Forced Entry

Forced Entry poster Available DVDs Poster Art Fun Facts

Taglines

• He was trained to kill ... and kill ... and kill ... and kill ...

• He was taught to kill. Rape was his own idea!

Main Details

• Released in 1973
• Color
• Running Time: 83 Min.
• Production Co: Boojum Productions
• Distribution Co: Variety Films (1972) (USA) (theatrical) | Key Films (USA) (theatrical) (West Coast)

Cast and Crew

• Directed by Helmuth Richler (aka Shaun Costello)
• Written by Shaun Costello
• Starring Laura Cannon, Harry Reems, Jutta David, Shaun Costello, Ruby Runhouse, Nina Fawcett
• Produced by John Klugerman, Shaun Costello
• Cinematography by Jayson Black
• Film Editing by Shaun Costello (uncredited)

Film Review

Most of us grindhouse aficionado's understand that when it comes to “The Deuce” there was much more played there than exploitation and horror films. That’s right, the pornographic world thrived off the business that was done out of 42nd street as well as other nearby areas in Manhattan at the time. But back at that time the porn world was much different than it is now and “Forced Entry” is the perfect example of that. See back then there were consistent porn films that had a rough edge to them that were appropriately called “roughies”. A “roughie” is a porn film that in addition to the actual scenes of penetration had storylines and sex in the films that were of the rough kind. These films were more to shock and disgust than they were for sexual enjoyment, that is unless you were really into this type of sexual activity. But when it comes to films of this type, there is no doubt in my mind that “Forced Entry” is the magnum opus of the “roughie” subgenre.

“Forced Entry” is the story of a former Vietnam veteran that has come home from the war back to Manhattan. The only problem is that upon his return from Vietnam he had a war waging in his head…and this time it was against women. Then we go on a totally insane ride with the rapist and watch him rape and murder his way through unsuspecting women that he meets at the gas station he works at. He devises the scheme of telling them that because of robberies in the area he would not deal with cash, then asking them for a credit card. Then he goes on to ask them for their address just incase something goes wrong with the transaction. Unknowing that they are dealing with a completely warped psychopath they give him the info that he is so desperately seeking. From then they all become pawns in his game of perversity of epic proportions.

The movie stars legend of porn himself Mr. Harry Reems (credited here as Tim Long) in a role that is nothing short of impressive. If it wasn’t for Reems in the film I doubt it would have been as effective. Although most of his actions in the film are about as deplorable as you could imagine it also led to him never doing a film of this kind again. But after watching the film you can understand why, because “Forced Entry” is a movie that is ugly from every angle.

It should also be mentioned that director Shaun Costello wanted to make a feature length porno film and at the time there were issues with that. See, when he went about making this film there were really only loops available at time. Loops are short films depicting sexual acts that were mainly used to play at peep shows and with other loops in porn theaters. But you couldn’t make a feature length film of this sort because of the fact that the obscenity laws were too loose and interpretive at the time for Costello to take the risk. But he did find a loophole and that is totally the reason why this film exists to this day. It needed to have some sort of redeeming social value and that’s why Costello decided to add in the story of Vietnam here. Believe it or not this was the first film to show a disturbed war vet coming home from Vietnam which has become commonplace in films by now. But this was the first and I have to give credit to Costello for achieving something like that and not showing it in a remotely good light. To me war is ugly and everything about this movie personifies that. It also didn’t help when he added real life war footage inner spliced with some of the movies harsh sequences.

Overall “Forced Entry” is one of the more important and relevant films to ever come out of that age of pornography. It’s a film that really transcends the time that it was made and might even be more important now than the age it was made. Sure there’s a ton of nasty sexual activity in the film but the subject matter and what the movie is actually saying goes way beyond that. But be warned fellow perverts this one is the least boneriffic porn you will ever see, but it is absolutely brilliant and is finally getting the rightful attention it deserves.

Reviewed by Ed Demko - 2/1/08