joe (who's never referred to by name but he runs a place called "Joe's Friendly Service") spouts his interminable interior monologue about how much he hates women in general and the uppity, sexually liberated ones in their big cars stopping by for gas or directions in particular. Getting their address from their credit cards, he stalks and spies on his victims before submitting them to his pent-up rage, ending in bloody murder. Joe's misogyny seems to stem from his being ambushed by female soldiers in 'Nam (or so the stock footage would have us believe) and perhaps symbolically none of the women in this movie are given character names, signifying that to him they're less than human. His MO consists of bursting into the woman's apartment, demanding oral gratification at gun or knife point and then berating them for not being any good at it ("I'm not enjoying this one bit"), thereby justifying their subsequent "punishment".

Victim # 2 is played by top-billed Laura Cannon, described by her male co-star in his 1975 autobiography (wittily entitled HERE COMES HARRY REEMS !) as a snooty Jewish American princess with a predilection for anal intercourse who had her heart set on adult movie super-stardom. Though she got off to a strong start with this one and the previous year's popular sex & horror combo DARK DREAMS, she would rapidly disappear from view. Porn fans expecting to get a thrill from the lady's extensive back-door activity here should be forewarned that the scene is in no way played for turn-on value, fortunately given the circumstances. It's rape all the way to the girl's gruesome demise. A couple of spaced out hippie chicks (Ruby Runhouse & Nina Fawcett) unwittingly turn the tables on Joe as he rudely interrupts their blissful lesbo love fest. High on sex and various mind-blowing substances, the women burst into laughter at the guy's sadistic taunts and willingly offer him their bountiful bodies. The girls' compliance proves to be too much for Joe and, rather than submit to their sexual assault, he turns the gun on himself.

Convincingly grimy in every single frame, this flick makes for a harrowing experience which must've rattled adult audiences' cages back when this played theatrically. It's hard to imagine anyone getting aroused over the unflinchingly depicted violations and even the bookend consensual encounters (the Jutta David-Shaun Costello scene and the lesbian number) are bereft of their erotic potential by constantly cutting back and forth to Reems spying on them. Such stark denouncement of the turn-on, crucial to the genre, may either seem like the makers shooting themselves in the foot by turning their backs on the entire raison d'être of pornography or an actual attempt to make viewers think about the correlation between cinematic sex and violence and the inherent danger thereof. Was this a film ahead of its time then ? Could be.

The biggest surprise remains leading man Harry Reems however. Billed as "Tim Long" (a pseudonym he frequently used before DEEP THROAT made him familiar even to those who would never have set foot inside a porno palace), he makes for an all too convincing madman in the Jamie Gillis mode. He would of course become best known for his many goofy, inoffensive turns that followed in the wake of THROAT's zany doctor character, making his menacing performance here all the more impressive. By his own admission, FORCED ENTRY was the one movie he regretted doing, apparently having signed on before reading a script. His reticence barely shows through. You may hate both this film and its main character, but you're not bloody likely to forget either. Ever !

This is porno for people who hate themselves for liking porno.

The hardcore rapes basically left nothing to the imagination, like a more mainstream film would have. Even without the hardcore scenes, and even if it had 'name' actors, it would still be considered for mature audiences only. That is, if the Christian right didn't get it banned first.

Harry Reems was a better actor than you think. He just preferred doing films where he could 'do' the actresses.

Parts of this remind me of 'I Spit On Your Grave' or Joe Spinell's 'Maniac.' No violent revenge here however. But the psychological attacks, both in the film and on the viewer, were HEAVY.

It will be hard to watch, but watchable it is. Just be prepared.

Forced Entry has quite a reputation for being an extremely nasty shocker, and indeed; the reputation isn't unfounded as Shaun Costello's film doesn't hold back and the rape scenes are as gritty as the film's production values. The film makes rape its primary topic, and does this through the story of a disgruntled Vietnam veteran who makes it his business to slice and dice his way through various women in the city. The tagline proclaims 'He was taught to kill. Rape was his own idea!', which gives you an idea of the sort of things this film is preaching. There's a message about the horrors of war buried deep under the rape and torture sequences, and this comes to light by way of director Shaun Costello cutting the rape scenes with various images from the Vietnam conflict. We never really get to know exactly why the killer (hell, we don't even know his name!) has decided to take his anger out on the female population, but the way that the female cast is presented doesn't leave much to the imagination, and it's not hard to see why, as the tagline says, he got the idea to start raping them...

