The woman above is none other than Solveig Andersson. The stunning, intriguing and mesmerising Solveig Andersson. Now take a few minutes to look upon that face. Let it sink in. Absorb it if you will. Christina Lindberg and Marie Liljedahl in all respects, but for me the only real star of the Swedish Sin movies is Solveig Andersson.
I haven’t really read that much, and heard even less, about Solveig more than the few times she’s mentioned in interviews given by others about the genre.
Andersson dreamed of breaking through and becoming the next big Swedish star, which god knows she could have, but at the tender age of twenty-two she found herself cast in Torgny Wickman’sEva – Den Utstötta 1969. This part led to other parts and if I where to list the quite frankly moderate list of movies she starred in you will see that Solveig starred in Bo A. VibeniusThriller – en grym film (Thriller - a cruel picture)1974, Arne Mattsson's Smutsiga Fingrar (Dirty Fingers)1973 and Torgny Wickman'sKyrkoheden 1970, Eva - den utstötta (Eva, Everything but legal), Ur Kärlekens Språk (Swedish Marriage Manual), both 1969, and my all time favourite Swedish exploitation flick, Skräcken har 1000 Ögon (Sensuous Sorceress) 1970, which I still demand an uncut version of by the way, and frequently panicky regret ever loosing that uncut vhs I had two decades ago.
If you know stuff about Swedish genre, then you will know that several of those titles above easily qualify as entries on some kind of top ten list.
Andersson left the movie business after finding faith in the lord. Now normally I would laugh that off, but in Solveig’s case, it’s so damned fitting. The main ingredient that draws me towards her movies and characters is that I find them and her to be the same person. I don’t really think there was that much difference between the woman and the characters she portrayed. There’s sadness and a frustration in all her characters. It’s almost as one can see the desperation in those blue eyes. As said, Solveig really dreamt of being a star, but sadly – probably due to her starring in the movies that she did – never really made it.
Despite never breaking out into the mainstream and becoming that shining star she dreamt of, there is some poetic justice in the fact that she apparently found her way in life and the few movies she did leave behind, have become cult classics on their own. So in some weird way, Solveig Andersson did become a star, and in my book the brightest shining star of them all.
Now get thy self off thy ass, and grab this smoking compilation of music from the movies you know and love as The Swedish Sin!
Sweden, Sweden, Sweden… What ever happened to the movies of Sweden. This country produced some of the most interesting directors, movies and actors ever, and then it all went to the shitter. Swedish movies of today have no edge, no charm, they are all either detective movies with the same five actors over and over again, shitty comedies trying to recapture some of the brilliance of the seventies cuteness – unfortunately with the same actors of then too, debut features focusing on immigrant culture clashes or disturbed abstract art fuck too dark and introvert to ever gain wider recognition or make an impression as on lee the director has an slight idea of what the heck he’s trying to say. Who actually green lights these films, and where's the gambles?
I have news for all of them; it’s all been done so much better some twenty-thirty-forty years ago. There’s an ignorance among the young audiences of today that is disturbing. People do not know their own celluloid inheritance, they sigh at Bergman’s name, calling him boring, they have no idea of directors like Arne Mattsson, Torgny Wickman, Bo Arne Vibenius, Bo Widerberg, Gunnar Höglund, Jan Halldoff, not forgetting our own flock of low budget exploitation masters Mats Helge Olsson, Peter Borg and many others.
Yeah I keep going back here and saying the same thing, many directors where lost in Bergman’s shadow, but it’s important that we always push forth these guys because they are the alternative directors, the directors that need to be profiled here in Sweden. I can’t understand when I meet who say that love the American and European Goth, Crime, Sleaze and Sexploitation flicks but haven’t even seen the Swedish pieces. The ones we need to embrace…
Most audiences of today don’t know shit. They go to the cinema, eat their fucking popcorn and all become professional movie critics, not knowing anything of the astonishing movies shot in and around Stockholm. If you don’t know background, then you really shouldn’t try to shoot your mouth of, if your frame of reference only goes as far back as the last Ulf Malmros/ Kjell Sundvall / Josef Fares flick. (Decent enough directors, but not my cup of tea)
One of my ambitions in life is to somehow establish a Swedish film museum that isn’t all about the great Ingmar Bergman (with no sarcasm attached – Bergman was the greatest and there’s no denying that and he would be featured), but also showcase these other fantastic craftsmen and artists in the light that they need to be exposed in. Even if it’s only a six-month exhibition in town, it needs to be done. Every country should have it’s own movie museum to enlighten those with an interest for trivia and facts. Yeah, a shrine to domestic cinema geekness.
