SoTrumpBelieve Must See Movie...

Dorathen Better Late Then Never

Catangro After playing with our expectations, this turns out to be a very different sort of film.

Casey Duggan It’s sentimental, ridiculously long and only occasionally funny

Coventry I liked this gritty and harsh exploitation/revenge feature, and don't quite understand why it's so unknown and forgotten (and the people who do know it don't even seem to like it). True, the script somewhat moves too slow and quite a few sequences easily could have been cut, but the main premise is fascinating, the two main characters are likable and the pivot scenes are often so full of tension you have any nails left to bite by the time they're finished. David and Jill couldn't be happier on their wedding day. Finally reunited after David spent two years in the hell of Vietnam and they even escaped Jill's family traditional wedding ritual where they "hunt" the newlyweds and hope to ruin their first night together. Whilst hiding in a sleazy Cajun motel, David and Jill witness the execution of a corrupt businessman by hired hit men. The crazed killers knock David KO and viciously rape Jill. After this tragedy they attempt to pick up their lives again, but Jill is an emotional wreck and David has exclusively set his mind on retribution. They embark on a search to find out the rapists identities, which leads them all the way to New Orleans. One of the great things about "Nightmare Honeymoon" – in my humble opinion at least – is that the character drawings are more realistic and identifiable. The reason why the film doesn't contain that much violent action or rancid sleaze is because Elliot Silverstein largely puts the emphasis on the series of emotions the newlyweds go through, together as well as separately. David becomes so increasingly obsessed with the idea of revenge, he's often frightening himself and Jill suddenly questions her marriage, her feelings and even her own femininity. The final confrontation with the deranged rapist Lee (excellent performance by John Beck) is rather overlong but atmospheric and you genuinely pray for the couple to walk out of the showdown alive. The performances are great with very convincing roles for Dack Rambo (awesome name, dude) as David and the cherubic Rebecca Dianna Smith as Jill. Elliot Silverstein's direction is tight and solid. He completed this little 70's gem in between directing his two most famous and much more publicly acclaimed achievements, namely the western drama (and predecessor of "Dances with Wolves") "A Man Called Horse" and horror-favorite "The Car", about a satanically possessed vehicle terrorizing the inhabitants of a small desert town.

FloatingOpera7 Nightmare Honeymoon (1973) Starring Dack Rambo, Rebecca Diana Smith, John Beck, Jim Boles, Dennis Burkley, Dennis Patrick, Pat Hingle, David Huddleston, Richard 0'Brien...Director Elliot Silverstein, Music by Elmer BernsteinReleased in 1973, this dark film was based on the novel by Lawrence Block and filmed on location entirely in Franklin, Mississippi and New Orleans, Louisiana. The premise: A couple, David and Jill (Dack Rambo and Rebecca Diana Smith) run out of their own wedding reception, held in Jill's Southern plantation-style estate. Her father is understandably upset and sends his sons after them. Jill has already defied her father by getting romantically involved with a "Yankee". They are on their way to New Orleans to spend their honeymoon but they encounter two crazed criminals who murder an bayou inn-keeper. Jill and David witness the murder but intend to run away from the evil-doers. The leader of the men (John Beck) rapes Jill and knocks David unconscious. Jill and David escape to New Orleans but the rape incident has traumatized Jill so much that she is unable to continue with the honeymoon. David and Jill eventually get into a heated argument. Before long, Jill's rapist has her in his clutches again. This time David is ready to fight and extract revenge....successfully. This type of movie was one of the many "violent/sex-ploitation/"men's films" that would bombard 70's movie theaters. It was the same in Mexican cinema at the time. I admit I've never read the novel by Lawrence Block (and anyways it's out of print) but most assuredly it's a dark, disturbing novel with a mixture of "crime thriller" and "horror", the kind that was cheap and sold mostly in paperback. This film is highly disturbing, even if it times some issues are raised that ought to be taken seriously. In the post-Civil Rights South, crime continued to thrive. In sleepy towns throughout the town, murders, rapes and other felonies were rampant. But when we look at Jon Beck's psychotic eyes and intensely evil face, we realize he is right in his repeated mantra: "Nobody cares". This is a social commentary on the corruption and lackadaisical attitudes of some small-town authorities. No one would wish this type of honeymoon on their worst enemy This is the first I've seen of actor Dack Rambo. He has a long credits/resume list on the IMDb. He appeared in several films, was a regular on 70's soap operas. He has a twin brother. Dack didn't hide the fact he was bi-sexual and engaged in unprotected sex, thus he died of AIDS sometime in the early 90's. He was nevertheless a talented, charismatic and handsome actor. This film is not his best work, and most of his films don't look good (bordering on B-budget) but I'm definitely taking an interest in this actor. The film has a soundtrack by Elmer Bernstein and sounds jazzy, dramatic, dark and brooding. But quite frankly, it's a guy's film and it's really not very good. It seems to be shocking for the sake of shock. I can only give it 6 stars. It was on TV late at night and thats' where it belongs.

Joan Edington With the current UK trend of showing old so-called horror movies that were banned at the time I was just hoping that this one might be shown on TV here. I saw it in Kuwait in 1975 (well you have to do something on a Saturday night in a dry country)and don't remember when I've laughed so much. From the squealing southern belle bride and oh-so-clean-cut groom to guys really called Bubba this film just made my day. The accents are straight out of Gone with the Wind, but with stars sadly lacking Clark Gable's looks or charm. Since I laughed just as hard at Texas Chainsaw Massacre and The Evil Dead recently I'm sure I'd bust a gut at this one. (The 5 score is for humour only).

rwint A young groom goes on a vengeance after he witnesses a killing and then has his wife raped, by some rural thugs, on his wedding night. Pretty much loses all relevancy when he tracks down the killers by remembering the names said during the killing and then using the TELEPHONE BOOK!!! To use a exact quote by it's super hunk star Dack "It's a magic detective book filled with the names of murderers and innocent victims. All the names, all the addresses." Has anyone ever heard of UNLISTED number. Oh well somebody better go tell the police and F.B.I. this so they can quit wasting so much money on their sophisticated networking and computer systems. Actress Smith has one of those 'put on' southern accents that almost immediately becomes annoying and after she is 'violated' has a look of constipation for the rest of the time. So mind numbingly standard that it makes a episode of THE A TEAM look creative. As memorable as spending ninety minutes cleaning between your bathroom tiles.