Exposé

Writer Paul Martin (Udo Kier) is holed up in his house (on Straw Hill) and needs an assistant to type his dictation. So he hires Linda Hindstatt (Linda Hayden), who seems pleasant enough. But Linda is a strange character, and her motives might not be as legit as they seem.

I really enjoyed this film, and I want to make that clear up front. It wasn't a fantastic horror story, the plot wasn't very strong and it wasn't even that thrilling. But it's purpose was never any of these things: it was exploitation, and I think the writer/director did a marvelous job in achieving this kind of production.

There's dirty sex (including latex gloves for some unexplained reason), plenty of nudity, females who enjoy their own bodies, a scene that may or may not be rape (the victim doesn't seem to mind). I don't know if this is art, but it made for a film that can hold your attention.

The tone is somewhat darker than your average film, but not too dark. The copy I watched came on a videotape with a preview for "The Stuff". After that, I was thinking this might be a rather cheesy or b-grade film, but that is not at all so (although some of the blood has an unusual orange tint).

The theme shouldn't be new to anyone who's seen plenty of movies. The "writer in solitude" theme is pretty standard -- "The Shining", "Misery", "Secret Window" all instantly come to mind (and those are just King films). There are two additional characters -- harassers and possible rapists -- who really add a new flavor to the piece. Their motives are unclear and they are so one-dimensional that it seems they've come from a comic book. One of them is wearing a shirt that seems to say "I am a vampire" (though I couldn't make it out clearly).

This is a good movie if you crave some exploitation. Don't expect an amazing plot, and don't try to impress your girlfriend with it (unless she's really odd). There seems to be some clamor online calling for a nice DVD transfer of the film, and I support them on that. I would happily own the DVD of "House on Straw Hill" (as my copy is titled). Kier's finest since "Mark of the Devil".

Sleazy and sordid little British melodrama does have a following, and it's easy to see why. It's an erotically charged film with enough atmosphere, mood...not to mention lots of nudity and sex...to make it pleasing to watch if the potential viewer likes their sleaze. It does feel padded, even at a mere 84 minutes, but it's still quite amusing and has some very memorable sequences.

Star Udo Kier certainly gives it his all. Even when dubbed by another actor, as he is here, he's fun and interesting as always. He plays Paul Martin, a hotshot yet unstable author who lives in seclusion and who's having trouble getting through his latest work. So what he does is hire a typist, Linda (delectable Linda Hayden of "Blood on Satan's Claw" fame), to assist him. But the seductive young woman only makes things worse, even coming on to Pauls' posh lady friend Suzanne (softcore icon Fiona Richmond) as part of the deal.

Any fan of this film would be advised to purchase the Blu-ray & DVD combo pack from the Severin company as it shows the film in its entirety, including scenes of Hayden pleasuring herself, both in bed and in a field. Hayden and Richmond show off the goods to great effect, and Hayden delivers a pretty good performance in the bargain. In one scene, Pauls' discovery of Lindas' private possessions is intercut with scenes of her being raped by two local creeps, one of them played by the legendary stuntman Vic Armstrong. Things are further spiced up with some bloody mayhem. It's not hard to see why this would have been labelled a "Video Nasty".

There's not a whole lot of story here, in the screenplay written by director James Kenelm Clarke, but it does have a decent revelation in the end as to Lindas' motivation.

Very sexy stuff, overall.

Eight out of 10.

