Outrage

I first ran across this title in the remake version, with Rob Lowe and Jennifer Gray in the roles of put-upon working class couple terrorized ruthlessly by spoiled rich punks.

Yes, it was a TV movie, and yes, many of the plot devices were over-the-top and borderline ridiculous...BUT...it was effective. The sheer evil of the torments in the '98 version were creepy (the Time Tracer phone calls...ugh) and couldn't help but put you in the place of the couple...seriously, what *would* you do? Easy to say pull out your AK, blow 'em away...another thing to do it.

My problem with that version was Rob Lowe, who I like as an actor but whom I believe was completely miscast. No, you need an actor who looks like he's going to blow at any minute. Granite-jawed Robert Culp? Yeah, that's more like it.

I got the '73 version bootlegged from a friend and was pretty shocked that the tormenting was maybe MORE vicious than the '98 version. It was just as taut with maybe more believability (odd for the era). The '73 thugs pour trash into an old lady's pool after demolishing her fencing, set fire to Culp's place, trash it with paint...it's sadistic to the nth degree. My big problem with Outrage '73 was the denouement, which I felt (though creative) didn't match up to the evil that preceded it (less the bit with the hose and living room window --- very neat!).

The '98 version was just as much about Lowe's character's problem with anger. It almost made him as much a part of the problem as the kids...and I liked that twist. I also liked that they took the '98 plot "all the way". Perhaps the "real life" incident was more like the '73 version, but the '98 film plays out more satisfyingly. The '73 version ends as more of a simplistic morality play. Still, both films will disturb you, if only for the degree of evil being played out on the screen. Both make you squirm, which, I guess is the point.