Act of Vengeance (1974)

A woman is sexually assaulted by a serial rapist wearing a hockey mask. She and other victims form a squad that targets would-be rapists, all the while searching for the mask wearing maniac that raped them all.

Director:

Bob Kelljan (as Robert Kelljchian)

Writers:

David Kidd (as Betty Conklin), H.R. Christian

Stars:

Jo Ann Harris, Peter Brown, Jennifer Lee Pryor

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Jo Ann Harris	...	Linda Shoemaker
Peter Brown	...	Jack
Jennifer Lee Pryor	...	Nancy Gates (as Jennifer Lee)
Lisa Moore	...	Karen
Connie Strickland	...	Teresa
Patricia Estrin	...	Angie Cromwell
Lada Edmund Jr.	...	Tiny
Tony Young	...	Bud
Steve Kanaly	...	Tom
Ross Elliott	...	Sgt. Long (as Ross Elliot)
John Pickard	...	Dr. Schetman
Ninette Bravo	...	Joyce
Stanley Adams	...	Bernie / Foul Mouth
Joan McCall	...	Gloria Sherman
Anneka Di Lorenzo	...	Chris (as Anneka DeLorrenzo)

Storyline

A woman is sexually assaulted by a serial rapist wearing a hockey mask. She and other victims form a squad that targets would-be rapists, all the while searching for the mask wearing maniac that raped them all.

---

Plot Keywords:

rape and revenge | rape | revenge | karate | budweiser | 

---

Taglines:

There's a dirty word for what happened to this girl... ...And there's a worse word for what she and her girlfriends are going to do to get even!

---

Genres:

Crime | Drama | Horror | Thriller

---

Certificate:

R

Did You Know?

Trivia

The film was shot under the title "Rape Squad." After American Internation Pictures got cold feet over releasing a film with the word "rape" in the title the title was changed to "Act of Vengeance" shortly before its release. After the film did not do as well as AIP hoped, the film was released as "Rape Squad" in hopes of drumming up some publicity.

---

Goofs

In the scene where the group trashes a man's apartment, a male crew member with a mustache is visible in a mirror's reflection when one of the women breaks the mirror.

---

Quotes

Jack: What are you running away for? All we're gonna do is make love. Now there's nothing much wrong with that, is there? Matter of fact, this is your lucky day. You know why? 'Cause you're with the best, lady. You are with the ever-lovin' best. Matter of fact, I think maybe you should say, "Thank you Mr. Rapist, for choosing me". Yeah, you say that. Come on now, you say that! "Thank you Mr. Rapist!"
Linda: [muffled, through her gag] Thank you Mr. Rapist.
Jack: Ah, that's better. You're welcome.

---

Alternate Versions

The film was unreleased until 1987 in the UK and then cut by 4 minutes 48 secs by the BBFC with extensive edits to the attack on Linda and further cuts to the assault scenes.

---

Connections

Featured in Blood of 1000 Virgins (2013)

User Reviews

The Jingle Bells Rapist Will Win Your Heart

How about that. My first movie with the word "Rape" in the title and it's not Japanese! Unfortunately the Japanese are still the winners when it comes down to movies with the "Rape" in the title. But hell, this was still a nice effort.

Story focuses on a group of women who refer to themselves as The Rape Squad. Guess what they all have in common? Wrong! They've all been raped by the same guy! Jeez, how can you be so off? They all love the black guy from the Mod Squad....? Wow, awful guess. Anyways, they've all been raped by the same Hockey Mask, Orange Jumpsuit wearing rapist who loves the song Jingle Bells. Now they've joined forces and they're about to show these pushy men what real women can do! Rape Squad was a decent enough flick. There are many rape and revenge flicks out there that are much better, but this is definitely one to check out if you're a big fan of the genre. Checking out the Rapist alone is reason enough. It's tough to beat a confident, smooth talking rapist who dresses up like Michael Myers and Jason Voorhees combined. And the coolest thing is, this predates both of those movies by a couple years. Oh and he sings Jingle Bells. Whoever was writing this flick had their creative juices flowing big time. The movie suffers from a few lulls when the girls are just chit-chatting....but you gotta admit, it's realistic. And I was hoping for the movie to be a little more graphic, especially the ending, but hell, the movie entertained me enough. So yeah, if you're into rape/revenge films, give this baby a shot. 6.5 outta 10.

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

18 August 1974 (USA)

Also Known As:

Rape Squad

Filming Locations:

Los Angeles, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

American International Pictures (AIP), Hollywood West Entertainment

Technical Specs

Runtime:

90 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color (Movielab)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1