The Last Victim

Unknown to most people who are not true down in the dirt fans of all the sleaze / horror that used to dwell on the seedy, shadowy screens of N.Y.'s 42nd St. theaters in the 70's, this watered down version of Forced Entry is actually a remake of a film by the same title that came out a year or two earlier. The original was an XXX rated hardcore nightmare that starred a much younger porn legend Harry Reems (from Deep Throat fame) as the brutal killer / gas station attendant. The story is almost identical to this version, but is WAY more intense & disturbing.

The basic plot of this R - rated version revolves around a disturbed service station attendant named Carl who gets female customers info when they pay for gas & such with credit cards. He then proceeds to stalk them, and brutally rape & kill them in a vicious fashion. He not only rapes & kills them, but he rants & taunts them while in the process. This remake is a vein attempt to cash in on the originals viciousness & the then current stream of "Last House on the Left" rip offs. The highlight, though, is seeing the hot, young Nancy Allen & Tanya Roberts. But, if you want real nightmares, try to track down the original XXX version starring Harry Reems under the Pseudonym Tim Long. It's much more powerful than this lame R rated rip off.

It's hard to judge the ratings here because it isn't known what version they are reviewing. But the ridiculously low score here suggests that most viewers have seen the 75 minute cut, the one that was released to theaters after the commercial success of actress Tanya Roberts. "Forced Entry" is of course, a loose remake of the hardcore feature starring Harry Reems. In that movie, the psychotic sex maniac was a disturbed Vietnam Vet, and that porn movie is so unpleasant and ugly that parts are difficult to watch. If they had spent more time on the horror aspect and less on the ugly hardcore sex, that film would be a classic. Apparently someone else thought so too, which is why this remake was made. Or is it a remake? Originally titled "The Last Victim," this time the maniac, Carl, is the product of an abusive mother who tortured him as a child. This movie, in it's original form, is a lean and mean, and very intense horror film that closely resembles "Maniac" that came out a few years later. With a 75 minute running time, the length typical of hardcore features of the time, the story is told from the killer's point of view. We follow the car mechanic Carl on his hunting adventures. He hunts for beautiful women to murder, and rape..in that order. Those who have the misfortune of crossing Carl's path, meet a horrific end graphically nasty end. Females are choked, beaten, stabbed and violated with beer bottles. But if you have only seen that 75 minute cut, you won't see any of the disturbing scenes described here. This film was reworked and played theaters with a PG rating, which is absolutely unthinkable, at least in the 1970s, when movies had reached their peak with graphic sex and violence . Every frame of this movie was seedy and lurid and i would not consider one second as family entertainment. But a few years later, when the name of Tanya Roberts, who made her film debut here, became a household name, the owners of the movie rights decided to clean it up, releasing an even shorter version, running a mere 72 minutes, that removed what little sex and violence there was in the 75 minute cut. In the end, that reworked version survived, while the original, 93 minute cut, seemed to disappear from the face of the Earth, other than it's survival contained within that rare VHS tape. To make matters worse, the movie was released on Blu Ray, but for some ridiculous reason, it's that truncated, heavily censored 75 minute version! Apparently the director prefers the soft version that omits all the sex and violence. For grindhouse movie fans, this Blu Ray is the most disappointing and worthless product ever..because the original is truly a powerhouse of exploitation insanity. Nancy Allen most likely wishes this one was forgotten, as her role of the raped and abused hitch hiker is short, but very graphic. She must be pleased that her rape/nude scene is GONE from the Blu Ray release. Credit must be given to Tanya Roberts however. She managed to star in this ultra sleazy rape movie, while managing to avoid doing any actual nudity. She comes very close, but manages to retain her honor as the terrorized housewife who turns the tables on her stalker. Fans of classic horror and rape-revenge grindhouse flicks should seek out "The Last Victim." It's a grimy, voyeuristic, misogynistic, and intensely atmospheric, forgotten gem of the exploitation genre. Sadly, that ancient VHS tape is the only way to see it. I'm sure that tape is a collectors item among cult horror movie fans. This exploitation movie lover is happy to have this rare item, along with the equally fine and rare "Bloodrage," another gritty and super-rare title that focuses on a twisted sociopathic killer, from director Joseph Zito. The fact that both of these titles are unavailable in their uncut form is a real mystery..

This film by Jim Sotos (the director of the surprisingly decent eighties slasher 'Sweet 16') is apparently a remake of the earlier infamous film of the same title by Shaun Costello and starring Harry Reems. Forced Entry was never meant to be a mainstream flick, but it would appear that Sotos was trying to turn it into one with this film as the plot is basically the same but we don't get any of the sexual violence, which is a bit of a shame because that's the only thing that most people will have tuned into the original for and it's always going to be difficult to make an R-Rated film based on this plot line and make it a success. The plot is very simple and focuses on a psychopath who works at a gas station. It's the old story of abuse as a child and this man suffered at the hands of his mother; which has lead to an acute hatred of women. Naturally, he decides to use his job (which involves meeting women) to find females to have his way with and murder. However, soon he meets Nancy and actually falls in love with her, which puts him at odds with his murderous rage.

On the whole, it has to be said that this film is not successful and the only part of it I really liked was the music on the opening credits sequence. Showing the violence and gore is not always necessary in films; but it is in this one. The original was meant to shock and it did; but this film's neglect towards showing the violence means that it is not shocking, not true to the original and it also doesn't feature a plot strong enough to hold up a film like this without violence. Ron Max is the lead and while he convinces as the psychopath, he isn't very charismatic and the performance feels a bit flat. Luckily, there's some female talent in the form of Tanya Roberts and Nancy Allen on hand to help the film along. The film features a voice over that shows us what the psycho is thinking and feeling and it's all rather generic stuff and the film could have done without it. There's not a great deal of interest created in the plot and the ending is both predictable and generic. The film has a handful of decent moments and it's worth tracking down as a companion piece to the original; but it's not very good unfortunately.

I wanted to watch this one sense I am a fan of films such as "Last House on the Left" and "Maniac". This film follows in this same gener only less satisfying to watch than those above. This movie is about a garage worker who leads a double life as a serial rapeist, watching young women and taking advantage of them at the apropriate moment. He stutters when he's with a girl and starts to feel nervous which I felt was unapprpriate for the movie. Then we see him making his move towards the victim and them the movie switches to a different scene and then later on in the movie like when we see the killer watching TV or drinking a beer or scratching his rabbit which is his only friend we see flashbacks of what happened between the killer and the unfortunate victim which we should have seen while he was killing the victim. This I also found unnecisary in the movie. The part that I did like in the movie as compared to "Maniac" was the fact that we get to see what the killers thinking and just why he commits these murders and I liked that. Always wanted to know just what made those serial killers tick. But this one didn't tick to much for me, I gave it a 4.

Opening with an unseen attacker ranting about hookers, followed by some ridiculous set up assaults on female victims, "Forced Entry" has few redeeming qualities, and is in fact a quite tedious exploitation film. The psycho rapist, Ron Max, comes across as nothing more than a weak David Hess clone. Slow motion assaults are repeated in dream sequences, while voice overs further weaken an already weak screenplay. The climactic home invasion takes forever to get underway, as Tanya Roberts talks on the phone, makes tea, reads magazines etc. This movie actually pushes the viewers patience to the breaking point, and is not recommended even for die hard exploitation fans. - MERK