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Thriller: A Cruel Picture

Solveig Andersson (Actor), Per-Axel Arosenius (Actor), Bo A. Vibenius (Director) Rated:
NR
Format: DVD
4.6 out of 5 stars 375 ratings
IMDb6.4/10.0
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DVD
September 28, 2004
Limited Edition
1
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— $25.00
Genre Action & Adventure
Format NTSC, Color, Subtitled, Dubbed, Limited Edition, Multiple Formats, Widescreen
Contributor Heinz Hopf, Per-Axel Arosenius, Hans-Eric Stenborg, Marie-Louise Mannervall, Pamela Pethö-Galantai, Solveig Andersson, Olle Nordlander, Stig Lokrantz, Gunnar Palm, Björn Kristiansson, Lennart Robertsson, Gunnel Wadner, Bruno Sörwing, Marshall McDough, Stig Ström, Hildur Lindberg, Bo A. Vibenius, Despina Tomazani, Lars Sääv, Christina Lindberg See more
Language Swedish
Runtime 1 hour and 47 minutes

Product Description

This is the film that Quentin Tarantino (Director, KILL BILL VOL. 1 & 2, PULP FICTION, RESERVOIR DOGS) called The roughest revenge movie ever made!

THRILLER A CRUEL PICTURE is finally making its U.S. DVD debut in this Uncensored Limited Edition. With only 25,000 units in the total DVD production run, this cult gem will soon be gone forever! Order now so you don t miss out on THE exploitation DVD release of the year!

Growing up mute after a childhood sexual assault, a young girl (played by beautiful cult starlet Christina Lindberg) spends years working on a remote farm. After missing the bus one day, she is picked up by a suave young man who takes her out to dinner, drugs her and forces her into a life of drug addiction and prostitution.

Torn away from home, she rebels against her captor only to have one of her eyes gouged out as punishment (in a scene rumored to have been filmed with an actual corpse). After learning of the death of her parents and fed up with the cards life has dealt, she trains herself in the fine arts of fighting, killing and revenge. Transformed into a one-woman killing machine (and armed with a sawed-off shotgun), she uses her new skills to enact bloody revenge on those who have done her wrong.

Synapse Films has painstakingly restored THRILLER A CRUEL PICTURE from original vault materials to bring you the totally uncensored version of the ultimate revenge-exploitation movie! Originally released in the U.S. in a heavily truncated form as THEY CALL HER ONE EYE, THRILLER is presented here with all the graphic sex, violence and action intact. Over 20 minutes of additional footage has been restored!

Product details

  • Aspect Ratio ‏ : ‎ 1.78:1
  • Is Discontinued By Manufacturer ‏ : ‎ No
  • MPAA rating ‏ : ‎ NR (Not Rated)
  • Product Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 0.7 x 7.5 x 5.4 inches; 2.72 ounces
  • Item model number ‏ : ‎ 34
  • Director ‏ : ‎ Bo A. Vibenius
  • Media Format ‏ : ‎ NTSC, Color, Subtitled, Dubbed, Limited Edition, Multiple Formats, Widescreen
  • Run time ‏ : ‎ 1 hour and 47 minutes
  • Release date ‏ : ‎ September 28, 2004
  • Actors ‏ : ‎ Solveig Andersson, Per-Axel Arosenius, Heinz Hopf, Björn Kristiansson, Christina Lindberg
  • Dubbed: ‏ : ‎ English
  • Subtitles: ‏ : ‎ English
  • Studio ‏ : ‎ Synapse Films
  • ASIN ‏ : ‎ B0002VEUIK
  • Number of discs ‏ : ‎ 1
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.6 out of 5 stars 375 ratings