Thriller - A cruel film directed by Bo Arne Vibenius under his Alfred Fridolinski pseudonym – and most of the crew used pseudonyms on this one too - is a provocative, wonderful example of the golden age of that genre warping period during the seventies. For sure, this movie wouldn’t ever be made today, and considering that Sweden has the oldest board of censors in the world, established already in 1911 – give a man a break will you! They just invented cinema and some beurocratic sod wants to review everything that is shown already… it says a lot about Sweden – it’s no wonder that Thriller ran into trouble for it’s violent and sexual content. When it was screened to the board on the fourth of April 1973, they banned it there and then. It’s often it’s claimed that Thriller was the first movie to be completely banned in Sweden, but that’s not entirely true, as this honour goes to Arne Ragneborn and his 1957 film Det Händer I Natt (It happens tonight). Ragneborn was so outraged by the decision that he never directed another movie again. Just over a year later Thriller was up for review again, this time in shorter form, with a new English dialogue soundtrack, and once again they hammered a no go ban on the movie. But Vibenius, being the clever guy that he is, had already set about selling the movie overseas with the moniker ”Banned in Sweden” a genius stroke as Sweden was supposedly the most sexually liberated place in the world, and a movie banned there... The cunning promotion would eventually pay off and the film would hit the States right in the gonads. Supposedly it’s this shorter overseas version, under the name They Called her One Eye that was submitted to the board a third time mid 1974. (The English dialogue version was also the second one presented to them) With a whole suggestion of scenes to be axed from the film (the infamous eyeball scene, two of the revenge/murders and the strangulation of Heinz Hopf in the final reel – the hard core sex scenes where all ready out. And no, that's not Lindberg getting porked, but frequently hired adult actors of the time who Vibenius brought in for the parts.) and somewhere near 22minutes shorter than that initial version the movie was finally released with the highest age limit possible to the theatres. It only played for about a week before disappearing from the screens. Although the movie did return during the video boom, and it did have some success overseas in the States as They Call Her One Eye. A movie that is among one of Tarantino’s favourites and his affection for Lindberg hasn’t gone unnoticed over here.
Thriller is a fascinating movie, and there’s no way you can get around it. Being a rather uncomplicated rape-revenge movie it see’s Christina Lindberg [Gustav Wiklund’sExponerad (Exposed) 1971, Torgny Wickman’s Anita – ur en tonårsflickas dagbok (Anita: Swedish Nymphet) 1973 and Norifumi Suzuki’sSex and Fury 1973. Lindberg also reprised her role as Frigga in the underground classic Sex, Lögner & Videovåld 2000] as Frigga - Madeleine in the English Language version – who’s been mute since her uncle molested her as a child. The choice of keeping the character a mute was a brilliant decision as Lindberg’s delivery of dialogue wasn’t her greatest skill. She lives with her parents on their farm and as she one day stands looking when the next buss to town goes by the sleaze-bag Tony (Heinz Hopf – Arne Mattsson’s great Mördaren – En helt vanlig person 1967, and Smutsiga Fingrar (Dirty Fingers) 1973 – Where’s the friggin' DVD release of that one? Also in Wicklund’sExponerad against Lindberg and Bergman’s Award Winning Fanny and Alexander 1982, to name a few of the many fantastic movies he starred in.) offers her a ride into town. He takes her to his pad, and after getting her drunk to the point where she passes out he gets her addicted to heroin. Frigga tries to escape on several occasions, only to have Tony scar her for life, and in the process create one of the most fantastic iconic images ever; after stabbing her in the eye with a scalpel (supposedly the eye of a real corpse, hence the nauseating realistic scene) Frigga takes to wearing that hot eye patch over the gaping hole that once was her eye. Tony the creep now has leverage over Frigga as he forces her into prostitution in return for each day’s fix of smack. A variety of sordid customers come and go after having their way with Frigga, who is all alone in this dark world of extortion and grimy sex. Her only friend Sally [Solveig Andersson – from Torgny Wickman’s filmsSkräcken har 1000 ögon 1970 and Eva – den utstötta 1969] tells Frigga of the vile letter that Tony has sent to Frigga's parents telling them that she wants’ nothing to do with them anymore. This letter led her parent’s devastated and committing suicide. This is the spark that is needed for Frigga to start planning her revenge. As each customer pays her, she pockets a small percentage of the cash herself and pays for karate, driving and shooting lessons. As each day goes by she’s one step closer to taking her revenge, and after Sally dies it’s payback time. One by one she tracks her exploiters down and kills them with that fantastic stone cold look on her eye patched face, and yes, even the hot lesbian [Despina Tomazani - who is also in Singapore Sling 1990 director Nikos Nikolaidi'sThe Sweet Bunch 1983] gets a shotgun to the gut. Even the cops try to stop this one-woman murder machine culminating in that amazing eight minute slow-motion sequence of carnage. Finally after asking a hot dog vendor [Vibenius in a cameo] for directions, Frigga stands face to face with the fiendish Tony who first is shot in the kneecap, an IRA favourite, and then slowly decapitated in an ingenious device consisting of a rope, a horse and a bucket of apples.
