MovieChat Forums > Day of the Woman (1978) Discussion > SURPRISED! This was actually a pretty w...

SURPRISED! This was actually a pretty well-made movie!

posted 14 years ago by Rvrgm
4 replies | jump to latest

From the title and notoriety, I was expecting this to be 70s shlock of the worst kind - something akin to the goofball nature of the original LAST HOUSE ON THE LEFT.

I was surprised to find competent acting, professional staging and camera work, and a compelling story, albeit simple. I thought the rape scene was handled in a way to make the viewer really hate the rapists, and never once to entertain or titillate the audience. I thought the revenge sequences were appropriate without being over-the-top and disturbing (as the remake appears to be).

For a basic rape/revenge film, I found this much more watchable than I had anticipated.

[–] silvergloss 14 years ago

What movie were you watching? This was not only thematically terrible but technically awkward and just plain painful to watch.

[–] putrescent_stench 14 years ago

I agree. I was actually afraid to watch this, thinking it might be glorifying the violence, when the total opposite was the case. And the beautiful, idyllic setting and effective use of sound (birdsong and Puccini vs. typical soundtrack type music) created atmosphere and made the violence all the more horrific.

[–] fuchsiasattic 14 years ago

I agree! There was a bit of cheesiness to it in certain places, but I was surprised at awful it wasn't!

[–] WarpedRecord 11 years ago

I was surprised by how competent some of the camera works was, but I can't say I was impressed with this film overall because of the weak performances and lack of momentum. The second act seemed sadly out of sync with the first, and that's a big drawback in my book. 4/10 stars.