It's Mari Collingwood's 17th birthday. She and her friend Phyllis Stone go to NYC for a concert. They try to buy some weed but are kidnapped and raped by a gang of criminals. They are stuff in the car trunk and driven to the woods near Mari's home. The girls are tortured and killed. The gang ends up coincidentally at the Collingwood home while the bumbling local cops struggle to track the gang down.
This is definitely an exploitation film. I'm sure it was derided by the critics at the time. Some of those exploitation parts are actually the best parts of the movie. Being forced to pee in her pants is a compelling scene. The rest of the movie is amateurish, silly and simply bad. The comic stuff with the cops is groan-worthy. The coincidence of running into the Collingwood home is ridiculous and unnecessary. The gang could have gotten the address from Mari. The overall need to create a peaceful happy tone while counteracting it with the brutal violence does not come off well. Then there is the killing of the girls which splits the movie in two. The second half fades and the intensity never fully recovers. It's one of Wes Craven's first and it's at the level of a good student film.
This is definitely an exploitation film. I'm sure it was derided by the critics at the time. Some of those exploitation parts are actually the best parts of the movie. Being forced to pee in her pants is a compelling scene. The rest of the movie is amateurish, silly and simply bad. The comic stuff with the cops is groan-worthy. The coincidence of running into the Collingwood home is ridiculous and unnecessary. The gang could have gotten the address from Mari. The overall need to create a peaceful happy tone while counteracting it with the brutal violence does not come off well. Then there is the killing of the girls which splits the movie in two. The second half fades and the intensity never fully recovers. It's one of Wes Craven's first and it's at the level of a good student film.