Customer reviews

4.6 out of 5 stars
375 global ratings

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Rough, grindhouse nastiness that seemed to grow on celluloid like mold
4 out of 5 stars
Rough, grindhouse nastiness that seemed to grow on celluloid like mold
The rape-revenge exploitation subgenre it a tough one to defend, especially in the “Me Too” era. While its female protagonists typically punish the men responsible for their physical and emotional degradation in pleasingly painful ways, the films make us (as male viewers especially) complicit in the initial attack itself in often titillating fashion. There’s no doubt we’re supposed to feel the character’s pain, but are we being asked to enjoy it as well? It's an uncomfortable question. And Thriller: A Cruel Picture (released in the U.S. as They Call Her One Eye) continues to straddle the philosophical fence, punishing its mute heroine from frame one then letting her wreak bloody vengeance for a lifetime of male (and female) oppression. No small surprise that Tarantino found enough inspiration in this offensive cult classic to reference its character in the Kill Bill saga. Madeleine (played by softcore star Christina Lindberg) has been muting ever since being raped as a child. Now an adult, her bucolic life in the country is interrupted by a sweet-talking pimp who addicts her to heroine, takes her left eye as punishment and forces her into a life of prostitution. Madeleine suffers in silence, but plans her revenge, sneaking in self-defense, marksmanship and stunt-driving lessons to prepare for the big day. When the opportunity arrives, she knocks off clients and employers alike with calculated slow-motion efficiency. Thriller is the sort of rough, grindhouse nastiness that seemed to grow on celluloid like mold in the ‘70s. It feels sleazy and dangerous; modern-day releases like Ti West’s X can try to co-opt the style, but there’s something disturbingly organic about the original generation. Sitting through Madeline’s indoctrination is far from pleasurable (especially the uncut version which ads completely unnecessary and distracting hardcore inserts), but it makes her violent third-act rampage all the more satisfying. Synapse Films’ new Blu-ray includes what’s billed as the uncut and uncensored high-definition print in Swedish with English subtitles. The transfer still has a grainy 42nd street vibe which suits the material quite well. One imagines a cleaner version will pop up sometime in the future, but collectors might not want to take that chance. If you’d rather not sit through the graphic sex, a standard DVD of They Call Her One Eye is included in the package as well. Extras include still galleries, outtakes, alternate sequences, trailers and reversible cover art.
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Top reviews from the United States

  • Lam Hoon Leong
    5.0 out of 5 stars All not lost.
    Reviewed in the United States on June 16, 2025
    Verified Purchase
    A rare gem that passed the test of time. It all goes wrong after picking up a young girl by a pimp (Tony).
    Still considered gore in comparison of today’s standard.
    Good picture quality . After viewing, one will understand why this movie cannot be passed for public viewing.
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  • Juan
    5.0 out of 5 stars Lots of sex and violence.
    Reviewed in the United States on March 24, 2025
    Verified Purchase
    I had a chance to meet the star of this film. I wanted to see the movie before we met so we could talk about something. The film has some graphic sex scenes, and is pretty violent. Overall I enjoyed the film. I had a lot of talking points when I met Christina.
    2 people found this helpful
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  • L
    5.0 out of 5 stars Hip...even by today's standards...
    Reviewed in the United States on December 6, 2014
    Verified Purchase
    One of a kind sexploitation flick from Europe (Sweden to be exact). Previously, Sweden was known to me through Bergman's filmography, which is far from what Bo Arne Vibenius or Alex Fridolinski...directed in 1973. The movie was so shocking at the time that it was banned in liberal Sweden for a good amount of years. The director had to use multiple aliases in order to avoid any lawsuits or law problems. The movie contains explicit scenes of actual sex of a couple who of course sold their services for money. The scenes are incorporated into the rape scenes. The female star of the film Christina Lindberg who was 23 year sold at the time can be seen on numerous occasions fully naked (nice set of breasts she has). The director of the movie supposedly took out a life-policy on Lindberg just in case if she was accidently killed...the reason for it: real ammunition was used during the shoot-outs. How crazy is that. Vibenius wanted to make a very commercial and successful movie (rumor has it he was in desperate need of money, for his previous two movies failed and he did not cash-out on them as he planned). Rumor also has it, that a scene where Lindberg's character gets her eye cut-out a real body from a morgue was used in order to make it look authentic. The movie contains great amount of slow-motion scenes, especially during shoot-outs, which at the time was a novelty. The film as the title suggests is a "cruel picture" in every sense of that phrase. The picture and filmography looks cruelly done, the characters are cruel, the music is cruel, and the story line is cruel. It is vengeance movie with an unusual amount of hate. Q. Tarantino liked the movie so much as a young man, that his Kill-Bill franchise is loosely based on this film.

    The movie starts out pretty slow...but once you get past the first 20 minutes the movie speeds up. I personally, think that the ending could have been done better. I don't really understand the meaning behind the horse and the bad guy being buried up to his head. A really weird death. Actually, the movie scenography and poetic ending reminded me of Deadlock (1970) by Roland Klick . Thriller: A Cruel Picture has influenced such movies like: I Spit on Your Grave (1978), Ms. 45 (1981), and a ton of lesser known films of the rape-revenge genre or sexploitation films.
    21 people found this helpful
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  • PR GUY
    4.0 out of 5 stars It inspired me as much as Quentin...
    Reviewed in the United States on November 6, 2004
    Verified Purchase
    Quentin Tarantino stated that "Thriller - A Cruel
    Picture" was one of the greatest revenge films of all
    time. As most of you know, Quentin is the director of
    the Kill Bill volumes, "Jackie Brown", "Reservoir
    Dogs", "Pulp Fiction" and "True Romance". After watching "Thriller",
    there is no doubt that Quentin was inspired by this
    purely "ADULT" (almost porno) revenge masterpiece of
    30 YEARS AGO. Yes, it was released in 1974 by
    director Bo Arne Vibenius of Sweden.

