Naked Vengeance (1985)

Sadly Over-hyped

This is a small, humorous movie in some ways, but it has a huge heart. What a nice experience.

Unshakable, witty and deeply felt, the film will be paying emotional dividends for a long, long time.

Blistering performances.

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.

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.

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.

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.