Before conducting any research I automatically assumed this film would be a blatant rip-off of the contemporary popular Rape & Revenge exploitation movies. Especially considering the alternate and much more savory-sounding title "House on Straw Hill", I honestly thought it would be a cheap and even sleazier rehash of both "Last House on the Left" and "Straw Dogs". Wrong …though not entirely! Basically, this IS some sort of sex and revenge movie, but not one that is playing in the same type of 70's league. "Exposé" is a more stylish, psychological and ambitious variant on the retaliation-theme, with a slow atmospheric building up and a lot of attention given to decors, locations and choreography. Makes sense, actually, as this is a prominent British production with a decent budget and proper cast including cult B-movie legend Udo Kier ("Flesh for Frankenstein", "Blood for Dracula") and Linda Hayden ("Blood on Satan's Claw", "Madhouse"). Paul Martin is a struggling writer, who's put under a lot of pressure to deliver a second novel because his debut novel was such an unexpectedly immense hit. Paul moved to a quiet and isolated countryside mansion for inspiration, but still struggles with writer's block and personal issues like nightmarish hallucinations when he makes love to his girlfriend. His agent arranges for a typist to come over and help him, but there's something dark and dangerous about this girl. Linda masturbates practically all the time and seems to have come to Paul Martin with a personal vendetta to settle. Try and avoid reading synopsis's around here on the website, as most of them bluntly reveal Linda's intentions and motivations. The story of "Exposé" is simplistic yet highly effective and compelling – albeit a little predictable – and it's an astonishingly beautiful movie to look at. Quite surprising fact that is, seeing the film got included in the infamous list of Video Nasties at one point. The settings and scenery are delightful and James Kenelm Clarke's direction is much more sophisticated than you would expect from this type of cinema. Certain sequences literally ooze with suspense, like when Paul drives his malfunctioning car down a mountain at high speed whilst the mysterious Linda seduces his girlfriend back at the mansion. The body count is rather limited, but the few moments of carnage are quite gruesome. The sex footage is lewd and gratuitous but nothing too extreme. Udo Kier is one handsome looking dude and Linda Hayden is one indescribably hot looking cult siren. Together, they form a fantastically enticing duo. Naturally, there also are a couple of obvious defects and shortcomings, like the underdeveloped character of Suzanne and the disappointing anti-climax in the cornfield.

Kier is a fine, photogenic actor, but he's miscast (his voice is dubbed although this could've been intentional) in this otherwise suspenseful psychological thriller playing a deeply insecure and frustrated novelist whose next book is proving challenging to write, leading to the employment of Hayden as his typist. Hayden is initially a lot more relaxed but this soon changes when she begins to exploit her employer's fragile mood and psychological weaknesses.

Well photographed on location with a taut narrative and minimalist dialogue, first time director Clarke cultivates a general unease that's gripping but sporadically distracted by the superfluous titillation which seems to have no genuine plot justification other than for commercial purposes (note Richmond's appearances, most of her dialogue consists of moaning).

Mysterious and sensual it's also extremely bloody (burgundy not claret as Kier insists) with well-paced tension and a few decent shocks at regular intervals to hold the wandering attention. There would've been a dozen different ways to resolve the plot, and whilst it answers most of the lingering questions, it's not the most satisfying conclusion ever conceived. Better than average, but never really reaches its full potential.

EXPOSE, aka THE HOUSE ON STRAW HILL, is a one-time video nasty now consigned to be forgotten by the weight of years. The truth is that it's a grotty little low-budget thriller that borrows some of the rape-revenge material of STRAW DOGS and turns it into a unique but only semi-successful tale of madness and murder.

The tale features a dubbed Udo Kier playing a writer who retires to his remote country home in order to work on his latest novel. While there, he must contend with the antics of his randy mistress Fiona Richmond (a one-time softcore starlet) and youthful secretary Linda Hayden (BLOOD ON SATAN'S CLAW).

Nothing much actually happens in this movie, and the expected bloodshed and sexual material is relatively tame by modern standards; certainly it has been eclipsed by far more explicit stuff in the past couple of decades. It's hard to see what all the fuss was about, really. Saying that, the film does boast a good performance from Hayden, at least, and it contains curios unique to its era: cameos from future stars Karl Howman and Vic Armstrong, and a genuinely sleazy, unsettling atmosphere straight out of the 1970s. No classic for sure, but well worth a look for fans of the material and the era.