Naked Vengeance (1985) User Reviews

I spit on your grave for naked vengeance.

[Greenzombidog · 7/10 · 1 May 2011]

Carla Harris really is having the worst couple of days of her life. It's her anniversary and she and her husband go out for a meal that ends in her husbands death by shooting. To help get over the death of Mr Harris she goes to stay with her parents. Unfortunately her parents live in a town where every man is destined to turn into a horny dog upon seeing women called Carla Harris. One quite brutal gang rape and a parent slaying later Carla Harris is out for revenge.

I enjoyed this film. The acting's not brilliant and maybe it borrows a little too much from 'I spit on your grave' including that movies most famous scene. This film tells a similar story to that movie but it's a little more classy in it's execution. I felt myself get drawn into the movie willing Widow Harris to exact her revenge.

The only downside for me was the overuse of the horrible theme song. If you like revenge movies this is definitely worthy of your attention as it's one of the better ones.

I spit on your naked vengeance

[kosmasp · 6/10 · 18 June 2022]

This is not an easy movie to watch. There is so much unnecessary violence. And I don't mean the one dished out as part of the vengeance/revenge part that takes place in the later part of the movie. No I mean the violence you (and the main character of course) have to endure to get to the release - to the resolution we may seek for.

I do not read what movies are about, but I guess the title was quite the giveaway. Still the moment that might make you cringe the most is really quite vividly displayed. Not easy to stomach to say the least. On the other hand, it does dish out quite the vivid revenge too. As the german title for Death Wish would say: A woman sees red (no pun intended).

Not sure if you would call this women empowerment - I'll leave that up to you. Espcially because something horrible (actually a lot of not just one moment) has to happen for the woman to take justice into her own hand. But this is a movie and overall well made - you just have to know if this is even something you want to see.

Naked Vengeance is a gem.

[tarbosh22000 · 7/10 · 5 January 2015]

Carla Harris (Tranelli) is a woman who seemingly has it all: a rich and luxurious life as an actress with a successful lawyer for a husband. When her beloved hubby is killed by a common street thug, she travels back to her rural home town of Silver Lake, California, to live with her parents and re-evaluate her life. However, far from the serene environment she was hoping for, she has to deal with constant harassment from the local gang of good ol' boys. Led by local butcher Fletch (Garas) and including gas station attendant Sparky (Nicholson), among others, their rude and lewd behavior eventually escalates into a full-on gang rape. When the disgusting thugs end up murdering her parents, as well as Timmy (Roderick), Carla has an emotional breakdown that leaves her in a near-catatonic state. While being observed for shock and other symptoms at the local hospital, Carla decides to bypass the seemingly ineffectual Sheriff, John Cates (McLaughlin) and dispense her own brand of justice. Violent vigilante justice, the only kind that gets results. But will she eliminate her attackers before it's too late? Find out today! While Naked Vengeance has a similar look, structure and feel to other Cirio movies, this ranks as one of his best, thanks to the intense, no-nonsense storyline and pace. It can proudly rank among other female-fronted revenge movies such as Ms. 45 (1981), Savage Streets (1984), Sudden Death (1985), and of course the movie it most closely models itself after, I Spit On Your Grave (1978). A lot of Cirio regulars are on show as well, mainly as the lecherous townsfolk - his stock company of actors, as it were, such as Kaz Garas (who resembles Powers Boothe), fan favorite Nick Nicholson, and Henry Strzalkowski, among others. Cirio was kicked into high gear for this one, and, especially compared to his more standard outings, here he was surely in a state of grace.

Naked Vengeance is the time when the "Cirio Formula", if there is such a thing as one, finally clicks and everything totally works. His method of repeating the theme song numerous times throughout the movie is employed here, and thankfully it's the driving anthem "Still Got A Love", by Michael Cruz and sung by the main star, Deborah Tranelli. The camaraderie of the baddies is interesting: they all bowl together (and have nifty personalized bowling shirts to boot), and they even work out together on the same schedule in a place that can only be described as a "Villain's Gym". The day after their atrocity, one of them even says to his buddies, "Eh, I don't feel like working out today." There were no other patrons in the gym, either. Maybe you get 10% off your membership if you're an evil scumbag. One of their beefs against Carla is that she changed her name from Olson to Harris, which in their view is true diva behavior that they cannot abide. Why Harris is a more glamorous name than Olson is not explained. Also of note is a movie marquee which is playing Breakin' 2: Electric Boogaloo (1984).

