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Released by: One 7 Movies
Released on: December 3rd, 2013.
Director: Fons Rademakers
Cast: Bryan Marshall, Sylvia Kristel, Alexandra Stewart, Sebastian Graham Jones
Year: 1973
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The Movie:
This nasty Dutch/Belgian co-production, directed by Fons Rademakers is better known pretty much everywhere else on the planet as Because Of The Cats. The story begins when a woman named Hannie Troost (Sylvia Kirstel) and her husband come home late one night completely unaware that a bunch of thugs have broken into posh Amsterdam home. Hannie is brutally raped and her husband is forced to watch the thugs abuse her in the worst possible manner.
From there we meet Inspector Van der Walk (Bryan Marshall), the cop assigned to catching the fiends responsible for the assault. Van der Walk is not a man who takes things like this lightly, in fact he's taking a lot of this very personally. As he starts to put together the pieces of the puzzle surrounding the events that took place tonight, all signs point to the culprits being connected to some very high standing members of society, the kind that wield power, money and influence. Van der Walk tries to play by the rules but the further he's pulled into this, the more he realizes that in order to bring these men to justice he's going to have to bend the law. Before he catches the criminals though, Van der Walk will discover a second gang made up of young women, a much larger string of connected crimes than he first though, and some strange small town secrets…
Though the cover art for this DVD release would have you believe this is a seedy slice of dire exploitation and horror, the fact of the matter is that once we get past that admittedly very nasty rape scene, the rest of the movie plays out as a police procedural. Kirstel's presence is obviously hyped up but once Van der Walk becomes the focus of the story, her character is more or less brushed aside and it becomes Marshall's show for the duration. The picture is well paced and quite nicely shot, making great use of some interesting Amsterdam location photography to create some slick mood and atmosphere.
Performance wise, Marshall turns in some fine work here. It's a fairly bold performance that evolves in interesting ways as he becomes more involved with the twists and turns that the case brings about. He brings an intensity to the role that suits the character nicely and uses both his acting skills and his body language in pretty convincing ways. Kirstel doesn't have as much to do, though her part in the movie is undeniably important as it is the impetus that sets everything else into motion. She is convincing, however, and we definitely feel for her character after all that she is put through in the opening scene.
Video/Audio/Extras:
Brutalization debuts on DVD from One 7 Movies framed at 1.77.1 anamorphic widescreen taken from a print that is in perfectly watchable condition. Colors are a bit faded and black levels are sometimes closer to dark grey than to true black but the minor print damage that appears throughout is never too distracting. Detail isn't mind blowing but it's acceptable and there are only minor compression artifacts evident in some of the darker scenes that take place in dimly lit interiors. Some edge enhancement is a bit too obvious in some scenes, but yeah, if this won't floor you it looks fine.
The Dolby Digital Mono mix, in English, is also fine. Levels are well balanced and any hiss or distortion that makes its way into the track is minor. Dialogue remains pretty easy to understand throughout and while range is limited by the source, the movie sounds fine.
The only extra on the disc is a theatrical trailer. Static menus and chapter selection are also included.
The Final Word:
Brutalization is well made, well-acted and not quite the flat out trash film that the packaging and back copy would have you believe. The presentation here won't blow you away but it's watchable enough and the movie itself is just strange enough to work.
