Change Your Image
snman47
Reviews
Tourist Trap (1984)
The Best Damsel In Distress Movie Ever
Rene Baker was the best DID actress, and Tourist Trap was the best DID movie. Bar, none, no others were even close, then or now. The limitations of what could be shown at the time do not keep this from being a far superior movie to anything available before the extreme censorship nor now. Today's videographers may show more and be more graphic, but they cannot hold a candle to cinematography, even the low-budget sets, wardrobe, there was even plot and acting.
In TT, Rene is in an unnamed South American country with a group of American young women protesting the govt ("Students for Peace"). Her girlfriend turns up missing and she rightly assumes she has been arrested by the military govt and is being held in the military compound. Rene plans a one-woman rescue attempt, but alas, she is captured. And then? And then? eheh. You have to see this to believe it. Rene shows all her charms and talents in this one, even though her girlfriend has more scenes. Definitely worth buying, renting, however you can get it.
The Experiment (1983)
Anything with Renee Baker
Renee Baker was without a doubt the ultimate damsel in distress. I tried to see all of her movies. Any scene she is in, she captures (well, actually she is usually capturED, but that is what makes it so great). In The Experiment, Renee Baker is in charge of the nurses in some govt secret spy agency (duh, CIA?) run hospital that is doing mind control experiments. The top doctor in charge and his two male assistants keep Renee and in line, and she helps the men keep the nurses in line. But the subject of the experiment escapes, his mind totally gone. He captures two of the nurses and works on them to make them tell him where the body is hidden (part of the mind control exercise, there is no body). Anyway, eventually he gets his clutches into Renee and she really shows us what she is the absolute best at -- being interrogated. The scenes with Renee are definitely several steps above, but it is a pretty superior movie for the genre. If you like damsel in distress movies, this should be high on your list. Even though it was low-budget for the time, compared to todays video efforts, in spite of the age this should make today's videographers hand their heads in shame.
Curiosity Excited the Kat (1983)
One of the truly great CalTriStar films of this genre
Sharon Montgomery was a truly beautiful actress with a killer figure. In this, she plays Katherine, who works at the Embassy of some unnamed South/Central American country. She believes the local head of the military and police is holding American women illegally. After visiting the prison, she decides to go "under cover" and investigate. She becomes a damsel in distress in the prison and there are some predictable plot twists. Two other actresses are also in a predicament. I definitely like this movie, but other people have told me they find it boring. Wow! Everyone has different tastes (if you can use the word "taste" in reference to this genre).
Betrayed (1984)
Georgia was fantastic as an actress -- Well, you know what I mean
Georgia Van Helsing was definitely hot stuff. In this one, she pays to have her niece abducted and tormented in order to "straighten her out". The only thing is, the paid tormenter gets equally carried away working on Georgia! This had some activities that could not actually be shown back at this time, but the camera work is superb and the lack of graphic detail is not missed. For this genre, this is a reasonably good effort. The budgets, camera (FILM) work, props, costumes (such that they are) used back in the heyday of the damsel in distress movie should make today's shlock videographers green with envy.
Brand of Shame (1968)
It was one scene worth sitting thru the rest of movie
I saw this movie several times back in 1968-9. Luckily <unbeknownst to me at the time> I saw it in a theater that did not edit and cut it all up. Many (many, many) years later I purchased a video tape from one of the relatively reputable dealers. I was aghast to find the scene pretty much as Troy describes. I complained to the dealer since I had seen the original and knew what it was like. They actually put me in email contact with David Friedman. He explained that back then each theater would actually edit the film based on what they felt their local police dept would tolerate. He said back then he had no idea it would become a cult classic and they did not even keep a master copy of the film!! So basically he says unless someone comes up with an original 35MM in the closet of some theater, that scene is gone from moviedom. Believe me when I tell you that the scene was really superb in its uncut version. Even in the original there was some cutting back and forth to the lame, brain-dead hero. But it was so hot that it was probably a good thing it was not continuous. By the way, the scene definitely did NOT stop with her blouse! Only her boots remained -- Now THAT is a Western! And Marsha Jordan was pretty hot.