Demented | 1980 | USA | Arthur Jeffreys

Demented is another relatively unknown entry in the pantheon of rape and revenge cinema, likely due to poor distribution and a less-than-typical lead protagonist. Linda is cornered at her horse stables and gang-raped by four brutes in the film’s opening, becoming immeasurably traumatised and sent to an institution to recover. Upon her release to the care of her cheating husband Matt, Linda begins to suffer delusions and believes herself to be stalked and under threat all of the time, not helped by a group of teenage neighbourhood kids who play pranks on her continually. When the youths get brazen enough to enter her house to continue their games, Linda finally breaks and begins to sadistically murder her ‘attackers’ with the assistance of meat cleavers, barbed wire and a shotgun. The film’s effectiveness is somewhat lost by the performance of the main actress, who is particularly shrill, screechy, and confusingly unsympathetic as a victim, but the film’s final act would have been problematic for the DPP.