Victims (1982)

A serial rapist gets acquitted of his crimes due to a police mishandling of the investigation. His victims decide to turn the tables on him and begin stalking him.

Director:

Jerrold Freedman

Writers:

Conrad Bromberg (screenplay), Conrad Bromberg (story),

Stars:

Ken Howard, Kate Nelligan, Madge Sinclair

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Ken Howard	...	Joe Buckley
Kate Nelligan	...	Ruth Hession
Madge Sinclair	...	Sgt. Ashcroft
Jonelle Allen	...	Maydene Jariott
Pamela Dunlap	...	Nina Blygelder
Amy Madigan	...	Chloe Brill
Rose Portillo	...	Pilar Galloway
Sherry Hursey	...	Susan Arthur
Karmin Murcelo	...	Nellie Ramirez
Bert Remsen	...	Lt. McClain
Michael C. Gwynne	...	Attorney Walters
Howard Hesseman	...	Charles Galloway
Alex Henteloff	...	Judge Armand Golds
Charles Sweigart	...	J. Winowski
Rosanna Huffman

Storyline

A serial rapist gets acquited of his crimes due to a police mishandling of the investagation. His victgims decide to turn the tables on him and begin stalking him.

---

Plot Keywords:

rape

---

Taglines:

More Terrifying Than Rape ... The Threat That It Could Happen Again!

---

Genres:

Drama

---

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

11 January 1982 (USA)

Also Known As:

Ofiary

Company Credits

Production Co:

Warner Bros. Television

Technical Specs

Runtime:

120 min 120 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color

User Reviews

who is the criminal?

Kate Nelligan is Ruth Hession, a woman raped by Charles Galloway (Howard Hesseman), who feels an injustice is done when the case against him for multiple rapes, is dismissed because of collusion and tainted identification. Ruth stalks Galloway to seek revenge. Nelligan brings her intelligence and cool elegance to Ruth, and gives her a nervous laugh when she is waiting with the other victims for a police lineup. Her best scene is perhaps a medium shot against a wall where she explains why a psychiatrist can't help her, though the climactic slow motion view of Nelligan as she turns to shoot Galloway is unflattering.

The teleplay by William Wood and Conrad Bromberg locates Galloway living next to a steel mill, which is an amusing analogy. The flashbacks to Ruth's rape has him ranting against women's control, in particular his mother, and we see that his home features a photograph of Galloway resumably as a child with his mother who looks flamboyantly trampy. Galloway's choice of wife as someone who barely speaks English doesn't add any depth to our understanding of him. The treatment prefigures William Mastrosimone's play Extremities, particulary in Ruth's confrontation with Galloway, in an effort to humiliate him the way he did to her. There is also an unexpected laugh line when Nelligan is on Galloway surveillance - "What really gets me is that he's probably got neighbours who think he's a nice guy". Director Jerrold Freedman's use of the music score by Lalo Schifrin is acceptable for the thriller genre, and he presents the rape flashbacks with a dreamy soft-porn vaseline lens and subjective camera. These extended scenes certainly make the viewer uncomfortable and de-eroticise the act. Freedman has Galloway lead Nelligan to phallic drilling machinery and the editing of their movement to Nelligan's look of loss creates suspense, with Galloway's silhouette appearance making a gothic impression, and de-camping his security guard outfit. Amy Madigan has a small role as another woman raped by Galloway, but has little chance to shine.