Claysaba
Excellent, Without a doubt!!
FirstWitch
A movie that not only functions as a solid scarefest but a razor-sharp satire.
Scarlet
The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.
Uriah43
After being brutally beaten and raped one night by a mysterious man wearing a hockey mask "Linda" (Jo Ann Harris) learn that there have been four other women who have had to endure the same kind of treatment by this same person. He then rapes another woman named "Karen" (Lisa Moore) not long afterward. Much to their surprise they soon come to the realization that the limited information they can give to the local police is insufficient to identify their assailant--let alone allow law enforcement to make an arrest. So with few other options left to them they decide to form a "rape squad" in an effort to build awareness of this issue. At the same time, they also secretly decide to aggressively pursue and punish those who have committed these vicious acts but have somehow managed to escape conviction. Unfortunately, while they all of this is taking place they soon discover that the lunatic responsible has not only continued his acts of depravity but subsequently kills one of his victims in the process. Now rather than reveal any more I will just say that this was an okay film for the most part which suffers somewhat from the rather dated script and weak acting. It does, however, benefit from the presence of some cute actresses--in particular Connie Strickland (as "Teresa") and the aforementioned Jo Ann Harris. Again, while not exactly a blockbuster by any means, the movie itself wasn't that bad overall and for that reason I have rated it accordingly. Average.
Coventry
Every once and a while, you encounter a B-movie that you simply cannot fathom entirely, regardless of how many repeated viewings or how much time you spend contemplating about it… "Rape Squad" is such a modest but unfathomable exploitation product from the early '70s. Obviously this film isn't the biggest cinematic enigma ever made, but still you never really figure out to the fullest what director Bob Kelljan wanted to accomplish here. Just another sleazy and misogynic rape and revenge flick like there were so many others during this drive-in/grindhouse era? Or the first ambitious and truly courageous exploitation movie with honest feminist undertones and earnest indictments against the way rape victims are treated by the men in their surroundings? "Rape Squad" – or "Act of Vengeance", which sounds slightly more sophisticated – is often clumsy, amateurish and unintentionally comical, but the script nevertheless contains a few conceptually great ideas and passionate performances by the respectable female cast. But, you know what? Perhaps I'm using too many complicated terms to describe a film that is called "Rape Squad"… After all, it's only a B-movie about a perverted scumbag in an orange jumpsuit and hockey mask that devotedly stalks and brutishly assaults poor women while he forces them to sing Jingle Bells and scream out that he's the greatest sex partner they ever had. The police treat the victims insensitively and don't undertake enough efforts to catch the serial rapist, and thus the women unite in a hot tub and decide to form their own vigilante squad. Led by mentally strong and stubborn Linda (Jo Ann Harris), they offer moral support and advice to other oppressed women, organize awareness campaigns, attend self-defense courses and embarrass small sex-offenders. But Linda's hatred against the Jingle Bells rapist is so enormous that her main objective remains seeking revenge against him. "Rape Squad" is a curious effort, with hit and miss moments and a couple of bizarre characters. The rapist – Jingle Bells – could easily have been one of the most memorably menacing exploitation anti- heroes of the seventies, what with his fierce outfit (I even wonder if he inspired the looks of both Michael Myers in "Halloween" and Jason Voorhees in "Friday the 13th") and violent modus operandi, but due to his endless babbling and stupid fetish for his own persona he actually becomes more of an annoying caricature. A handful of scenes, including the fate of the poor girl painting in the countryside and the finale in the abandoned zoo, are genuinely tense and unsettling, so overall I wouldn't hesitate for one moment to recommend the film to fans of the genre.
a_baron
In the good olde days of silent films, the moustache-twirling villain would kidnap the damsel, carry her off with much oomph and flailing of arms, then tie her to a railroad track from which she would be rescued in the nick of time by the hero, the villain would be vanquished, and the couple would live happily ever after. In the 1970s, things were a little different; in this particular offering, the damsel is grabbed by a masked sicko who rapes her while she sings "Jingle Bells" for his amusement. As with most bona fide rapes, the damsel defends her honour as best she can which results in her being stripped naked and slapped around. This guy is big though, and he warns her that if she puts too much effort into it, she won't live to tell. She does the math, and survives without too much collateral damage. At the police station she is informed she is the latest victim of a serial rapist with a bizarre "modus operandi".While at this time the police did not handle rape cases with the same discretion they do today, it is difficult to believe they were quite this insensitive even in the 1970s. Clearly this film had a political motive as much as any other...entertainment?It is here that it begins to lose its way, the victims meet up and form a group to track him down, taking martial arts classes into the bargain, but while the second wave of feminism would undoubtedly have approved of this, they would most definitely not have approved of the accompanying gratuitous nudity. Happily, the bad guy is eventually vanquished and they all live happily ever after. Apart from the two he murders, that is.
ameiva
What's a nice young man like Peter Brown doing wearing a horror mask and forcing terrified women to sing "Jingle Bells" while he rapes the living daylights out of them? Peter Brown, who was that good-looking clean-cut Deputy Johnny McKay throughout TV's excellent "Lawman" series (1958-60). What would marshal Troop think of him now? All those sweet appearances in such TV evergreens as, "Maverick,""Cheyenne,""Colt .45," "Loredo," "Sugarfoot" and countless others have led to this manner of extreme debauchery in a rather unnerving exploitation cheapie full of meanness and skin? Little Peter Brown, wearing an orange jumpsuit, leaping out of the bushes, ripping the duds off hapless women and violating them as breasts flop around to the frenzied squeaking of a happy Christmas tune? I have to give it five big curiosity points for being one actor's most astonishingly bizarre screen turnaround. Peter, you naughty boy.