There’s no way around it, Thriller is an amazing and impressive movie, that definitely stands out like a sore thumb in the eye of every cineaste – in a masochistic and pleasurable way that is.
The slow pace, the sparse use of dialogue, that stunning eye gouging, the sleaziness, the graphic hardcore inserts that leave nothing to the imagination, the gritty violence and the overall cynicism of the movie make it a masterpiece unlike any other. It’s simply one of those must see movies, and I still find it entertaining upon each revisiting – Christmas day night, a perfect ending to a stressful day. It was quite a while ago I last saw it before that, back in 2004 when it resurfaced on DVD, but back in the nineties I saw it quite a few times after a true cineaste I know (It’s you again Stefan) actually spent time with Vibenius reassembling Thriller, and his third feature, the completely insane and splendid Breaking Point 1975, to their original form. Needless to say many party nights ended up as movie nights watching old Swedish psychotronica – Thriller and Breaking Point being the new found lost treasures. Like a modern day ring virus, You have to see this film! was probably one of the most common drunken slurs when meeting fellow friends of mind-expanding movies out on the town. I’m almost certain that the Synapse DVD is from the same source as that was the version they assembled on VHS. I also received an original Swedish poster, which still is one of the most cherished entries in my movie poster collection.
So how come Bo Arne Vibenius, who had worked on several award winning movies; with Ingmar Bergman - Persona 1966 and Vargtimmen (Hour of the Wolf) 1968, Kjell Grede’s Hugo och Josefin 1967, Gunnar Höglund'sRaskenstam 1983, Bo Widerberg’s Mannen på Taket (Man on the Roof) 1976, Vilgot Sjöman’sTabu 1977, - all very good and respected productions - become the man responsible for one of, if not THE most renown Swedish exploitation flick ever?
After writing and directing his debut feature, the children’s movie Hur Marie träffade Fredrik, åsnan Rebus, kängurun Ploj och… (How Marie met Fredrik, Rebus the Donkey, Ploj the kangaroo and…) 1969, the anticipated success failed to come even though the movie received decent reviews at the time. The movie, in many ways before it’s time as it’s narrative is told from the children’s point of view, and features a fabulous sequence where during a high speed police chase on go-carts, Marie and Fredrik along with the police officers in pursuit take a break to eat cakes and drink pop before resuming the chase, is great stuff indeed and would probably work better today… Frustrated and disappointed he decided to make a movie that would appeal to all, and bar nothing from the process. Vibenius is often quoted as saying “I’m going to make a super commercial piece of shit movie”, and the results talk for themselves, Thriller is still talked about in pop culture, and being acknowledged by Tarantino as an inspiration for Kill Bill Vol. 1 2003 you know it made an impression.
I just wish that the stars could align correctly at one point in time and present a complete Vibenius Collection, because all three movies of his films to date (never give up the faith!) are all stunning pieces of craftsmanship. Hur Marie Träffade Fredrik is hilarious, like mentioned previously has a unique narrative, and I’d love to re-watch it with my own kids as I enjoyed it myself that one time I saw it ages ago on video. I’d almost kill for a decent release of Breaking Point as the memories I have of it are that it’s completely surreal, even more provocative than Thriller and was shot in the area of Stockholm where I used to live. Actually the video society Art Video Club that I worked for had our premises on the other side of the street to the school where Bob Bellings kidnaps a child in the movie. We freaked when we realised that we where a step from the location.
