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A Woman's Torment (1977) - Blu-ray

4 beersThere’s something wrong with Karen (Tara Chung).  She’s dry humping the beach again.  Truthfully, while she does display a whole hell of a lot mental instability during writer/director Roberta Findlay’s skin flick, she’s not as fucked up as the people around her.  And most of them are – DUN-DUN-DUUUUN!!! – men. 

Yes, you guessed it; A Woman’s Torment is all the males surrounding her.

Findlay makes this point rather early as Estelle Vorel (Jennifer Jordan) informs her cheating husband, Dr. Otis Vorel (Jake Teague), as he finishes his last thrust into her (documented on camera if you are curious) that he just masturbated inside of her vajayjay jelly-hole and she knows it.  Their intimacy is gone.  She’s not wrong either.  He stammers and pushes back against her, dismissing the opinion as crazy...and then, later on, attempts to mount the next girl. 

Doc Vorel is making eyes at everyone else around him – and that includes her good friend, Francis Compton (Crystal Sync).  But Francis, troubled by her step sister-in-law, that’s Karen mind you, and her funky behavior has decided to end the affair.  Affairs, after all, come to an end she tells Doc Vorel.  He’s as stubborn as he is pig-headed, though.  Soon enough, he is angling for a quickie with Karen, the wackadoo who runs to the island when threatened.

And Karen, who likes to rub her whoo haw on the shower nozzle and kill the men who screw her, is all about his advances.  Because she knows how it will end.  And she gets a big ol’ kick out of all the blood.  You can see it in her eyes.

A Woman’s Torment is shock and schlock cinema at its grimiest.  Shot on Fire Island, the location is deceitfully pleasant while the world crumbles into a mess of pubic hair and ejaculate.  And I’m not even kidding.  At times, this tale goes off the deep end as a z-grade version of Roman Polanski’s Repulsion

There’s maybe a message buried in all the hairy whoo haws and hard-ons on display throughout this sleazy sidestep.  And the uncensored in-and-out bedroom action – thanks to the unflinching POV camera shots – certainly creates a different mood than most of the other skin flick offerings from the era.  There’s no enjoyment in any of this, making it rather uncomfortable for everyone.

But it is the performance of Chung as the mentally unstable woman at the center of this woeful tale that will leave you spooked.  She becomes unglued over the smallest of things and then, when the mood strikes, is quite welcoming to repairmen.  But upon the slaughter of a couple in the same house as she, one cannot deny that this chick is a nut.  She is seriously batshit crazy and, complete with wide eyes and puzzling behavior, seeks solace in familiar waters. 

Hard to watch and even harder to recommend, A Woman’s Torment is the film in which the bump-and-grind picture goes for broke.  It's explicit and always ready to go; it is also serious in its description of the what and the who in the troubling of women.  It is now available on Blu-ray thanks to Vinegar Syndome and its newly 2k-scanned transfer.

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A Woman's Torment (1977) - Blu-ray

MPAA Rating: X.
Runtime:
84 mins
Director
: Roberta Findlay
Writer:
Roberta Findlay
Cast:
Tara Chung, Jennifer Jordan, Jake Teague
Genre
: Horror | Horror
Tagline:
A chilling blend of American Graffiti and Psycho.
Theatrical Distributor:
No U.S. theatrical release
Official Site:
Release Date:

DVD/Blu-ray Release Date:
October 24, 2017
Synopsis: Don and his wife Frances have been struggling in their marriage. Frances’s mentally ill sister, Karen, who lives with them, is taking a toll on their romance and as such, the Comptons have been considering having her committed to an asylum. Upon overhearing their plans, Karen runs away, taking refuge in an empty house on a remote beach. But slowly her grip on reality diminishes, giving way to increasingly violent delusions and an ever-growing bloodlust...

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[tab title="Blu-ray Review"]

A Woman's Torment (1977) - Blu-ray

Blu-ray

Blu-ray Details:

Home Video Distributor: Vinegar Syndrome
Available on Blu-ray
- October 24, 2017
Screen Formats: 1.85:1
Subtitles
: English: SDH
Audio:
English: DTS-HD Master Audio Mono
Discs: Blu-ray Disc; Two-disc set (1 BD-50, 1 DVD); DVD copy
Region Encoding: Region A

Vinegar Syndrome presents Findlay’s low budget skin flick on 1080p (with 1.85:1 aspect ratio) thanks to their newly restored 2k transfers.  The transfer was compiled from the 35mm original camera negative.  Shadows are strong and details are a bit more clear than before.  This was a low budget flick and there are visual limitations noticeable due to the upgrade and the new HD polish.  Black levels are good, shadows are murky, and colors – especially reds – are great.  The sound is presented in a English DTS-HD Master Audio 1.0 which is adequate for this no-budget feature.

Supplements:

Commentary:

  •  Findlay provides a detailed commentary on her film.

Special Features:

Vinegar Syndrome’s release contains both the R-rated and X-rated cut of the flick.  Both have been remastered from the original 35mm print.  A video interview with the repairman that Chung screws and then kills is included.  There is also a Q and A session with Findlay.  Reversible cover art and a DVD copy of the movie rounds out the release.

  • Video interview with Michael Gaunt
  • Quad Cinema Screening Q&A with Roberta Findlay

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A Woman's Torment (1977) - Blu-ray

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