Revenge

John Kruse, the writer of this 1971 revenge flick, was also responsible for the much more superior and gripping 1957 vehicle (no pun intended) Hell Drivers. It would be nice to say that there is at least one thing that is gripping about REVENGE too. Unfortunately, even with a director like Sidney Hayers this just isn’t the case. Looking at the premise and knowing it is British you may expect to get a few laughs in between all the drama… Yes, we do get them, albeit for all the wrong reasons.

To put it upfront, Revenge could have been a taut affair but as it stands, it is badly thought out and thus fairly unconvincing. Ah yes, the plot: Landlord Jim Radford (James Booth) and wife Carol (Joan Collins) have every reason to be devastated – their little daughter has been sexually assaulted and murdered by a... well, obviously vile and filthy pedophile. Enter Seely (a ‘brilliant’ part for Kenneth Griffith) who remains suspect Nr. 1. Unfortunately and due to lack of evidence he has been found not guilty. So family friend Harry (Ray Barrett), whose daughter also suffered the same ignominious fate, Jim and his son Lee (Tom Marshall) decide to take the law into their own hands… having themselves found the man guilty as not charged. It's obvious from just looking at the grubby little perv with his pebble glasses that he is a serious head-case. Well, Harry, Jim and Lee decide to ‘kidnap’ the old man, lock him in the pub’s beer cellar and beat a confession out of him. So far, so good!

But then, the whole thing just becomes more and more pathetic. After a botch job resembling a Laurel and Hardy comedy sketch and involving a dog on the rampage, our intrepid trio eventually manages to kidnap Seely on a near deserted street corner (save for one nosey parker). Funny that there never seems to be anyone about when they bundle him into the back of a car – even funnier there never seem to be any other cars driving along streets and lanes at all. An even bigger problem arises when they tie him up in the pub cellar and Jim's temper gets the better of him. Well, it is understandable, isn't it? Long story cut short, after giving Seely a good beating abetted by the other two and Carol attempting to put her oar in, Jim seemingly strangles the bloke. Oh dear, what are they going to do now? Surprise, surprise - later that night we discover that Seely isn't actually dead… just stunned! Of course it would have been better for all concerned if he had been dead and they could have buried him in the cement of a new building's foundations. In any case, things now have become even more complicated and everyone starts to fall out with each other – especially after another botched attempt to blow Seely’s apartment up precisely at the very moment when two coppers arrive to investigate rumours about the missing old man. Meanwhile, son Lee upsets his girlfriend Rose (Sinéad Cusack) because he refuses to have sex with her in a scene that comes over as being written by a 12-year old… while youngest daughter Jill (Zuleika Robson), upon learning of Seely’s captivity, reads the riot act to her dad.

In another scene during which Lee loses his temper with Seely in the beer cellar he ‘rapes’ his stepmother Carol in front of him. Mind you, she is clearly turned on by this and after a punch-up between father and son (Jim learns of what happened in the cellar by default) she decides to leave home with stepson Lee on the back of his Vespa. Even more bizarrely, the cuckolded Jim does not appear to be overly concerned about this. He is more concerned when Harry calls him to say they've kidnapped the wrong man. Feeling sorry for Seely (who attempted to escape but had to return because he can't see without his broken glasses) he offers him… a full breakfast and cup of tea! How English can you get? Despite the fact that Seely’s whole vibe tells us he is a wrong 'un, Jim simply cannot see the woods for the trees.

As this ‘kitchen sink drama’ unfolds it becomes ever more implausible until it borders on the ridiculous. Joan Collins, an actress who is always amusing as a glamorous bitch, is hopelessly miscast as a landlady forever preparing breakfast for the family and rinsing glasses. As for Kenneth Griffith… he must have been in serious financial difficulties to accept the unthankful part of ‘Seely’. Enough said!