Assault

Plot synopsis:
In January 1945, as the Second World War in Europe is reaching its end, much of the Netherlands remains under Nazi occupation. One night, a Nazi collaborator is shot dead on his bicycle. The family whose house he falls down in front of moves the body in front of the neighboring house, where the Steenwijk family lives. The Nazis, assuming that the Steenwijks killed the collaborator, execute the parents and older brother together with a large number of hostages. Burning the Steenwijk's house to the ground, they imprison the younger brother, Anton. The other person in his unlit cell is an older woman. Anton can see only her mouth. She spends the next few minutes comforting him until he is removed from the cell.
After the Netherlands are liberated from Nazi occupation, Anton remains shaken by what has happened. The story moves between the end of World War II and the 1980s, following Steenwijk's often reluctant quest for the truth about the events of that traumatic night.

Tags: murder

Review:
Although any number of Italian gialli ("Nude Si Muore", "What Have You Done to Solange?", etc.) were set in Britain and/or were UK co-productions, this film is somewhat unique in that it seems to be a completely British giallo.
We're definitely in giallo territory here: There's a vicious rapist-murderer on the loose at a girl's school.
There are two witnesses to the murder--one who can't quite remember what she saw (a familiar plot-line in the Italian films)and a previous rape victim who is too traumatized to speak.
The lead is Suzy Kendall, who two years earlier had starred in Dario Argento's seminal giallo "The Bird with Crystal Plumage." It's definitely a very British film, however.
The cinematography is staid and workman-like compared to the more garish and stylistic Italian films.
The plot is fairly linear and logical, at least until the end when the murderer-rapist goes to laughably ridiculous lengths to stop a psychiatrist from giving sodium pentathlon to the traumatized victim to help her recover her memory.It's not surprising given the famed British aversion to violence (in movies that is)that most of the violence here takes place off-screen.
Still it is pretty nasty violence, especially considering the rape angle and the age and gender of the victims.
(It's interesting that these kinds of movies never take place at a MEN'S college or in an old age home).
The sex and nudity is also pretty non-existent, but it doesn't exactly seem wholesome either the way they have cast sexy twenty year olds as fifteen year olds and dressed them in mini-skirts short enough to get any real schoolgirl expelled.
I don't know if it makes it more or less perverse that the "student" is played by Janet Lynn, a British sex star of the period (thus the obvious pseudonym)who had been featured the year before in Pete Walker's naked sex romp "Cool It, Carol".
The only really recognizable star though, besides Suzy Kendall, is a young Leslie-Anne Down as the traumatized rape victim.
(Despite what an earlier reviewer said, Jenny Agutter is NOT in this movie).Still if you can get around the leering British hypocrisy, the relative lack of sex and violence, and the fairly low-wattage of the star power, this is actually a pretty entertaining little film, and, if nothing else, an interesting one..
During the 60's and 70's  when Hammer Studios ruled the industry  the vast majority of genre movies that got released in the United Kingdom were either Gothic tales (practically all Hammer films), horror omnibuses (Amicus) or provocative exploitation films (courtesy of Pete Walker & Norman J.
At the same time in Italy, a very different sub genre of horror was extremely popular and overflowing the market; namely the Giallo.
What we have here is a British Giallo, containing all the rudimentary ingredients that define the genre: luscious under aged school girls, rape & strangulation, perverted elderly suspects and a grotesque climax.
A vicious rapist dwells the forestry area surrounding an all-girls school building.
With one girl dead and another one traumatized for life, the school courageous art teacher Julie (Suzy Kendall) volunteers to act as bait in order for the police to unmask the culprit.
There are quite a number of suspects, including the headmistress' uncanny husband and maybe even the helpful police doctor who's friendly with Julie.
"Assault" may perhaps feature all the trademarks of a genuine Italian Giallo, it still remains a "light" version of the real thing.
Still, the atmosphere is a little disturbing because the girl victims are very young and clearly vulnerable.
One sequence is particularly questionable & gratuitous, as it involves a sleaze middle-aged guy fondling a young girl whilst she climbs up a ladder in the library.
The most interesting aspect about this film is to witness Italian styles mix with typically British characteristics.
Suzy Kendall was probably the best casting choice imaginable, as she played in some actual Italian Giallo highlights such as "The Bird with Crystal Plumage", "Torso" and "Spasmo".
It's a remotely interesting cinematic 'marriage' between two nations with solid reputations in the horror genre, but definitely not the best movie in its type..
packed with red herrings and starring Suzy Kendall.
Not particularly explicit and barely any blood, this is nevertheless packed with red herrings and starring Suzy Kendall, so the fact that this is pretty much a British giallo does not come as such a surprise.
Sleazy subject matter, schoolgirls getting raped in the woods behind the school and poor old Lesley-Anne Down gets it twice, although I reckon they used the same footage twice.
Even so this starts at quite a pace with not just one girl chased through those woods but almost immediately afterwards another.
The rest of the film is more a who-dun-it but keeps the attention and if some are under performing, like the very poor offering from Frank Finlay (never knew he was that small!) the rest acquit themselves well enough..
