Thriller-A Cruel Picture, they call her One Eye! David Zuzelo praises Bo Arne Vibenius and his Masterwork with Christina Lindberg

Thriller-Beneath the Eyepatch
by David Zuzelo

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Thriller-A Cruel Picture is one of the best examples of a truly independent film. Thriller came directly out of the mind of its producer and director, Bo Arne Vibenius of Sweden, forged with the tools that he could muster with his own production company. Using a few actors and a giant amount of relentless self- motivation, Vibenius completed what would become one of the most enigmatic gems of exploitation cinema, slapped with a lurid English release title and sent worldwide in various forms. You can now experience the movie and enjoy all the work that went into its creation with this DVD, a release in which we hope a worthy representation of this amazing film will reach it’s wide and deserved audience. Where Thriller-A Cruel Picture went since it’s creation and the place this relentlessly dark vision came from lies behind the scenes…

A one-time tank squadron leader turned banned by Swedish Censorship artist, Bo Arne Vibenius was captivated by film at an early age. When he was accepted into the Swedish Film School he simply could not have been happier with his fortune. Desire and drive got him there, and he intended to take every opportunity he could make for himself. Things moved quickly as he began working with what many consider THE Swedish film making icon, Ingmar Bergman, on both Persona and Hour of the Wolf. His career looked quite promising indeed...until he struck out on his own to make a very bizarre and obscure, both in availability and approach, children's film entitled Hur Marie träffade Fredrik released only to Sweden in 1969. With a style that could only be called unique, Hur Marie... is a recounting of two children's strange travels through a fantasy world of their own making, while they speed about on a go-kart! Chased by the police and engaging in Old West gunfights that involve shooting other children's clothing off, it certainly is a one of a kind experience. Sadly, the market wasn't ready for Vibenius' vision of the fantastic and the film sunk him financially as it was produced by his own BAV Film Company.
Now responsible for his family and no longer content to work on the vision of other artists, he decided that the only way to be successful would be to create his own fate. Working at an advertising agency that handled the high profile SAAB Company as the head of film he took a loan out against 3 months overtime and made the decision that brings us here. He decided to make what the mind of Bo Arne Vibenius only envisioned as "the most commercial film ever!"
While it may seem Bo Arne never truly got a handle on what "commercial" may have meant, what came of this work was far better than any simple bit of product for a market hungry for cinema thrills. And certainly, it was more daunting a task to distribute it and reap the rewards.
To quote the man from his own story...
"The picture which You are about to screen-Thriller-A Cruel Picture-was written in 3 days and nights (those were the days before computers) on an old typing machine. My fingers were actually bleeding after those 3 days OF NOT ONLY MENTAL BUT ALSO PHYSICAL FINGER WORK."

Thriller is a simple tale for sure. Torment plus violence equals a fierce revenge. But enhanced by Bo Arne's distinct and obvious flair for production value coupled with an inherent artistic ability to communicate the exact vision from brain to film, Thriller comes off the screen as raw and rough. That is a reflection of the man behind the film as well. Genuine and possessed with making an ULTIMATE picture, no shortage of funds or any hardship would stand in the way either in reality or in the slow motion deathscapes of Christina Lindberg’s revenge.
Shooting in Stockholm and the picturesque Oland area at a furious pace, Vibenius used the talents of his friend Ralph Lundsten to create the unique sound mix and throbbing music and cast Christina Lindberg and Heinz Hopf to form the core of the film. The crew prepared to shoot, edit, score and mix the film very quickly with utmost efficiency, a talent which would be well suited to today’s market. Utilizing his 11 person crew they went to work. Bo Arne used his previous military connections to secure specialized cameras to film the unique slow motion sequences. These cameras were employed by the military for capturing images at 500 frames per second, as opposed to the standard 24, primarily for rocket tests. Unfortunately, the processing lab promptly destroyed two full days worth of that footage of this material because they didn’t understand what was required to process this correctly, forcing a reshoot on a harried director. The remaining pieces of this original fight sequence, which is very different from anything else in the film, are presented on the DVD for the first time anywhere.
From October 7th to December 23rd, 1972, Thriller-A Cruel Picture was Bo Arne Vibenius' life and sustenance. Completion was handled with more hard work and most certainly long hours.

And then the Swedish censors banned the film outright on April 4th, 1973. The “most commercial film ever,” would never see a commercial market in its homeland in an uncut form it seemed. Undaunted, Bo Arne and his little crew packed off to the prestigious and essential for any independent film Cannes Festival in May 1973. Using one of the first available VCRs, he packed his unique film up and brought it to town for all to see. He wanted to create a stir in Cannes as his financial and artistic future as well as his sanity I dare say, were all riding on this festival. Bo Arne brought EVERY eye patch he could afford with him- placing a sticker on them mentioning the film for distribution. And then…he even arranged to have a staged gun battle (!!!!) that sent the unwitting crowd into a panic. Thankfully, Christina Lindberg was on hand to whip down some bad guys in the crowd and look good doing it, creating an awesome promotion that would be neigh impossible in the world of today. An amazing combination of daring and sheer balls out need to be seen, this is the stuff of promotional legend.