Important note: the version released on Vestron is cut. The version released on Lightning is uncut. So for anyone planning on collecting this movie, make sure you get the Lightning version.

We love revenge movies here - hence the name COMEUPPANCE reviews - and Naked Vengeance is a gem.

Revenge genre

[dongordonbell · 5 July 2009]

I played Arnie, one of the five rapists of the female lead played by Deborah Tranelli. Naked Vengeance was one of the early "Chick Vengeance" genre films.

Doing a rape scene was very difficult as the mood on the set is very tense, especially from the women on set. Anyone familiar with film production knows that it is a surreal atmosphere but standing around with nothing on but a jockstrap became almost natural by the end of the long night. Deborah was a real professional, detaching herself from direct contact friendly conversation. Before and after the "rape scene" she was friendly but she got "into character" during the very intense, violent, demeaning, dehumanizing sequence.

I think any woman seeing this movie would be deeply moved, emotionally and stunned by the brutality of the sequence. The entire production crew did a great professional job, though it was a long time before some of the female staff would even talk to me. It was that realistic and graphic. I never understood the horror of rape until I "took part" in trying to reproduce the crime in "ReeL life".

"Don't you wanna know how this thing works?"

[lost-in-limbo · 7/10 · 23 April 2011]

In the vein of those aggressively seedy, but stock-like revenge thrillers; "Naked Vengeance" is a considerably cut-rate, but amusingly rowdy and efficiently catered b-grade imitation of "I Spit on Your Grave". Carla's life is shattered when she witnesses her husband murdered, so she retreats back to the town she grew up in and stays with her parents at their lakeside cottage. But the nightmare continues for her when some drunken locals break into her home. There they would terrorise her, until her parents walked in on them to only be killed. Abused and left for dead, the law just won't cut it. Revenge… cold-hearted revenge is what she seeks. Her own justice with pain driving it. The men that caused the act, leaving this women's descent into madness (or that's what we are to believe); simply are portrayed as perverts, drooling low-lives and thugs. Even the clueless, narrow minded local Sheriff isn't painted that fancily.

While unimaginatively clichéd, it packs fury (some intensity makes its way into some set-pieces) and instinctively lays out many horrid encounters as she toys around with her initial victims knocking them off one at a time. Jack-cheap exploitation film-maker Cirio H. Santiago provides serviceable direction, as it doesn't waste much time and never does it outstay its welcome. The writing / dialogues might seem rough, but it's simple and formidably to-the-point. Deborah Tranelli (of "Dallas" fame) provides a grippingly strong performance as the traumatised Carla.

If you can get passed the unbearable theme song ..... the film delivers

[merklekranz · 6/10 · 13 June 2011]

Wow! Is that opening song bad, and the worst part is it reappears during the movie. What is not so bad is "Naked Vengeance", which delivers a well acted revenge plot, stereotypical males on parade, and a very sympathetic heroine. Comparable films would include "Ms.45", and of course, "I Spit on Your Grave". Although the box art conveys a "Death Wish" comparison, there is less similarity to the random killing revenge flicks like "Death Wish". "Naked Vengeance" lacks the gratuitous, random violence of "Death Wish", while concentrating on the revenge plot. This is one of the better rape - revenge films out there, and recommended of it's type. - MERK

Pale Imitation of A Revenge Classic

[Falconeer · 5/10 · 1 July 2020]

"Naked Vengeance" while an entertaining flick, is really just an artless and brainless ripoff of the MUCH superior "I Spit On Your Grave," a groundbreaking film that managed to be aesthetically beautiful in all it's ugliness. This retread, with it's tacky 80s soundtrack and filming style is basically throwaway entertainment. It's filled with impossibly dumb characters and an even dumber police force, making the events that unfold seem ridiculous. Now if this movie was the first of it's kind then it might be something special, but by 1985, audiences had seen this exact scenario played out many times before, in more competent films. I did give it an extra star for the ending that culminates on New York City's famed 42nd Street. That was a nice touch. Unfortunately "Naked Vengeance" is average at best..

one change

[SnoopyStyle · 6/10 · 19 March 2021]

Carla Harris and her husband are out for an anniversary dinner. He is killed while trying to help a woman being attacked. The killer gets away. Carla goes back to her home town. Almost every man is a creep and the sheriff dismisses her. She gets gang-raped by those men and her parents are murdered. Justice demands revenge.

