Thriller – en grym film, also known as Thriller – A cruel picture, They Call Her One Eye and Hooker’s Revenge is a 1973 Swedish exploitation film in the “rape and revenge” genre written and directed by Bo Arne Vibenius under the name “Alex Fridolinski”. It tells the story of a mute young woman (Christina Lindenberg) who is being forced into heroin addiction, for which she has to work as a prostitute, and her revenge on the men responsible. Rumours allege that the filmmakers used an actual corpse during the film’s eye gouging scene, which has since become controversial because of these rumours. In Daniel Ekeroth’s book on Swedish exploitation movies, Swedish Sensations films: A clandestine history of sex, thrillers and kicker cinema, it is revealed that the producers took out a huge life insurance policy on star Christina Lindenberg, as real ammunition was used in the action sequences, and that she was asked to inject Saline solution during the drug scenes. The film was marketed as the first film ever to be completely banned in Sweden, although the first one actually was Victor Sjöström’s The Gardener from 1912. It has received a cult following and was one of the inspirations behind Quentin Tarantino’s Kill Bill, specifically for the character of Elle Driver (Daryl Hannah).