Thinking of the irony of Vibenius'“I’m going to make a super commercial piece of shit movie” statement made after the first film, it’s easy to feel its the kind of quote that makes legends, as this commercial piece of shit movie is the one that Bo A. Vibenius will be forever remembered for…
Until he releases some new piece of celluloid fury upon us that is, and that isn’t completely impossible, as there are frequently rumours of new films in the works. All from Thriller 2 – were Frigga is hired by a and of guerrilla soldiers in South America to start a revolution, and eradicate Drug lords and the CIA, to the futuristic Z-Rider (I have had the fortune to read a synopsis that was one of those, I have to see this, moments.) Whatever Vibenius comes up with, I'm sure it would definitely be a movie that all the fans of the masterful Thriller – a cruel film would line up to see, or buy when that desired DVD box set finally materialises.
The version that Synapse Films have released is the complete long version that all those years ago was submitted to the censors in all its gritty, sleazy grandeur…
Image:
1.78:1
Audio:
Dolby Digital Mono - Swedish or English dialogue is optional, and English subtitles are available
Extras:
Where as I complained the other day that the Synapse release of Jesus Franco’sShe Killed In Ecstasy was lacking, this one is filled to the brim. An extensive gallery of stills, original TV-spots and theatrical trailers, outtakes, the story in pictures, an alternative harbour fight sequence, and a photo document on that unused fight sequence that the lab accidentally destroyed in post.
If I ever had to single out a bunch of Swedish Exploitation flicks for an uninitiated fellow cineaste, then this would be among the few selected. The movies of Arne Mattson and Bo A. Vibenius in all respect, but Torgny Wickman’sSkräcken har 1000 Ögon (literally, Fear has 1000 Eyes) is one of my favourite Swedish exploitation flicks. Not because it ‘s very scary, neither is it especially erotic either, (there’s more nudity on the TV these days) but I dig it because it holds a magnificent ambience, it is a great document of a very special time in cinematic history and is pretty dammed near the witchcraft/occult/ exploitation flicks that directors like Renato Polselli and Luigi Batazella where churning out a few years later. Perhaps mostly recognised for his 1969 shock/documentary/educational/explicit study Kärlekens Språk (The Language of Love) 1969, Wickman'sSkräcken har 1000 Ögon is something completely different, and the first ever attempt at combing eroticism with horror produced in Sweden.
Starting with a close up of dripping blood and the words “I hereby dedicate myself to the devil!” being written with the blood there’s a tone set for the movie which gets right to the point, there’s no need fiddling about and wondering what the heck this movie is going to be about, as it’s all there in an awesome opening sequence. The movie contains a fair deal of witchcraft, occult references and the complementary nudity to go with pagan rituals is all there. But for the most of the time there is more to be asked for, like a short scene where the village doctor’s x-ray plates show one of the villagers wearing an inverted cross. We already know who it is, Hedvig, and there’s nothing made of the find but a shallow “Do you see what I see? An inverted cross!” And there’s no name on the plates…” remarked by the Doctor and his staff. It’s opportunities like this that make the story feel somewhat wasted. Never the less the movie is quite fun anyhow, and sometimes you don’t need a perfect story to enjoy a movie. Especially if the movie holds a great atmosphere, has a splendid cast and a fabulous score to keep the mood flowing.
