What was the last movie you watched? Part 2

[KaijuDude1992]

5/10



5.5/10




6.5/10

 

[Frodo]

THIS HOUSE IS POSSESSED ( 1981)

A slow burn of a tv movie but it ultimately pays off as things go bonkers .

It features another one of those actresses I was just too young to see in stuff , but I thought she was great .

She reminds me of a bit of a mixture of the Cindy Williams , Carrie Fisher, and Karen Allen .
So , I tip my hat to an actress whose new to me from the 1970s and early 1980s, Lisa Eilbacher, whose probably known alot for her role in the first Beverly Hills Cop , film

 

[Milk Tray Guy]

Take an Easy Ride (1976)

An oddity. It starts out just like one of the TV public information films prevalent in the UK in the 1970s, this one aimed at teenage girls (and their parents), warning of the perils of hitchhiking. We get some street interviews gauging the public's views and whether they would stop for a hitchhiker themselves. Then we move on to dramatic reconstructions showing teenage girls setting out for various destinations, all by 'thumbing a lift'. All of this is narrated by a typical 1970s BBC-type voiceover. Then it starts to take a turn... As the (universally) mini-skirted girls are picked up by their respective lifts we get suggestive shots of their anatomy; fair enough - it shows what's going on in these lecherous drivers' minds. But then - with one exception - each situation 'goes south' in various ways, from initial groping, to sexual assault/rape, to murder. If you're making a film warning about these possibilities it makes sense to show them, but it's the way they're shown. One attack by a lake has a strong The Last House on the Left feel, and one (involving a ridiculously naive Scandinavian girl - seriously, she's portrayed like something out of a Benny Hill sketch!) is shot like typical softcore porn of the time, as she's molested by a 'swinger' couple in a hotel room (probably the longest scene of the film). Interestingly, there is one scenario that actually shows the dangers drivers can face, when a genuinely good Samaritan is robbed at knifepoint by two girls and ends up being stabbed to death.

The whole jarring approach is explained once you start to look at the history of the film. Director Ken Rowles initially set out to make a genuine public information film, with what he called 'Ken Loach realism'. After a few days filming he was viewing what he'd shot so far, when a leading UK film distributor looked over his shoulder, thought it was terrific, and told Rowles that if he could 'make it a bit sexier' he could secure a big screen release. So that's what happened; a well-intentioned public service short became a low-budget exploitation flick. The Scandinavian girl was a late add-on (she had a background in softcore/sexploitation). The film was shown at a 'private members cinema club' in London's Soho (red light district) and ran for 48 weeks, making a lot of money.

Ken Rowles had a respectable career as an editor in mainstream cinema (he was brought in to re-edit Jean-Luc Goddard's Rolling Stones pic Sympathy for the Devil when the producers didn't like Goddard's cut, and he worked on the chase scene with the Minis in the original The Italian Job), but Take an Easy Ride seems to be what he's best known for (in certain 'select circles' at any rate).

It's a really interesting snapshot of the time (both in what it portrays, and the way in which it's done). As a piece of filmmaking I give it a 4 ('gritty' is fine, but it's rough in places); for its 'cultural significance' I give it a 6. Overall, 5/10.