Abduction (1975)

In France, we only know the Chuck Norris' garbage films directed by Jo Zito, and certainly not his early stuff. Maybe we don't miss much. And from this point of view, I nevertheless tried this one, at my own risks. And, believe it or not, I was not disappointed at all. Of course we can prefer the Paul Schrader's PATTY HEARST, maybe more accurate, but this pretty little movie deserves to be seen. At least for the surprising ending, shocking for some audiences. The performance from the female lead is very good too, for such a B picture I mean. And I also appreciated the police assault sequence on the wrong house, when the editing prepared the audience to the abductor's hideout...This scheme reminded me some other features, the most famous being SILENCE OF THE LAMBS...But there were more. And I am also surprised that Lawrence Tierney is not credited in the IMDb characters list.

Radicals kidnap the daughter of a rich political figure in hopes of blackmailing him into stopping the corruption and over running of their cities with profitable business wagers that do not benefit the poor. They rape the girl and send videos to the father in hopes to persuade him, but eventually the girl becomes involved in their movement and doesn't want to leave.I have heard that this movie was based on real events, I didn't research to find out. I know its full of sex and nudity and rape and lesbian scenes and it was rather intense in ways, especially with the girl changing and wanting to stay with them. Joseph Zito directed and the direction was pretty plain, he would go on to do such great slashers as The Prowler and Friday The 13th: The Final Chapter as well as action flicks like Invasion U.S.A. with Chuck Norris and Red Scorpion with Dolph Rudgren. Most of the actors were people I don't know including the lead actress Patricia played wonderfully by Judith Marie Bergan.This movie was a good intense thriller/ drama, but was low on violence and shock, other than rape and even that was not done in too hardcore of a manner. My problem was that it was slow, repetitive and not too exciting. I gave it 3/10 stars

***SPOILERS*** Not at all expecting too much I found myself fascinated in the movie "Abducted" in how it skillfully handed the very explosive story of the Patty Hearst kidnapping to the point where I almost believed it was more of a documentary, using newsreel footage, then a cheap exploitation flick.In the film we see 19 year old newspaper heiress Patricia Prescott, Judith-Marie Bergan, kidnapped out of her collage dormitory room with her boyfriend Michael, Andrew Rohrer, brutally beaten up by her captors. As we and Patricia soon learn the kidnappers belong to this radical west coast organization that's doing its "thing" for, like most like-wise group of that kind, those less fortunate among us, unlike the rich and well connected Patricia Prescott, the downtrodden and exploited unwashed masses of the world!Patricia is then subjected to a number of well planned brainwash sessions, including being raped by both male and female members of the group, that totally destroys her mind and will to fight back. In fact in no time at all Patricia starts to want to become a member of the very gang that had so viciously tortured and humiliated her! Patricia's parents Mr & Mrs. Prescott, Leif Erickson & Dorothy Malone, then go along with the group's demands to demolish a new high rise luxury building complex, the Park Towers Apartments, that Mr. Prescott is in control of. What outrages the radical group most of all is that the Park Towers Complex is being funded with taxpayers money who for the most part can't afford to rent there! It's not long after that the Prescott's daughter Patricia becomes a full fledged member of the radical group!***SPOILER ALERT*** The movie "Abducted" follows the true story of the Patty Hearst kidnapping case pretty accurately until its shocking and totally unexpected final. And it's that, the films fictitious ending, that make it a cut above in what you would have expected it to be! It's that piece of fiction that in fact makes what was in real life an unbelievable and disturbing story that much more more disturbing!

Not until after the credits rolled did I find out the interesting history behind this novel adaptation. The novel this movie was based on, Black Abductor, was published a year before the exact same thing happened with a girl by the name of Patty Hearst. In the book/film, Patricia Prescott (Judith-Marie Berigan) is kidnapped by political activists who believe with her they can get Mr. Prescott (Leif Erickson), a prominent politician, to reverse the opening of some high-rise apartments. The federal government supposedly allotted money to Mr. Prescott to build low-income housing, but he, being the corrupt republican, used the money to secure a business deal on some gaudy high-rent jobs. To the surprise of even the activists, Patricia falls in love with the ideals of the group and asks to join the cause. The print I watched looked terrible, and the volume was very inconsistent, but that aside I enjoyed the movie and felt it moved at a very appropriate pace. Some of the sex seemed gratuitous, but I'm guessing it's only because the original novel was intended as an adult sex novel. Zito went on to direct arguably the best of the crappy Friday the 13th series, 'The Final Chapter' (the fourth one I think), but it's not surprising that Hollywood trusted him after this solid beginning. Rating: 25/40