These comments are based on watching International Trading (UK) Ltd DVD certified in 2001; this version has major edits to the more disturbing scenes; the 'alternate versions' section gives a more complete description of the cuts.
This film tells to story of Jennifer Hills; a New York writer of short stories who has decided to spend the summer in the Connecticut countryside writing her first novel. Here she attracts the attention of four young men; the attendant at the gas station, two of his unemployed friends and Matthew, the somewhat simple deliveryman from the local shop. Later they take a boat to her house and she is brutally raped. This happens three times; on the river bank, in the woods and finally back in her house. Not wanting to leave a witness they send Matthew back into her house to kill her but he can't do it. He just tells them he has. Two weeks later they are concerned as the murder has yet to be reported; soon after they learn that Matthew lied. In this time Jennifer has recovered and now she is ready to get her bloody revenge on the four men.
Normally I'm not a fan of censorship but having read some other reviews I'm not sorry that the version I saw was cut; the rape scenes were disturbing enough even with substantial cuts. The story may be basic but it is effective. There may be little in the way of character development, especially for the men but I suspect that was deliberate... it makes everything seem more matter of fact. This feeling is increased by the almost total lack of music. While there isn't much to enjoy during the gruelling rape scenes they do make it easy to sympathise with Jennifer as she extracts her revenge. The revenge section may be more enjoyable but it still has its very disturbing moments; notably the sound of one of the men calling out for his mother after Jennifer deals with him in a way that will have most male viewers crossing their legs and wincing! The acting isn't great but it is okay for a low budget film of this type; Camille Keaton's performance as Jennifer is certainly the best. The story does contain plenty of plot holes that left me wondering if Matthew wasn't the only simpleton in the group! Overall this is a hard film to recommend but if you are a connoisseur of controversial films you will want to see it.
This film tells to story of Jennifer Hills; a New York writer of short stories who has decided to spend the summer in the Connecticut countryside writing her first novel. Here she attracts the attention of four young men; the attendant at the gas station, two of his unemployed friends and Matthew, the somewhat simple deliveryman from the local shop. Later they take a boat to her house and she is brutally raped. This happens three times; on the river bank, in the woods and finally back in her house. Not wanting to leave a witness they send Matthew back into her house to kill her but he can't do it. He just tells them he has. Two weeks later they are concerned as the murder has yet to be reported; soon after they learn that Matthew lied. In this time Jennifer has recovered and now she is ready to get her bloody revenge on the four men.
Normally I'm not a fan of censorship but having read some other reviews I'm not sorry that the version I saw was cut; the rape scenes were disturbing enough even with substantial cuts. The story may be basic but it is effective. There may be little in the way of character development, especially for the men but I suspect that was deliberate... it makes everything seem more matter of fact. This feeling is increased by the almost total lack of music. While there isn't much to enjoy during the gruelling rape scenes they do make it easy to sympathise with Jennifer as she extracts her revenge. The revenge section may be more enjoyable but it still has its very disturbing moments; notably the sound of one of the men calling out for his mother after Jennifer deals with him in a way that will have most male viewers crossing their legs and wincing! The acting isn't great but it is okay for a low budget film of this type; Camille Keaton's performance as Jennifer is certainly the best. The story does contain plenty of plot holes that left me wondering if Matthew wasn't the only simpleton in the group! Overall this is a hard film to recommend but if you are a connoisseur of controversial films you will want to see it.