Bullet Points: Naked Vengeance
Over the years we have had fists and swords of vengeance. We have had angels and acts of vengeance. We have had ninja and true vengeance. We have even had Die Hard and Kickboxer with a side of vengeance. But today, we strip all of that away for some Naked Vengeance…
- Happy Anniversary: The movie begins with husband and wife, Mark and Carla Harris, in bed together on the morning of their fifth wedding anniversary. Mark (Terrence O’Hara) realizes he is running late so it is a mad dash to get ready for work. Carla (Deborah Tranelli) goes downstairs, starts the coffee and prepares some breakfast as the opening credits play. The two say their goodbyes, as Mark heads off to work and Carla has to prepare for an audition that afternoon. The next time we see the couple is after their anniversary dinner as they are headed to their car… that’s when they hear the screams of damsel in distress and seconds later, see a woman being chased down by a thug… Mark tells Carla to get in the car and lock the door and he confronts the thug. A fight ensues, during which Mark is knocked out by a 2×4. This prompts Carla to step in and confronts the thug, who pulls a gun on her. But instead of shooting Carla, the thug shoots Mark who was still out cold on the pavement. Carla calls the thug a bastard as she lunges at him, and that’s about the time the sound of police siren cause the thug to take off into the night.
- You Can’t Go Home Again: After the funeral and news that the woman that Mark saved on the night he died was refusing to testify, a frustrated and angry Carla decides to leave Los Angeles and return home to the small town of Silver Lake, where she will stay with her parents. I am not sure how far the fictional Silver Lake is from Los Angeles, but I found it rather odd that Carla’s parents couldn’t be bothered to attend the funeral of their son-in-law. On Carla’s drive in, she stops for gas at Sparky’s garage… where she has an unhappy reunion with an old high school classmate Burke, who seemingly has no job and is just hanging out with his boy Sparky. Burke hits on Carla while Sparky pumps her gas and this trip home is off to a less than stellar start… but at least her parents (who again couldn’t be bothered to attend the funeral of the love of their daughter’s life) are thrilled to have her back home… The next morning, Carla is ogled by Timmy, a young man who is helping her dad with some yard work… Later Carla goes out to do some shopping and that’s where she runs into (almost literally) Arnie the ice truck driver. Arnie gets out of his truck to survey any potential damage to his vehicle and starts harassing Carla in the shopping center parking lot. Fortunately, Sheriff Cates is nearby and diffuses that situation before he might have to do some actual police work… With that unpleasantness behind her, Carla goes into the butcher shop and sure enough she is hit on by Fletch (Kaz Garas) the butcher. What a day!
- Worst Parents Ever: Carla’s parents already had plans to visit some relatives for a few days, and while they did invite Carla to come along so she could see her aunt and uncle, they could have also canceled those plans to spend some time with their daughter who obviously was in a very bad place emotionally. Instead Carla’s mom tells her instead of hanging out at their big house all alone, she should go to the tavern and maybe meet up with some of her old high school friends. This is awful advice and after her shopping excursion I am shocked that Carla would even bother… but her parents leave and Carla foolishly goes to the tavern… where she immediately runs into an old classmate, Estelle, who starts grilling Carla about her career, her marriage and her financial situation. It is a very awkward encounter to say the least. After that you can’t blame Carla for wanting a stiff drink, what she ends up getting is another unwelcome advance, this time by the sleazy bartender, Ray… The next night Carla has the good sense to stay home! However over at the tavern it is a gathering of the horn dogs… even Timmy, who is underage and shouldn’t be at the bar is there… and it is Timmy who lets Fletch, Burke, Arnie, Sparky and Ray know that Carla is home alone (since he overheard her talking to her parents about the trip when he was over there doing yard work). So the liquored up bunch heads over to Carla’s place, ring the doorbell and invite themselves in. What follows is rough to watch, as five grown men (Timmy passed out from being drunk shortly after arriving) grope, fondle and sexually assault Carla. Things get worse when Carla’s parents end up coming home earlier than expected and are absolutely horrified by what’s happening in their home… Carla’s dad grabs his shotgun, Burke tries to get the gun from him, it goes off… and Carla’s dead is shot. Then Burke shoots Carla’s mom who goes flying backwards into her daughter and the two are laying in a heap on the floor… Timmy at this point has come to and sees all of this and it was way more than wanted to be a part of and says he is going to go to the cops immediately, which causes Fletch to shoot Timmy in his back. Burke then gets the bright idea to make it appear that Timmy was the one who raped and killed Carla and then shot both of her parents when they showed up, but when he attempted to leave, Carla’s dad managed to get his gun and shoot Timmy…. to his credit Sheriff Cates, who at this point didn’t want to be bothered with doing his job, actually doesn’t believe the bullshit scenario.