My biggest issue is that no one can assume this is an open and shut case. The only people who suggest it are corrupt, complicit, or moronic. How do they not test Carla with the rape? Even without DNA (which started after this movie), people used to test for blood type and such. I doubt anybody used a condom. There is an assumption right away that there are no other people involved. It's a very odd assumption to make without even dusting for prints. On the other hand, I am willing to give the drunken rapists the ability to stage a bad crime scene. After all, they are drunk and stupid. A better way is for her to escape during the confusion of the shootings. The police wouldn't know about her rape or that she's a witness. She could start killing her rapists and be accused of killing everybody at the house. It would solve a lot of story issues. This is essentially a revenge B-movie like Death Wish or I Spit on your Grave. It's relatively fine for a B-movie. The acting and the production is fair for this level. I love that her rapists lead a mob to hunt her down. I would just make that one change.

Riding on a tried theme

[pietclausen · 4/10 · 25 December 2018]

This film has a similar theme and takes one back to the story in the movie ' I spit on your grave (1978)'. As such this was a 'copy' and one knew exactly what was going to happen. The acting was poor and the film looked and felt crude, even cheap. It never created tension, concern or suspense. Had I never seen 'I spit on your grave', I would, perhaps, have enjoyed it more.

A number of reviewers mentioned that the rape scene was very realistic. I can't concur as I have no experience. In my view it looked absurd and staged. The revenge took a similar route as the police were useless.

I prefer the original story of 1978, as such theme had never been seen before and took the world by surprise. This film was really suspenseful and was banned in a number of countries originally. The remake in 2010 was also successful.

Typical over the top rape revenge ridiculousness

[torrascotia · 3/10 · 9 January 2019]

This film fits squarely in the rape revenge category however its one of the more extreme examples. The story is quite basic in that a woman is attacked at the start of the movie and the rest of it is her dishing out her own style of justice. That is all. What marks this out from some of the other in this genre is that almost every single male in the movie is a rapist in waiting. There are no supportive or even normal males in the movie apart from those shes related to. The entire town seems to be populated by women hating offenders. Which even for these kinds of movies it is quite as stretch. The violence in particular the revenge violence is actually more extreme than you would see in the worst of any Segal movie, its laughably sadistic and over the top. To the extent I was laughing loudly at these scenes as they were so over the top silly. It makes Ms 45 look like a Merchant Ivory production. That surely wasnt what the director would have been aiming for however the levels of overkill are ridiculous. What also makes absolutely no sense is that we are asked to believe that despite a group of men who firstly obsess over the main character before attacking her, then fail to recognise her when she comes for revenge is just silly beyond words. There is also no explanation as to how she can slip out of secure hospital to murder on a daily basis and return without anyone noticing. This has entertainment value in the so bad its good category if you have a strong stomach and a twisted sense of humour. What its not is a high quality movie with valid points about violence against women or even a satisfying revenge exploitation flick. Rated low for good reason.

Good

[angrycars · 8/10 · 7 August 2005]

Hi, My name is Phil Morrell. I worked for Roger Corman and Cannon films 1980/1987 mostly in the art department/set construction. Naked Vengeance was my first and last experience in front of the camera. I played the killer that started the film, and was at the end. It was fun. It's nice to see my name in the credits. As I have just read the guidelines I guess I'd better give my opinion of the film. I think it is a reasonably good film considering the budget. I think it may be one of the first woman vengeance films. I'm no expert. It may be too gruesome for some. It did play on channel 13 in the early 90's although very much censored. I liked it.

