Savage Encounter (1980)

Truly the worst movie I've ever seen in a theater

Touches You

Thanks for the memories!

Strong acting helps the film overcome an uncertain premise and create characters that hold our attention absolutely.

Low-budget South African "thriller" (if it can be called that) about a couple honeymooning in the woods who encounter a couple of oddballs (one in top-hat and tie, the other a subservient mute) who predictably turn feral and do bad things to the wife while the husband is tied to a tree. Complicating matters is the fact that the wife (Ziegler whose only other film I've seen is the much more sedate "Rogue Lion") was sexually abused as a youngster, sending her into a catatonic state for which the only antidote is revenge.If you've seen "Last House on the Left", "Death Wish", "Straw Dogs", "Deliverance" or "I Spit on Your Grave" then you've seen "Savage Encounter". It borrows elements of all those, and still, the outcome is much less. The nudity and violence isn't remarkable in my opinion, and the pair who play the thugs from down in the boondocks aren't nearly intimidating nor chilling enough to carry off their roles.Star John Personson produced the movie and the meagre budget and semi-professional approach looks apparent; basic dialogue and experimental camera angles give it that 'independent' look, and as far as a rape and revenge flick goes, while it's difficult to locate (I saw an online 81 minute version), that doesn't mean it's worthy of cult status.

A woman who was sexually molested as a child and her husband are harassed by a couple of backwoods hicks with rape on their minds.The female victim is raped by two hillbillies and the man is treated like a dog and collared to a tree.Her husband seeks vengeance on hicks,who violated his wife's body.Sleazy and depraved rape and revenge flick with truly seedy villains.It was actually released in Poland on VHS many years ago by Video Rondo under the title "Demon Lust".Unfortunately that version was heavily cut,so be sure to check out "Savage Encounter" instead.The film is nicely shot and well-acted.I dig such obscure cinema,so if you have 80 minutes to kill "Savage Encounter" will leave you entertained.The current rating is criminally low,so I'll give this sickie 8 out of 10.

A couple are taking their honeymoon at a desolate forest cabin when a pair of degenerates shows up to cruelly subject them to the usual deeds of nastiness which those of us who view too many films of this nature have come to expect of ragged backwoods types. Seething with anger, the husband ventures into the wild prepared settle the score in this fairly seldom-seen film, one which might not categorize as tidily into the "rape revenge" subgenre as some might assume it would. It's definitely on the strange side, and touches on the psychological/emotional issues of its victimized protagonists more intimately than the general film of this type. Similarly, it tends to refrain from venerating the vigilante justice delineated within the story.Methodically mellow-paced and surprisingly well executed thriller which deserves more attention that it has garnered, SAVAGE ENCOUNTER is not a pleasant excursion, but one which capably fulfills its intentions.6/10

First, I'd like to point something out to anyone who's making the same mistake I did. Even though the copy of this video that I purchased was titled "Demon Lust", the film doesn't have any demons in it, or anything supernatural at all, for that matter. I guess that "Demon" is supposed to be an adjective, but the only lust that appears in the film is far from "demonic". In any case, this film was obviously made by someone (Bernard Buys) who was deeply impacted by the much more infamous "I Spit On Your Grave". This film is a direct retread of 'Grave', except that all the violence against the main female character happens off screen. The plot then revolves around the husband seeking a very level-headed sort of revenge against the drifters who attacked his wife. He claims that he's not going to the police to avoid "scandal", but the more obvious motive is that he hadn't been allowed be with his wife physically, and he was jealous. Anyway, "I Spit On Your Grave" minus violent "lust" scenes might make for a more socially acceptable movie, but there is nothing else in it to hold the film together, or make it interesting in the least. There isn't even anything here for the type of people who get off on this kind of thing. Avoid.