However, Bo Arne's film was still having a trouble finding an audience. One morning at 7:30 A.M. two men from drive-in legendary distribution firm AIP (American International Pictures) walked into the screening room, watched the movie and bought it straight away. Sadly, AIP choose to severely edit the film as it was pornographic in spots creating a version Bo Arne calls the "shit" version with little affection. Released as They Call Her One Eye and later on a double bill with the Pete Walker film The Photographer’s Models as Hooker's Revenge, the film did VERY well and was in Variety as out grossing several much bigger films of the time. However, They Call Her One Eye just wasn't Bo Arne's movie anymore. From the violation of Madeline (now called Frigga for some reason, you can hear this on the English audio dub track on the DVD) Thriller turned to the violation of Vibenius! His artistic pride was hurt, and to add salt to his wounds he had the knowledge that he wouldn't benefit from the success of this bastardized child either.
Thriller-A Cruel Picture was sinking into obscurity on the Drive In circuit though it certainly does have some fans that never forgot it. These include Norman J. Warren whom I would like to thank for his early support of this project and Quentin Tarantino who paid homage to the Lindberg character in Kill Bill. But they weren’t there for Bo Arne as he pulled together funds for another film. This one would vent all the rage and pain that went into Thriller's creation and subsequent displacement. After a financial backer left this new production Bo Arne found himself back in front of that same typing machine… and several bleeding fingers later he slashed out a nasty bit of business called Breaking Point. Indeed, that is where the movie comes from, the breaking point of Vibenius. Shot in English and starring Andreas Bellis who worked as the cinematographer of Thriller, this movie literally bleeds off the screen, shooting jism and bullets at the viewer’s eyes. A mixture of one man's rape fantasies crossed with gun violence and outright hatred melted together by another hallucinatory score provided by Lundsten. It's hardcore from the right side of Bo Arne’s brain, with consensual gearshift sex pushing the film into overdrive on the way down the road of outrage.
Perhaps reflective of the director and writer in such a way that he can no longer face Breaking Point is the most depraved side of Thriller expanded to feature length. While not a film for all tastes, it again showcases Bo Arne's ability to rip pictures from his mind and place them in front of a viewer. Again though, this picture was to ugly for Swedish Censorship, giving him his second banned film and no hope of commercial success.

The only person unscathed by Vibenius' final directorial film is Andreas Bellis, who works frequently as Nico Mastorakis' cinematographer on films such as .com For Murder and Hired To Kill.

After these films were completed and banned, Bo Arne worked hard as a production manager, including the great Bo Widerberg film Mannen på taket (Man On The Roof), and now runs Channel One in Sweden, producing commercials. His living room proudly features his Golden Lions from Cannes for commercial work. For a man the world will remember for a certain One Eyed prostitute reaping her vengeance across the silver screen, I hope to see at least one more award for him.

Looking back at his work and what went into it, I would call Bo Arne Vibenius a dreamer whose visions are available for all to see. Honest work and honest films are his stock in trade. However, those dreams and visions may be too daunting for many viewers. These films stand firmly as the work of a man that has many facets, and expresses his darkest side in moving images.
Besides that, he serves a good beer and salmon lunch.

With a filmography that speaks for itself, Christina Lindberg was Swedish Sex personified in an era when all things Continental could be king-or queen-at the box office. Her performance as Madeline in Thriller is the element that brings the impact and depth of the film together. Deprived of speech and battered beyond all recognition, Lindberg comes across as a frighteningly well-trained Camille Keaton of I Spit On Your Grave by way of Moon Lee’s beautiful fisticuffs. Donning a duster jacket and sawing off a shotgun, there are few angels of destruction that are sexier, yet more real, in film history.
Christina has a long string of sexcess in her filmography, including work with the great Joe Sarno. To this day she remains both a beautiful and iconic woman and currently is working as a journalist. In 2000 she played Madeline once more in Sex, lögner & videovåld, a shot on video feature that also had Mel Brooks in the cast.

Tony the pimp is perhaps the nastiest character in Vibenius' amoral world, eclipsing even the perverted excesses of Breaking Point. Hopf was a great character actor that much to his dismay was typecast as a bad guy repeatedly. Whenever you here a slow motion scream in Thriller, that's Hopf. He would calmly reach for his coffee cup between audio takes and unleash some mighty yelling on cue. Sadly, he took his own life in 2001. His filmography was long, and he worked on television for many years. Any fan of his work in Thriller should seek out his crazed performance in Smutsiga fingrar (Dirty Fingers) directed by Arne Mattsson. Hopf plays a sadist of course, with a taste for razor blades.

The hardcore sequences included in this director's cut of Thriller-A Cruel Picture are present at the request of the director. Those are not Christina Lindberg's private parts in the sequences, as she will happily tell you. The penetration footage was shot using hardcore street performers from Stockholm that Bo Arne contracted just for this.
I personally stand behind this decision to include the footage, because it makes the situation that much more real for the viewer. We have our collective face shoved into the lead characters plight in a way that is unexpected from a commercial revenge Drive-In film. To quote Bo Arne, "Love it or hate it, I don't give a shit, this is my final cut!"
You have to respect that...

We hope you enjoy the movie as this DVD fills one more gap in the great DVD releases in cult cinema history. Hell, put it next to your restored Lawrence of Arabia… that was probably easier to arrange. A true classic from an artist who deserves every bit of praise that we hope he gets in the coming days after you read this. They don’t call it One Eye anymore, it’s Thriller-A Cruel Picture and it’s here to stay.

Text copyright D.Zuzelo 2002 / Images copyright Channel One Sweden and are used for promotional purposes