Spit on your Grave thieves

[solidabs · 5/10 · 1 February 2023]

Man Hollywood was stealing movies back then too. I love revenge movies. I spit on your grave was incredible. This was just a ripoff of that but done poorly. For a second I thought they were gonna rip off Walking Tall and she was gonna run for Sheriff. I was hoping she was going to kill the Sheriff too. I gave this a four and that's generous. I know you're thinking, you gave it a five. Yes the extra point was for the sweet little breasts of the Star. The fighting scenes of her and the Men were stupid. If they would've wrote a better revenge sequence this could've been a great movie. Lucky for her the Sheriff doesn't like to work lmfao.

I worked on this film

[cinemanick · 23 May 2002]

This was a very fun film to do, and I agree, this is one of Cirio's better films. We shot the film in parts of Baguio City, and at Lake Kaliraya in Laguna Province. We filmed this right after we had finished "The Devestators", which was also another fun one to do.

Brain dead rip off of "I Spit on Your Grave"

[mhorg2018 · 1/10 · 28 March 2022]

This might have been a better revenge movie if not for a few things. The script for one; all the men in this are brutes, the cops are morons. Carla is the only interesting character. The plot holes are amazing. The entire town of pinheads backs the five morons who raped her and killed her parents, just because she moved away? Watch I Spit and watch this. Exactly the same setup, the lone difference being the mental deficient kid, in this case Timmy the gardener, grows a conscience after his pals rape the hell out of the woman. He gets murdered for his problems. Then the brilliant town cops decide Timmy raped Carla, murdered her parents with a shotgun filled with double ought, but her father, with a hole in him the size of a fist, grabbed the gun away and shot Timmy in the back. Really? I wonder what these guys were smoking while they were watching I Spit on Your Grave and decided to rip...er pay it a homage. Its a stupidly entertaining movie, but it is stupid.

Rubbish's Trash

[mcjensen-05924 · 2/10 · 2 March 2021]

This film is barely watchable. Horrendous acting and even worse music. Nobody acts or talks in a remotely believable way. So many better movies made in this era that tried to make a coherent statement while delivering shock, humor and gore. This has none of those going for it. Has a made for TV feel that's just awful. Beyond bad and crazy cheesy. Total waste of time. It's like an entire movie of filler.

Seriously???

[africe · 1/10 · 14 August 2020]

What a terrible portrayal of a revenge movie. Idiot sheriff (bad actor) and the whole townspeople chasing the rape victim down the street. I thought I was watching a Frankenstein movie. Horrible movie

The rape scene is incredibly realistic,

[hatemfouad · 10/10 · 2 June 2005]

The plot is great as well as the presentation of it. I could not believe the rape scene to be anything but REAL. The movie as a whole is really worth viewing and is really enjoyable with all the suspense and tension in it. I think it is a classic, and you will never forget it. Actually, I viewed it for the first time in the cinema, and I find myself looking for it on the internet 15 yrs later. I could not find it yet, but i will continue my digging. In the mean time, I encourage anyone who have a copy to make it available for others as I hate to see such a great movie be forgotten. Deborah Tarnelli was really great on this film and I think this movie had contributed a lot to her later success.

A mild soft core with elements of a mild slasher.

[eratomartha · 5/10 · 20 December 2021]

Fortunately it is not a senseless running with the chainsaw but the violence is justified somehow by the vengeance, still overall the movie is mild and it can be skipped.

I place it in the middle of the scale as

• the story ( although exaggerated ) has some inner logic within.

• I have seen quite a good copy given the year the movie was made.

• Deborah Tranelli is handsome, natural and gives quite a good performance considering the material she had to work with.

Best work of Santiago

[equinox345 · 10/10 · 10 August 1999]

This is the best film out of Santiago's production. All others were crap. Good actions, spontaneous, and actually make some sense! This one will keep you awake for some time. The girl in the movie actually doing a good job in acting and the bloody scenes looked quite gruesome and believable. I like it.

Gripping, intense, skillfully directed revenge tale.

[sunny-2 · 10/10 · 5 September 1999]

Naked Vengeance has basically the same story as the slow moving "I Spit On Your Grave" which mas made a few years earlier. But this is much better than the original and offers much more than you would expect from a low budget exploitation film. Slick and effective direction by the ever resourceful Santiago, a fast pace, and a remarkable acting job by Dallas star Deborah Tranelli (who also sings the title song!) make this a movie experience you won't soon forget. The movie is hard to find. Let's just hope it's gonna be out on DVD some day. It would definitely deserve it.