The film is typical of its time, with the lighting, camera work and fashion giving a clear indication of 1969 to 1971 British cinema.It is not scary, but there is reasonable suspense and enjoyment.My main reason for commenting is has anyone else noticed the very strong similarities with the brilliant (but sadly never shown) "I start counting"?There is the same fashion, the similar colour technique which is surprising given this is Eastman and "I start" is De Luxe, an emphasis on short skirts, an unknown serial assailant who is revealed at the end but throughout most of the film the viewers attention is diverted to other suspects.
There is also the woods where the events take place;  the atmosphere in the woodland scenes is very similar.
Finally, there is a young and good looking central character in both, Lesley-Anne Down and Jenny AgutterWatch the film if you enjoy late 60's, early 70's Britain and a bit of suspense..
Interesting British attempt at making a Giallo.
Assault is apparently a British attempt at emulating the popular Italian Giallo sub-genre.
If that is indeed what the filmmakers were aiming for, it has to be said that they've done a rather good job, as Assault incorporates many of the common Giallo trademarks.
We've got a killer on the loose, a number of victims, a police investigation, an eyewitness, lots of red herrings and an unknown assailant, among other things.
It's unfortunate, then, that director Sidney Hayers wasn't able to take the script and craft an exciting mystery out of it, as the film features far too much talking and not enough action, leaving it caught up in boredom for most of the running time.
The plot follows the murder of a young girl in the woods outside of her school.
Their only witness is a young teacher, who says the killer looks like the devil and puts herself on the line to catch the psychopath.One common element of the Italian Giallo is a silly plot, and that has been copied for this film also.
The film doesn't seem too keen on keeping itself away from complete farce either, as the climax is very silly and it's often hard to keep a straight face while watching the film unfold, and that's not what you want from a thriller that handles themes of murder and rape.
The cast is distinctly British, and Derbyshire-born Giallo star Suzy Kendall, who has also worked with the likes of Dario Argento, Sergio Martino and Umberto Lenzi on Giallo thrillers, takes the lead role and is joined by a host of tea-drinking co-stars.
Sidney Hayers' direction is a little turgid at times, although scenes such as the one in which we get an early glimpse of the murderer are well shot.
Overall, this film isn't all that good; but it may appeal to Giallo fans for the fact that it's a Giallo, but it's not Italian..
not bad mystery surrounding rapes in woods near an all-girl school; better soundtrack would've helped.
I saw Saturn Productions Inc.'s video of this release, retitled The Creepers (the title doesn't make much sense).It starts with young women leaving a school in uniforms of white shirts a short pinks skirts.
One of them takes a shortcut through the woods, where she is chased and then raped underneath overhead electrical lines by someone we do not see.
A couple months later, another girl tries cutting through the woods, and she is chased, raped, and killed.
A group of girls and an art teacher drive into the woods to look for her.
She then finds the body of the dead woman.The teacher thinks the man she caught a glimpse of looked like the devil!
While the version I saw was probably cut, I can't imagine what would have led to this movie getting an NC-17 rating.
Perhaps the assaults were more graphic; little is shown of them on the video I watched.After the movie on the video, there's a listing of Saturn Productions' videos, showing the boxcovers for this one and: Circle of Fear, Castle of the Walking Dead AKA Schlangengrube und das Pendel, Die (1967), Demon of the Lake AKA Creature from Black Lake (1976), Night of Horrors (1978), Sinner's Blood (1969), Blade of the Ripper AKA Strano vizio della Signora Wardh, Lo (1970), The Devil Walks at Midnight AKA Plus longue nuit du diable, La (1971), Christmas Evil AKA You Better Watch Out (1980).
I haven't seen this film in years, but from what I remember of it, it was a pretty good movie.
The only thing that I think might be a little politically incorrect is the fact that the a few of the girls are pretty much seen as teases, especially in the scene in which the headmistress' husband fondles one of the girls as she stands on top of a stool.
This scene is a little disturbing, especially when you consider the film was made in 1971.
No wonder this film was mainly shown very late at night when the kiddies were asleep..
If you like to see cute, cuddly schoolgirls getting raped in a special gentle way, then this is it!
If you like obscure movies with acting that compares to an Orson Welles picture, then this is it!
A movie that lures men into the seductive world of muddled mystery dramas like this one.
A hideous rape to a lovely young teen girl heading home through the woods after exiting her all-girls-school opens this adult British mystery thriller.
Soon, the one responsible for the rape will strike again, this time killing the second victim.
Although this time the man gets sloppy as an Art teacher, Julie West(the beautiful Suzy Kendall)drives her car, with other students inside the back seat, into the forest on the main road finding him hovering over the dead student's body.
She still poses a threat, but not as so as the first victim, Tessa(Lesley-Anne Down)whose so traumatized she's borderline catatonic.
Several possible suspects are served to us such as Dr. Greg Lomax(James Laurenson)who is trying to mentally assist Tessa back to health, Dr. Bartell(Anthony Ainley), and the headmistresses husband(Leslie Sanford;who is often shown peering at girls' legs, up their skirts and carries a lustful gaze).
