Review of Violated

Violated (1984)
2/10
And that's exactly how you'll feel afterwards... Violated!
24 May 2022
Okay, wow, there are so many things wrong with this film I don't even properly know where to begin! "Violated" is a bad film in terms of plotting, acting, and directing, but that really isn't the main issue. It's also just plain wrong from every moral and ethical perspective. We've seen a lot of extremely misogynistic and brutally graphic slashers and exploitation movies during the 70s and early 80s, but even they had more of an overall sense of decency than this (righteously) obscure low-budget piece of filth.

The plot, for as far as you can refer to it as such, revolves around how a beautiful, young, and very nave actress - Lisa Robb - is lured to the house party of a rich producer, and then getting viciously raped by him, his buddy and even his shrew of a wife. When the girl presses charges, she's laughed at by the police, humiliated in court, and loses her role in a popular TV-sitcom. So far, so good. I mean, it's trash, but there are quite many 70s/80s "rape and revenge" movies dealing with the same, or a very similar, plot.

What makes "Violated" unacceptable and morally repulsive are a bunch of sequences and assumptions that are downright sick, and yet incorporated into the film like they are the most common things in the world. The first rape victim is treated more disrespectful by the police than by the actual rapist. One of Lisa's actress friends is literally begging to get raped as well. The 40-year-old, and very unattractive, cop starts a relationship with an 18-year-old rape victim. It's suggested that a raped girl went into the prostitution business afterwards because it makes good money. A 13-year-old brother walks into the room of his naked sister, but they act like it's totally normal. Etc. The only reason why I'm giving the film one extra point is because the actresses (Daisy White, Elizabeth Kaitan, Juliet Graham, ...) are very good-looking, and they certainly do have talent, but they sadly ended up in the wrong movie.

I have my own theory of why "Violated" is such a rejectable effort. Richard Cannistraro wrote, directed, produced, and played the part of the most loathsome rapist, all by himself. He did everything alone, but do you know how many other movies he worked on in his "career"? None. Zero. This individual isn't a filmmaker, and he never intended to be one. He's simply a perv who wanted to film his own twisted fantasies, and somehow succeeded.
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