Here we are, 18 films into the list and finally we come across an English one. And a surprisingly decent one at that. I love a film that can creep you out despite being set 90% in daylight. Plus any film starring Udo Kier is always going to be unsettling.
Paul Martin (Kier) has rented out a cottage in the middle of nowhere to get work done on his second novel. He's suffering from writer's block and the bloody nightmares he's plagued with aren't helping matters. His inability to write causes him to break up with his missus Suzanne (Fiona Richmond) and now he thinks hiring a secretary to type his words will help him concentrate on his ideas. Linda (Linda Hayden) arrives and straight away captures the attention of a pair of teenage scumbags. She captures Paul's attention too and before long has wormed her way into the household. While wanking. A lot. Then an encounter with the two scumbags really shows us what she's made of and before long we're headed towards a bloody climax.
This was way better than I remembered it to be. It's atmospheric as hell, has a surprisingly clever plot line (ok it's not that clever but by nasty terms just making sense is a plus) and it's beautifully bucolic setting makes it really stand out. Paul's in a house surrounded by rolling meadows but he's trapped, he's suffocating and we feel it too. All that rural beauty is crushing and it's fun seeing Udo Kier being squeezed. It's odd to see him onscreen with a dubbed voice though. Maybe that weird eurotrash accent of his didn't feel right in the middle of that English countryside but his performance and all those odd mannerisms of his still shine. Plus if you've ever wanted to see Udo going all Bruce Lee on a couple of teens, here's your chance. Those teens btw aren't just nobodies. One is played by Karl Howman, the star of Brush Strokes and the other is none other than Vic Armstrong, stuntman extraordinaire who's been in everything from Raiders Of The Lost Ark to Gangs Of New York to Thor. What they get up to is one of the main reasons this 47 year old film is still a contentious watch.
Unlike the vast majority of the films on the DPP 39 list of Video nasties, Exposé isn't a horror film but watching it now I can understand how and why it ended up on that famous list. From the off it indulges in a graphic juxtaposition of sex and violence of the type that has always set off alarm bells in the BBFC offices. Paul's nightmarish visions that hit while he's in bed with his lover Suzanne, the Hitchcock aping bathroom murder near the end of the film and the infamous rape scene where Linda turns the tables on her attackers. It's telling that this film still hasn't ever been released uncut in the UK. I'd be surprised if it ever does.
Next up - Faces Of Death. I'm dreading this one.
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