    The film features Swedish Actress Christina Lindberg
    as a tormented woman who was raped when she was a
    child. I need not say anymore. This film is
    definitely not for everyone...I wasn't really sure it
    was for me...but since I enjoyed the Kill Bill volumes
    immensely, I just had to watch one of the films that
    inspired Tarantino's legacy.

    There is nothing "family" about this flick.
    Definitely keep the kids away. [...]

    Mature themes aside, I must admit every victim in this
    film deserves what he gets. If there's one lesson
    learned from this film it is definitely the
    correlation between men and "dogs". If men act like
    "dogs", they deserve to be taken under the wing of
    animal control. In this film, Christina Lindberg is
    the Director of Animal Control.

    Not for everyone...very explicit sex scenes...extreme
    violence...but if you ever wanted to watch a true
    "revenge" film...this three decade old classic still
    holds its own.

    In the adult sex thriller category, "Thriller" gets a 4. The only reason it doesn't get a 5 is that the special effects are dated (30 years), but back then, this was explicit violence.
    14 people found this helpful
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Top reviews from other countries

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  • Chris
    5.0 out of 5 stars Visuell anspruchsvoller Klassiker
    Reviewed in Germany on February 22, 2021
    Verified Purchase
    Der Film hat keine besonders raffinierte Story, wenig Dialoge, keinen nennenswerten Soundtrack und die choreographische Performance der Schauspieler ist amateurhaft. Genau dies verzeichne ich aber in diesem Fall als Stärken, denn so treten um so mehr die hervorragende Bildgestaltung und das kluge Editing in den Vordergrund. Besonders im letzten Drittel gewinnt der Film immer mehr an Bildgewalt und der finale Shodown erinnert stilistisch stark an einen guten Spaghetti-Western. Ebenso sind natürlich gewisse Parallelen zu Sasori nicht zu leugnen, die sich aus dem optischen Auftreten der Hauptfigur, so wie ihrem kühlen Blick im Close-Up Shot ergeben. Auch wenn Sasori sicherlich der bekanntere Figur ist, handelt es sich hierbei um einen ebenso sehenswerten Klassiker, an dem man hervorragend Bildgestaltung studieren kann.
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  • Tom Riddle
    5.0 out of 5 stars good
    Reviewed in Canada on April 17, 2022
    Verified Purchase
    upon first viewing this is a good movie transfer that is good to worth picking up.
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  • Lee Jones
    5.0 out of 5 stars Awsome...
    Reviewed in the United Kingdom on November 30, 2010
    Verified Purchase
    Let me start by saying that Miss Lindberg is so fine..so fine.
    The movie its self is awsome i loved every bone crunching minute of it. The xxx inserts did not do anything for me nor did they spoil the move for me as other reviews have stated i found the slow mo gun shots realy good but there is a part where she is fighting at the dock this drags a little too much for me but apart from that great movie. I am glad i purchased the Limited edition rather then the Vengence Edition which has all hardcore inserts taken out just because it needs to be seen in its origional state.

    If you not seen this go and get it now.

    Lee Jones
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  • Cyrille M
    5.0 out of 5 stars thriller "crime a froid"
    Reviewed in France on November 19, 2010
    Verified Purchase
    excellent film dans sont genre, dommage de ne pas pouvoir trouver la version française "Crime a Froid" .
    christina lindberg formidable en muette vengeresse ,le tout accompagné d'une musique psychédélique à souhait,bref pour mon cas pas de regrets.
    en plus les bonus sont bien fournis pour un film ancien...
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    Cyrille M
    5.0 out of 5 stars
    thriller "crime a froid"

    Reviewed in France on November 19, 2010
    excellent film dans sont genre, dommage de ne pas pouvoir trouver la version française "Crime a Froid" .
    christina lindberg formidable en muette vengeresse ,le tout accompagné d'une musique psychédélique à souhait,bref pour mon cas pas de regrets.
    en plus les bonus sont bien fournis pour un film ancien...
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  • Mvm
    5.0 out of 5 stars Graphic
    Reviewed in Canada on April 20, 2022
    Verified Purchase
    Exploitation at its finest?? I guess Watch at your own risk
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