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Assault
After a schoolgirl is raped while taking a short cut through the local woods, and another murdered a few days later, the police are baffled. With the help of a reporter, and against the wishes of a local psychologist, a young schoolteacher uses herself as bait to lure the perpetrator out.
Release : | 1973 |
Rating : | 5.5 |
Studio : | George H. Brown Productions, |
Crew : | Costume Design, Director, |
Cast : | Suzy Kendall Frank Finlay Freddie Jones James Laurenson Lesley-Anne Down |
Genre : | Drama Horror Crime Mystery |
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Good movie, but best of all time? Hardly . . .
a film so unique, intoxicating and bizarre that it not only demands another viewing, but is also forgivable as a satirical comedy where the jokes eventually take the back seat.
This is a must-see and one of the best documentaries - and films - of this year.
I enjoyed watching this film and would recommend other to give it a try , (as I am) but this movie, although enjoyable to watch due to the better than average acting fails to add anything new to its storyline that is all too familiar to these types of movies.
The film, looks, sounds, 'feels' exactly typical of its period. The colour, camera angles, use of music, are similar to other films, particularly The Strange Affair, All neat in black stockings, Fright and, as biggee writes, in another review, the brilliant, almost forgotten, I start counting.Similarly the portrayal of young girls as provocative 'sex objects' without any hint of embarrassment, discernment or question, and that's not a criticism, that's what life was like - at least certainly at my school.Reasonable acting, I do like the period fashions and behaviours and cars and would watch it just for that. There are plenty of red herrings but, slight spoiler coming, if you look with care when Suzy Kendall sees the murderer in her car's rear view mirror - you only get a split second glimpse, you can see who the murderer is.
Not particularly explicit and barely any blood, this is nevertheless packed with red herrings and starring Suzy Kendall, so the fact that this is pretty much a British giallo does not come as such a surprise. Sleazy subject matter, schoolgirls getting raped in the woods behind the school and poor old Lesley-Anne Down gets it twice, although I reckon they used the same footage twice. Even so this starts at quite a pace with not just one girl chased through those woods but almost immediately afterwards another. The rest of the film is more a who-dun-it but keeps the attention and if some are under performing, like the very poor offering from Frank Finlay (never knew he was that small!) the rest acquit themselves well enough.
In 1977 ITV had a " Late night adult movie season " on Monday nights . There's two things you have to consider 1 ) Late night in British TV terms in those days meant 10.30 pm . Up until the mid 1980s TV stations would close about 12.30 am 2 ) Adult movies shown on television were a world removed from the gore and exploitation seen in video nasties of the early 1980s !!!! MILD SPOILERS !!!! Seeing as these movies were on too late for me I never got to see any of the movies scheduled in this slot with the exception of ASSUALT , though I did read up on what movie was being shown via the TV Times . With the exception of NO BLADE OF GRASS every movie shown seemed to be about a serial killer and this movie is little different , which is a pity since the opening gives the impression that it's going to be a supernatural horror where schoolgirls are being murdered by a demon stalking the woods near the local school . The first third fools the audience into thinking that this indeed is a horror film featuring a demon but then it settles down into a whodunnit as to who the sexual predator is I saw the movie again in the early 1980s and was bitterly disappointed with it . It's not a movie that holds up to repeated viewing if memory serves me right , it has several red herrings like a woman thinks she's being stalked but it turns out to be a police bodyguard and contrived where the villain is caught because he stands beside a red light and justice is dispersed because he chose a bloody stupid escape route To sum up I have to agree with the person who said this is typical of British movies of the late 60s / early 70s . It's very similar to THE BEAST IN THE CELLAR . Once you know what the plot is it's a very flat movie
The film is typical of its time, with the lighting, camera work and fashion giving a clear indication of 1969 to 1971 British cinema.It is not scary, but there is reasonable suspense and enjoyment.My main reason for commenting is has anyone else noticed the very strong similarities with the brilliant (but sadly never shown) "I start counting"?There is the same fashion, the similar colour technique which is surprising given this is Eastman and "I start" is De Luxe, an emphasis on short skirts, an unknown serial assailant who is revealed at the end but throughout most of the film the viewers attention is diverted to other suspects. There is also the woods where the events take place; the atmosphere in the woodland scenes is very similar. Finally, there is a young and good looking central character in both, Lesley-Anne Down and Jenny AgutterWatch the film if you enjoy late 60's, early 70's Britain and a bit of suspense.