Tiffany plays Jesse, who together with her psycho brother Alan (Brad Davis) and troubled vet Eddy (Vincent Martorano) kidnap 16 year old Candy (played by very young looking 20 year old Susan Sennet) and bury her in a box tied & blindfolded. Because her father owns a jewelry store the gang believes he'll hand over a bag full of merchandise to let her go. The only trouble is Dad (Ben Piazza) has his own agenda and paying the ransom isn't very high on his list as he's busy fooling around with his assistant. As if this wasn't all enough Candy's mother is a alcoholic and the only person to have witnessed the crime and can save her is Sean, a small deaf & autistic boy (played by director Trueblood's son Christopher and looking like Klaus Kinski as a kid) who has the ultimate patents from hell.
As the gang slowly waits out the never arriving ransom and their plan slowly unravels the plot descends into a harrowing mix of double crossings, rape, killing and sadism. Save for Candy and the small boy (who spends the entire movie desperately trying to get someone to understand him) none of the other characters seem to have much of any moral character. We're led to believe that Eddy is a decent guy as he attempts to protect Candy however he has a very disturbing scene with Tiffany (who seems to enjoy torturing & taunting their captive). Psycho serial killer brother Alan just looks forward to killing her and a side plot dinner party with the kid Sean's family and the Dad's boss even turns ugly.
Along with all this is a very dark sense of humor (almost slapstick at some points) including a trip to a morgue to purchase an ear. The humor really doesn't do anything to lighten up the proceedings, but does somehow even add to the overall creepiness & unsettling atmosphere of the film. The rape scenes are particularly shocking with one being observed by the child and another Candy is forced to listen to while laying tied & blindfolded on the floor as she silently recites the lords prayer.
Tiffany Bolling in the past always had a kind of tolerate and/or hate relationship with her career in these types of movies. In 1991 she did an interview with Kris Gilpin over at Temple of Schlock where she refers to this as "the worst movie ever made". On the Subversive DVD she appears in an on camera interview and shares a commentary with co-star Susan Sennet (who was also in Big Bad Mama). She says that this movie was the one that pretty much killed her chances at mainstream success and Sennet (who seems rather uncomfortable watching it) relates how she's suffered from claustrophobia since filming this. One of the greatest 70's grindhouse movies and a film that probably could only have been made in the 70's. Well worth checking out.
Wow - putting this on the "Must Watch" list!
ReplyDeleteHi Craig ! This is an EXCELLENT movie - although its been getting some recognition over the past years, its still one of the really forgotten gems from the 70's. The DVD is OOP but can still be picked up (for a reasonable price if your patient)if you keep an eye out. Let me know what you think after you see it.
ReplyDeleteI'm down too, gotta have! Or at least watch...:-)
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