Forced Entry was shot on an extremely low budget, and indeed the picture quality isn't exactly good. However, like so many of these films; this really does do the overall piece a big favour as the sleazy atmosphere is made all the more gritty thanks the to dirty cinematography. The lead role is taken by prolific porn star Harry Reems, who went on to make The Devil in Miss Jones and the sleazy Giallo 'So Sweet, So Dead' not long after this film. Reems' performance isn't exactly stunning, but he certainly gives his 'character' believability and a good atmosphere as he stalks, rapes and humiliates his victims. As you would expect, there is a lot of sex in this movie and it's all very down and dirty, but cold thanks to the way that it's filmed. I suppose it's to the director's credit that the sex scenes ardent erotic considering the context and this also serves in making the film all the more shocking as it merely shows the sex without much reasoning behind it. Overall, Forced Entry certainly wont be to everyone's tastes; but if's dirty sex films you're after, this is a must see.

This has to be one of the most brutal films I have seen , regardless of the more well know films along this theme (House by the Edge of The Park , Last House on the Left) , "Forced Entry" by its low production values , obtuse direction that is meant to leave you wondering what the hell went on , and the most bizzare inclusion of hardcore scenes , that were the most unplesant I have seen in years. It stuck out as a little know and heavily derided work. I dont think it could be classed as a "Adult Film" (as in pornography) because you would have to be one sick individual to get aroused watching this. That is where a lot of the contraversy comes from , and I was amazed that it was included in the film , and it would have been better without the hardcore rape scenes. We get the idea of what is going on , but having 8 mins of him forcing a woman to give him oral sex and then cutting her throat (and we do get to see the money shot) , had dubious overtones. But then again the subject matter is not one that should be glossed over , rape is an evil crime and I have never seen it put across so well , if brutally as in this film. So I was in two minds about it, I did like and and thought that it went to places that film makers are rarely brave enough to go , but then on the other hand I could see people taking it the wrong way. But you should make up your own mind and see it .

Forced Entry comes these days with some weight of historical significance, above and beyond its own content. One of the earlier of "Vietnam vet goes crazy" flicks (though I recall Oddo and maybe others came first this was among the first to make a big impression) as well as being the film that really "broke" the 70's roughie genre (yes, I know Sex Psycho was first), its worth a watch on grounds of importance alone. But is it a good film in its own right? Well, yes and no. The best thing about it is its sheer grime. Crude, repetitive and utterly devoid of social merit the very sight of it slathers moist and grim across the eyes, by the end one watches the film as if through some sheen of noisome condensation. Speaking of noisome sheens, at one point the hero of this one spunks direct to the camera lens, always a sign of taste and class. Our hero, while we're on the subject is rather nicely portrayed by Harry Reems, he isn't as frightening as the role calls for but is finely compelling in a swarthy, intensely seedy kinda way, and makes good use of his lewd and hateful dialogue. The various rape scenes are suitably mean spirited, though I must say they could have been a lot rougher for my tastes, or hotter. By and large I'm of the opinion that cinematic rape should either be savagely violent, cruelly eroticised or both, but here they consist of pretty generic non consensual in out in out action, the dialogue makes them quite fun but there's little energy or style to hand and watching long close ups of a guys pounding member or bouncing nut-sac gets kinda dull after a while. Still, the important thing is that they're there, even though I wasn't that personally impressed the sheer affront to most peoples taste still makes it a winner to me. After all, most people suck (and not in the good way). The Vietnam connexion is fun as well, our crazy veteran suffers from constant flashbacks without rhyme or reason, the editing serving to almost promote a sense of hunted horror, it adds an interesting flavour to the mix and is particularly amusing at one point in which the film cuts from jism pooling topside of a broads buttcrack to dead Vietnamese children and back again. Actually this could be seen as a meaningful juxtaposition of of wasted lives but I laughed instead. I did wonder about the realism though. Why would a disturbed veteran, tormented by memory, oppressed by enemies even in peace, go out on a rape spree as opposed to just a general killing spree? If he saw enemies everywhere, why would he only search out chicks to kill? I could understand if the chicks were really hot or aggressive or something but for the most part they're just kinda rogue. He does hate hippies (doesn't everyone?) but I'm still not sure that excuses his single-mindedness. I guess this film is probably smarter than me, which isn't too much of a surprise. Anyhoo, this isn't a great film by any stretch but its still a must see for sleazoids. So if you haven't yet, you know, go track it down sucker.