10 Best Exploitation Films Of All Time

Hailed by Quentin Tarantino as the rawest of revenge movies, Thriller tells the story of a mute village girl (Christina Lindberg) forced into prostitution by a pimp. The character inspired Kill Bill’s Elle Driver, but when Tarantino suggested Darryl Hannah see the movie, the actress complained she’d been set a porno for homework.

You can see why Thriller would appeal to Tarantino: it’s avant-garde exploitation, a one-of-a-kind picture whose mixture of Sam Peckinpah-ish violence, graphic sex scenes and arty minimalism displays a greater intent than to appeal to the lowest common denominator. It’s a draining experience, to be sure, but it’s also an unforgettable one, to which the words “bleak” and “uncompromising” do not do justice.

While its presentation of sex is so unarousing as to deter cheap thrill seekers, however, the climactic confrontations are shot and staged with arthouse flair, all slow-motion and experimental music. As Lindberg takes revenge on her pimp, there’s no just desserts satisfaction or any feeling that justice has been done, just a sense that revenge has been served as coldly as possible.