Det Chief Velyan(Frank Finlay)will reluctantly agree to allow Julie to make artistic renditions of a possible murderer, placed in the newspaper of a dogged reporter(Freddie Jones, underneath a large hat and sunshades)to flush the killer out of hiding.
Here is when the danger towards Julie..and Tessa..increases as someone will obviously attempt to silence the voices that can put him away.I watched this film under a low-quality VHS print under the title, "The Creepers" and must say I liked it.
I've noticed many label this a British giallo and that's a pretty good assessment I must say.
It shows poor Tessa get her shirt and bra viciously torn off, nude photos of naked girls found by the headmistress possibly implicating her vile husband who will not hide his lust for young nubile flesh.
The music was a bit loud, often melodramatically overlapping key moments of dialogue like when Julie was being interviewed by Lomax in the police car.
I liked Kendall as Julie, quite a strong female heroine performance as she must contend with the fact that this killer is at large and could be just about anyone.
The opening chase scenes through the woods as a killer stalked his two victims is dazzling and frightening at the same time.
Tense final revelation where the killer reveals himself to be quite an important man in society while chasing poor Tessa, who has trouble even speaking or responding to anything, is a fine conclusion as Julie tries to save her as she is being raped yet again..
It's been quite some time since I saw this film under the same title on an old VHS from my local video library.
The rapes are vivid and quite alarming, and they don't look like they have changed those scenes at all since last viewing this.
Leslie Anne Down did a marvelous job of playing Tessa the first victim who can not speak or, do much else after being attacked.
Understandable of course.There is one scene I remember, even from my first viewing of this of a girl in the school library and the headmistress' sleazy husband.
You see that in the scene then as his hand gets high they cut to her face with her looking down with a puzzling expression.
Anyway the scene is gross...Overall the movie tries to be serious, the only serious part is what happens to poor Tessaa played by Lesley Ann Down....
In the end the rapist finds her again right before the film ends but he is dispatched in the most silly manner that I can recall ever seeing.So after watching this today I don't think I'd give it another go.
There's two things you have to consider 1 ) Late night in British TV terms in those days meant 10.30 pm .
Up until the mid 1980s TV stations would close about 12.30 am 2 ) Adult movies shown on television were a world removed from the gore and exploitation seen in video nasties of the early 1980s !!!!
Seeing as these movies were on too late for me I never got to see any of the movies scheduled in this slot with the exception of ASSUALT , though I did read up on what movie was being shown via the TV Times .
With the exception of NO BLADE OF GRASS every movie shown seemed to be about a serial killer and this movie is little different , which is a pity since the opening gives the impression that it's going to be a supernatural horror where schoolgirls are being murdered by a demon stalking the woods near the local school .
The first third fools the audience into thinking that this indeed is a horror film featuring a demon but then it settles down into a whodunnit as to who the sexual predator is I saw the movie again in the early 1980s and was bitterly disappointed with it .
It's not a movie that holds up to repeated viewing if memory serves me right , it has several red herrings like a woman thinks she's being stalked but it turns out to be a police bodyguard and contrived where the villain is caught because he stands beside a red light and justice is dispersed because he chose a bloody stupid escape route To sum up I have to agree with the person who said this is typical of British movies of the late 60s / early 70s .
Once you know what the plot is it's a very flat movie.
Interesting but not great - similar to a number of British Thrillers 1967 1972.
The film, looks, sounds, 'feels' exactly typical of its period.
The colour, camera angles, use of music, are similar to other films, particularly The Strange Affair, All neat in black stockings, Fright and, as biggee writes, in another review, the brilliant, almost forgotten, I start counting.Similarly the portrayal of young girls as provocative 'sex objects' without any hint of embarrassment, discernment or question, and that's not a criticism, that's what life was like - at least certainly at my school.Reasonable acting, I do like the period fashions and behaviours and cars and would watch it just for that.
There are plenty of red herrings but, slight spoiler coming, if you look with care when Suzy Kendall sees the murderer in her car's rear view mirror - you only get a split second glimpse, you can see who the murderer is..
This could never be made today because now we know rape is about power, not sex.
It's the original schoolgirl fetish film, a precursor to those Japanese tentacle films, except without tentacles.If you've read the summary, you'd know some pervert is raping schoolgirls in the woods.
Why one girl goes through the woods directly after the first rape I dunno.
This film has a lot of alternate titles, mostly dealing with Satan because the schoolteacher who saw the perpetrator said he "looked like Satan".
Lesley Anne-Down (or however you spell it) is the lovely and barely legal (17 at the time) first victim.Okay, you've read this far, you know there's a spoiler warning, you must really wanna know something.
Now excuse me, I think I'll go hop a TARDIS back to 1971 and stand in the woods while wearing a schoolgirl outfit.
You get the feeling that some student, about a week into a course on programming has programmed a computer to write a thriller and detailed a few components; lots of vulnerable teenage girls wearing mini-skirts and stupid enough to walk through woods alone even after one of them is traumatised by a rapist;risible red herrings, a totally unrealistic newspaper reporter, and then, when it gets down to the actual writing the computer turns out to be both dyslexic and autistic.