Sven [Hans Wahlgren] is a vicar in a small village in Sweden, he and his pregnant wife Anna [Anita Sanders, who had a short career in Italy and held both smaller and larger roles in movies by Fellini, Pasolini, Tinto Brass, Alberto De Martino and Pupi Avati] return home from a trip to Spain to be greeted by Sven’s aunt, Barbro [Barbro Hjort af Ornäs, who not only stared in many Swedish erotica movies (keeping her clothes on of course) but also acted in several Bergman movies too] Shortly after, their friend and maid Hedwig [the stunning Solveig Andersson] moves in with them. Andersson who you may have seen in the leading role of Wickman’s previous film Eva – den utstötta 1969 (Eva: Swedish and Underage), which also featured Wahlgren, and Hjort af Ornäs. She can also be seen as Christina Lindberg’s bordello mate in Bo A. Vibenius extraordinary Thriller – En Grym Film 1974 (Thriller - A Cruel Picture, Aka They Call Her One Eye)
Anna is suffering from her pregnancy, she can’t sleep and she’s having strange visions, and hasn’t slept for ages. She can’t stand lying next to Sven who sleeps like a baby all through the night. Hedwig starts her manipulation on a small scale suggesting that Sven could sleep in the library as to let Anna rest in peace. Obviously Anna suggests this to Sven who without any major objections gathers up his stuff and shuffles into the guestroom. Needless to say Anna turns up in her sexiest nightgown (definitely a Jean Rollin moment if ever there was one...) and after seductively slipping it off glides into his bed for a hefty session of lovemaking… but is it really Anna?
The movie ponders on; Hedwig seduces both Anna and Sven. In between sessions of seduction she’s tormenting Anna with fake visions, like the great scene where she exchanges the ordinary baby leggings that Anna is knitting for a three legged version! Anna find’s it screams and faints. The sinister Hedwig, switches back to he ordinary pair and claims that Anna imagined it all. To make things worse Hedwig keeps a bunch of self crafted Voodoo dolls that she uses to torment Anna, and even drives Barbro to her untimely death as she discovers Hedvig’s hidden past. Even the warm homely bread gets used as an ominous tool of Hedvig’s witchcraft. The seduction/mind games progresses until the threesome have a full-blown orgy after Barbro’s funeral where Hedwig going all in makes Sven smash a crucifix and then carves an inverted cross on the naked torso of Anna.
Plot wise the movie is in shambles. In at nutshell the problem is that there is never any real value at stake, Hedwig has no apparent agenda. She just sells her soul to the devil, seduces Anna and Sven the Vicar and goes about corrupting them, which also kind of fails, Anna leaves the house by her own free will with out any major obstacles but crawling up on the kitchen sink. Sure Sven smashes a crucifix and chucks it on the fire to keep them warm during the final orgy, and he’s already been unfaithful to his wife with the Seductive witch, but it’s not of free will as he’s put under Hedvig’s spell and has no recollection of the incidents at all when the firemen pull him from the burning vicarage. There’s never a conscious decision to abandon his faith as its all Hedvig’s doing. The same goes for Hedwig, she never really has that agenda written out, apart from selling herself to do the devils work. But opportunity is there, even though it is completely ignored by Wickman in his script. Was she planning on taking Anna’s child? Did she want to corrupt the vicar? Or what? We never know as the movie ends with the naked Hedwig laughing at the fire brigade and police officers outside the burning rectory, during their feeble efforts. It’s a strange and confusing ending. Neither do any of Hedvig's foes really make any honest threat to her, she easily manipulates Anna into believing that she’s going insane, and every other major threat is taken care of in the next scene. Sure she kills off her antagonists, but that’s all she does, there’s no build or suspense created around it.
Supposedly Wickman based his screenplay on a series of events that happened in a small rural village where he spent his childhood, and that could be the case, there’s nothing to prove the opposite.
Now perhaps the movie doesn’t make much of an impression with today’s standards, as it solemnly finds a spot somewhere in between the nudie-cuties/ roughies of Doris Wishman, Russ Meyer, George Harrison Marks and the wave of innovative porno chic movies that where to be produced a few years later, both in Sweden and outside it. The novelty of porno chic decimated the demand for soft erotic imagery; especially as full hardcore could be seen on the big screen in almost every major city. But there is a certain charming innocence to these movies of the past as they explore how far they can go without crossing the border. Ironically they could have gone much further with the events about to take place.
Skräcken har 1000 Ögon was one of the first really genre specific movies out of Sweden that I saw many years ago after a dear friend gave me a few VHS tapes with Swedish titles he demanded that I watch. (This guy was amazing at locating former starlets of the seventies and getting interviews with them for the magazine we used to work for back then. Christina Lindberg was one of them he profiled in the magazine. He’s still a, finger on the pulse guy, currently working for one of the leading Swedish movie magazines.)
