Reviewed by Melissa Garza
I’ve always been captivated by movies that display domestic violence. Whether it be The Burning Bed, What’s Love Got to Do with It, Enough, or even Sleeping with the Enemy; I’m drawn to the screen. I think it’s the perseverance and strength of the women that appeal to me. Not to mention, usually the men get what’s coming to them, and that’s just awesome to watch. In regard to The Brute, I saw it for sale at a used DVD store for $5.88. I had never heard of it but I figured, “what the hell.”
It sat on my shelf for about a year before I finally opened it and decided to throw it in. The film begins with a narrator/psychiatrist (Kenneth Nelson) remarking on how cartoons belittle the subject of domestic violence by having a caveman drag an all too willing woman by her hair.
Then the real film starts. I was expecting a build-up of anger. I thought the movie would open with her husband Teddy (Julian Glover) romancing his model wife Diane (Sarah Douglas). I figured slowly he would change to a violent jerk. I was wrong. Teddy walked into the room where Diane slept. He whipped her with a belt over and over in a violent rage.
The next morning, he apologizes as the two insult each other. Diane is forced to put make-up on her bruises and go to work telling them she was in a car accident. She suffers through it and poses for the camera. When she leaves the cameraman comments how her husband must be a ‘bastard’ knowing the truth.
Teddy insults her and tells her she’s having an affair. She insists over and over that she isn’t but to no avail. He’s callous and cruel and she asks him to go to a psychiatrist but he refuses. Later, they make peace.
Diane goes to the therapist and tells him everything. The doctor tells her that Teddy must come in as he’s the one who needs help. She tries to bring the subject up with him but he goes crazy and once again accuses her of being sick. To maintain the peace she goes to get him a drink but when she returns one of the most frightening scenes in cinematic history occurs. He’s wearing her dress, a wig and full make-up as he chases her out of the house. It was so unexpected that it disturbed me – and I love men who dress like women. I’m a RHPS (Rocky Horror Picture Show) fanatic, but this just through me for a loop.
Diane ends up running to her photographer friend Mark (Bruce Robinson) and his girlfriend Carrie (Suzanne Stone) who takes her in and try to help her. When she returns home and opens her closet her dresses are torn to shreds and a blow up doll dressed in her clothing and with full make-up falls on her. It was at this time I realized; this is a true horror film at its core. It isn’t just a story of a sadistic douche who likes to beat his wife but an out-and-out horror villain.
Oddly, the film decides to take a turn and have her sleep with Mark. He slips in her bed and she first protests slightly but then makes love to him as Carrie awakes in the next room alone.
The next day Teddy begs her to come home but still refuses to see a psychiatrist. They have dinner with their son when Teddy tells her that he’ll take custody of him unless she comes back.
She goes back to work where Mark roughly takes her off the set and they drive to an isolated location where he nearly forces her to have sex. Oddly, Mark isn’t made into a villain. He tells her that she likes it rough and she relents but at first she is clearly saying no. Mark really isn’t much better than Teddy but he’s made into a near romantic hero.
The film seems to be trying to make a point that there’s a difference between rough sex and abuse. That’s true if both parties are willing from the get-go, but if a woman says NO …it’s NO. Also, the indication that women who finds themselves in an abusive relationship all like it rough is not only a dangerous statement but one that was obviously thought by some man’s deluded fantasy.
Now, I know this was made in the 70s and things were different then but MY GOD, I’m happy that things have changed. That said, thinking about Rhianna forgiving and indulging in a relationship with that scumbag Chris Brown after he beat the hell out of her, makes me wonder…and it makes me sad. I think about the young girls who look up to her and will think that a man slapping a woman around is normal. It’s important to teach girls early that if a guy hits you – you get out and you don’t think twice about it.
Off the soapbox, Diane meets Millie (Jennie Twigge) who is beaten more severely than Diane. Nonetheless, Diane returns home as she doesn’t want to lose custody of her child. He convinces her to make love by the fire when she sees his intention is to brand her with a hot iron. She escapes and gets the police who are convinced Diane is the crazy one and that Teddy is just a concerned husband.
Millie ends up in a shelter and is quickly taken in by Diane. When Millie’s husband comes back and attempts to attack her, Carrie jumps on him and beats the living hell out of him. By far that is the best scene in this movie. I loved it.
The conclusion fits the entire film and is fitting in a strange way. It’s unexpected and tense but the ending is somewhat uplifting and hopeful.
Despite my thoughts on the context of the movie, I will say it is well-put together, interesting and the characters were all developed and intriguing. They were all sick and twisted but that’s what made the film unique and disturbingly appealing.
Overall Rating: 8/10
