They Call Her One Eye-1973

Director Bo Arne Vibenius

Starring Christina Lindberg, Heinz Hopf

Scott’s Review #1,061

Reviewed September 14, 2020

Grade: A-

They Call Her One Eye (1973) is a marvelously wicked revenge film that is a must-see for any Quentin Tarantino fan, as it’s a blueprint for his work to come.

The famous director worked as a clerk at a video store (back when they had video stores) and stumbled upon many odd and wonderful, obscure, independent films.

With his stepfather’s guidance, he was encouraged to pursue his love of film by visiting art theaters and similar venues.

Undoubtedly, They Call Her One Eye was one of his findings.

A young woman (Christina Lindberg) struggles to overcome her tortured past but runs into more trouble when she gets mixed up with a seemingly wonderful man (Heinz Hopf), who turns out to be the exact opposite.

After she misses her bus to her job at a farm, the man picks her up and soon has her working as a prostitute and addicted to drugs. Her only chance to escape will be to learn martial arts and exact revenge on her pimp. She spends her time learning to fight and plotting a day of reckoning.

Impossible not to conjure images of Kill Bill: Volume 1 (2003) and Kill Bill: Volume 2 (2004), the film is told from a female perspective, and revenge is the recipe of the day.

The main character also wears an eye patch, following a horrific scene when her eyeball is removed as punishment for being defiant.

Any fan of Tarantino knows that the character of villainous Elle Driver (Daryl Hannah) in Kill Bill also wears an eye patch and is a force to be reckoned with.

The film is focused on the 1970s female revenge genre, so the fun is in witnessing how badly Madeleine is treated by her pimp and her myriad of clients, because we know they will soon be dead.

Director Bo Arne Vibenius makes no bones about what type of film this is and, as a good measure of gender equality, throws in a female client who abuses Madeleine.

They Call Her One Eye is also reminiscent of I Spit on Your Grave, a disturbing 1978 American film with a similar story and more fanfare.

Those with even the slightest hint of prudishness must be forewarned. There is not only extreme nudity (the film is Swedish after all!), but contained within are several pornographic sequences of both vaginal and anal sex.

The scenes are tough to watch, and the unknown is whether the actors appeared in these moments themselves since their faces cannot be seen.

My hunch is that these scenes were spliced in from real pornographic films of the day, but are not necessary or relevant to the rest of the film.

The Swedish locales are lovely, especially those of the countryside or farmland, and the subtitles are nice to have. The film loses a point because my copy of the DVD is dubbed in English rather than authentically Swedish-speaking.

I found this a slight detraction, but other viewers may find this just fine.

The fight scenes are mostly done in slow-motion, which is another Tarantino stamp. This adds some flavor, as the slowed-down scenes become more effective, with blood and saliva spattering at a maximum.

Madeleine is the clear heroine (no pun intended) of the story, so the film doesn’t contain any other good characters except for Madeleine’s parents, who quickly commit suicide after receiving hateful letters they think are from their daughter.

Her plight is lofty since she was raped at a young age by a filthy derelict, which left her mute.

The girl has little luck.

Her pimp, Tony, is dastardly, and when he picks her up on the roadside, we know there is terror in her future, even though he benevolently takes her for dinner.

They Call Her One Eye is so low-budget that it almost feels like someone walked around with a camcorder and videotaped the sequences. Of course, this only lends credence to the grit the film produces and works exceptionally well for offering a seedy, dirty delight.

Rumor has it that during the eye-slicing scene, recommended for only those with steel-lined stomachs, a real corpse was used. Whether or not this is an urban legend is anyone’s guess.

Fans of Tarantino or those of experimental, artsy, horror-meets-thriller productions will adore They Call Her One Eye (1973), as it is rich in disturbing storylines and abundant in blood.

However, the result will leave feminists or anyone championing women with a small smile on their face after the dramatic conclusion.