I had always ignored Swedish film, apart from the mandatory; Ingmar Bergman, Vilgot Sjöman and Victor Sjöström, so these tapes really blew me away! Watching stuff like Bo A. VibeniusThriller – En Grym Film 1974, Arne Mattson’sSmutsiga Fingrar 1973 (Dirty Fingers) and Wickman’sSkräcken har 1000 Ögon 1970, opened my eyes to a complete new world in my own backyard. Yes backyard, as these movies where shot in and around Stockholm, and a ten-minute walk from where I lived at the time. And the basic fact that these movies where shot in the same studios as Bergman used is exhilarating. I’ve said before that a whole bunch of Swedish directors vanished under the shadow of Bergman’s marvel, and that’s where you find these guys.
Although I’m sure that VHS version of Skräcken har 1000 Ögon was longer and contained more nudity, and it’s often rumoured that there was a longer print, which could partially be responsible for the erroneously quoted 99 minute run time. But for there to be an additional almost half-hour there has to be a whole load of stuff missing, I’m only missing a few longer scenes of seduction, especially the one where Sven pulls the wig of Anna only to reveal Hedvig. Then again there could be a whole lot of shagging in 26 minutes of missing footage so perhaps that rumoured longer version could have contained the sex Wickman was accustomed to directing. It’s a teasing thought, but producer Inge Ivarsson says in the interview featured on the disc that he had to hold Wickman on a short leash so that the “erotic” elements didn’t get out of hand. So presumably the longer print is a figment of wishful thinking, and if there were an extra half hour of skin and smut, the movie probably wouldn’t have faded into oblivion shortly after it’s release.
What I find so fascinating about the movie is how obvious the Sweden + Nudity + Horror epithet worked so well as a marketing banner. According to producer Inge Ivarsson the movie regained all it’s costs on the international market alone, which he also claims was the prime target audience for these flicks and the two words Swedish Erotica will even today receive a joyful grin from people acquainted with the genre. There was a huge market for Swedish erotica overseas, and recently this retro niche has been rediscovered with the advent of DVD. I think it would be fair to claim that starlet’s of the seventies, like Christina Lindberg for an instance, have a larger fan base now then all those years ago. Well perhaps not the same kind of fan base at least.
Yeah, in many ways The movie is a kind of cute and innocent flick, and all credit has to go to Wickman and Ivarsson who at least tried to create the first erotic horror ever produced in Sweden, and I say cute in the context to Wickman’s previous movies like Kärlekens Språk and Eva - Den Utstötta and his later ones, as he just like so many other directors that had been dabbling in erotica, ended up directing full blown porno’s at the end of his career. Also to that discussion there’s the fact of the casts of these movies. There are many really great well known and recognizable actors seen through out these movies, many beloved Swedish faces and names, even though there’s some nudity and erotic subplots going on. Even a few international Swedish stars, Stellan Skarsgård to name the most renown of them all, participated in these movies. There’s almost the same type of mentality as the Japanese actors took when they where only offered pinku roles during the pinku era of Japanese Cinema. They took it at face value, a job is a job and you do the work that is requested of you as an actor. This is quite an admirable approach to your acting career, as a few years later actors in movies containing eroticism and sexually graphic imagery where considered porn actors and that brings a complete different set of luggage with it. Eroticism to enhance your story, and a story to motivate your eroticism is one thing, but when fuck scenes after fuck scenes are all that your movie is about it’s no longer interesting
Finally the biggest surprise of the film comes with the soundtrack! The score that Mats Olsson put together for this one is a fantastically suave new-Jazz groove strut that definitely could have been found on Italian Giallo and Poliziceotti flicks of the time. Great stuff that someone should re-release some day, it’s a winner to say the least.
Image: Originally shot in 1,66:1, but brought into some kind of semi 4:3 full screen in the scan.
Audio: Swedish dialogue, Mono. Unfortunately as I have whined about before no subtitles at all are available on the KlubbSuper8 DVD’s.
Extras: Bolmört i mitt öra (Henbane in My Ear - the intended original title), a nine minute short interview with producer IngeIvarsson and Klinga Wickman about he movie and the actors. A few deleted scenes (once again perhaps from that legendary longer version?) unfortunately without any audio, a whole load of still from the movie and behind the scenes, Biographies for cast and crew and theatrical trailers for Fear has 1000 Eyes 1970, Anita 1973, and Kärlekens XYZ 1971 also available from KlubbSuper8.com