Not bad! Not bad at all

[willandcharlenebrown · 8/10 · 25 July 2019]

Ok surprise for me. I go thru so many of here cheesy b minus movies looking for gems and this is one. The means she uses to kill these schmucks are as it taken out of a slasher movie! Well played director!

Die, Bastard

[ElijahCSkuggs · 9/10 · 19 November 2007]

Naked Vengeance was a great surprise for me. I recently heard about it and then a couple days later I was able to watch it. So obviously I jumped at the chance to see an under-rated rape/revenge flick. And I am really glad I did. This is easily one of my favorites of the rape/revenge genre.

The version I watched is most likely the R-rated version. That's a shame since there is a Unrated Version out there. I would have loved to seen the film in a more graphic nature, but hell, this movie is good enough. I know some people will wait on the Unrated, and I'm telling you don't. It's entirely worth watching if you have the chance to see the R version.

Anne's life seems too good to be true. She has a successful marriage, a husband with a great job, which has given her the ability to retire at a young age. Anne and Hubby decide to head out to celebrate their 5th Anniversary and all goes well until they witness a woman getting beat. Hubby being a good man runs to stop the Mugger but is bested and unfortunately murdered, all in front of poor Anne. Anne thinks it's best to get away from the city and get back to her roots in Silver Lake and visit her parents. Unfortunately for her Silver Lake is littered with drunk pervs. While in Silver Lake Anne's foundation is rocked to the core and what better to than to take revenge. It's time for Naked Vengeance!

Like I said above this movie was a great surprise. It was entertaining all the way through. What really moved it along for me was the supporting cast of the drunk, perverted, townspeople. Burke, Fletch and Sparky were all cast perfectly. The movie was directed well, the actors were all good, the violence was there, it had me laughing, and it had a great rock ballad song that played a good amount. It was actually sung by our lead who plays Anne, Deborah Tranelli. So all in all, Naked Vengeance was a really good flick that entertains on many levels. If you happen to come by it, definitely give it a shot. 8.5 outta 10

deborah tranelli ftw

[goldstein808 · 9/10 · 26 December 2020]

The song " still got a love " I looked it up and the lead actress sings the song.

Pretty awesome.

Formula rape/revenge exploitationer

[lor_ · 9 March 2023]

My review was written in May 1986 after watching the movie on Lightning video cassette.

"Naked Vengeance", alternately titled "Satin Vengeance", is a routine exploitation film, nicely ated but strictly to formula. Feature has gone directly to the home video market, with theatrical release still upcoming.

Deborah Tranelli toplines as Carla Harris, a former actress whose husband is killed on their fifth wedding anniversary when he tries to prevent a woman from being assaulted in a parking lot.

She goes to stay with her parents in Silver Lake, California, where she grew up. Virtually all the men there, including since-married old high school classmates, hit on her for a date with her increasingly uptight rebuffs angering them. Getting drunk one night, a bunch of the guys decide to visit her parents' home (where Carla has been left alone for the weekend) and get her.

Ensuing gang-rape scene is violent and graphically simulated, with Carla's parents killed by the thugs when they arrive home early. A young handyman Timmy (Steve Roderick) also is shot to death when he threatens to go to the police.

In an unconvincing plot gimmick, Carla is left for dead (though she wasn't shot) and she recovers in a hospital. There follows the genre's standard female on the warpath payoff, including some unnecessarily ultraviolent scene such as a castration and an exploding head effect.

A stupid ending has Carla popping up in New York to unbelievably find and kill the murderer of her husband after she runs out of rapists to wipe out.

Story has been filmed many times before, notably in Meir Zarchi's 1978 opus "I Spit on Your Grave". Filipino director Ciro H. Santiago directs competently, with a solid performance by Tranelli keeping the picture watchable.

As with several other recent features from Roger Corman's Concorde Pictures banner such as "Streetwalkin'" and "Barbarian Queen", film is being released on video cassette in both R-rated and unrated versions as a comeon to gullible fans. Ultimately, such a practice will sabotage the theatrical release, since the target audience will want to see the entire film, not the truncated R-rated theatrical edition.