- She’s Still Alive: There’s one major problem with the Burke and Fletch’s plan… Carla isn’t dead. She is in a psychiatric hospital and apparently unable to verbalize. Something that is frustrating to Sheriff Cates, who again doesn’t buy the theory of Timmy being a rapist/killer, but has no proof to the contrary and he can’t get Carla’s side of the story… This is where the movie really kicks into overdrive and it is set up perfectly, with a storm outside and a storm brewing inside Carla as she sneaks out of the hospital and heads to the tavern, where she catches Ray before he is closing up for the night. He’s shocked to see she is still alive and more shocked when she tells him to pour alcohol all over himself, she then drops a lighter and says “Burn Bastard” as she walks away and Ray dies a horrific death… Ray’s buddies can only think of one person who would be that pissed at Ray, but she’s locked up in a hospital. Burke decides he is going to try to get some Carla intel. Conveniently the hospital is right on the lake and the doctors encourage the patients to get outside and walk the hospital grounds. So Burke takes a chance and decides to go out do some fishing on the lake and conveniently he spots Carla on shore walking the grounds and as she gets further from the hospital she starts removing her clothes! Now Burke is getting all charged up, and when Carla decides to do some skinny dipping he decides he is going to join her! The two start making out in the water, right up against Burke’s boat, where Carla gets a hold of Burke’s fishing knife and proceeds to cut his dick off!! Burke, in total shock, makes his way onto shore and Carla grabs the anchor and hooks Burke with him, before sending the motor boat back into the lake and saying “Drown Bastard”. After this Carla disappears from the hospital altogether.
- The Heat is On: After two of his friends are taken out in grizzly fashion, Fletch starts to rile up the people of Silver Lake into forming a posse and hunting down the escaped lunatic… knowing full well he could be next. But as an action movie fan, you can probably guess that Fletch will be last to get his and poor Sparky and Arnie will be the next to get their much needed comeuppance! That guess would be correct and if you guessed that Sparky and Arnie die in spectacular fashion, you’d also be right. The final confrontation between Fletch and Carla goes down at Fletch’s butcher shop and it is a brutal and bloody battle between the two that has a very matter of fact conclusion. There were numerous moments in the movie where I was shocked, but the end of the Carla/Fletch fight might have been the most shocking.
Naked Vengeance is an unapologetic revenge tale that is going to stick with me for the rest of my life and I can now see why the film has achieved cult status.. I have seen and reviewed numerous Cirio Santiago films, but none of them made the impression on me that Naked Vengeance did. The movie does not hold back and the punishments that Carla dished out definitely fit the crime. If you are looking for a graphic revenge tale, look no further than Naked Vengeance.
If you are looking for some Bonus Bullet Points, look no further…
- Favorite Quote: “Is everybody in this town a pervert?” – Carla Harris
- Bastard Count: If you weren’t keeping count during my review… Naked Vengeance had a total of three “bastards”.
- Familiar Faces: Carmen Argenziano of Dangerously Close and Knight Rider 2000 fame, played Detective Russo, the detective assigned to the Mark Harris murder case… Henry Strzalkowski played Deputy Frank Winston. I recognized Henry from several movies shot in the Philippines, including Equalizer 2000 and Silk.
- Marquee Movies: At one point late in the film, there’s a theater marquee in the background that can be seen displaying the only Cannon movie I had the privilege of seeing in theaters, Breakin’ 2: Electric Boogaloo.
