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.
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.