The second British film to actually find itself on the banned list- the other being the sci-fi/horror opus XTRO. EXPOSE was planned, and was actually heavily promoted at UK cinemas, as a vechile for, then famous, 70's British sex-pot Fiona Richmond. It turned out to be more akin to Peckinpah's STRAW DOGS- a simialr juxtaposition of quaint rural countryside and mean-spirited violence. And it was the rape scene, where fellow star Linda Hayden appears to enjoy the ordeal, that, along with Peckinpah's film, caused no end of censorship woes. Ending with the film being dubbed a 'video-nasty'. It has been re-released on video shorn of just under a minutes worth of material.

Non propriamente un rape & revenge questo House on the Straw Hill aka Expòse aka Trauma,nonostante ci sia sia il tema della vendetta che quello dello stupro ma non conseguenza l'una dell'altro. Il film di James Kenelm Clarke ha qualche spunto interessante che però viene utilizzato in maniera imbarazzante ed unicamente ad uso delle scene di sesso. La storia è quella dello scrittore Paul,Udo Kier, che si ritira in campagna dopo il successo enorme del primo film per scrivere il secondo libro che,come si sa, è sempre il più difficile nella carriera di un artista. Richiama una dattilografa per aiutarlo nella scrittura del film,di cui si innamora. La ragazza viene violentata da dei balordi ma la cosa è assolutamente ininfluente nella storia. A tal proposito il film voleva sfruttare il successo di Cane di Paglia di Peckinpah e Last House on the Left di Craven(tant'è che il titolo non è che un mix) e aggiungerci una storia plausibile che alla fine è la cosa più interessante. Soprattutto per la figura di Udo Kier che sembra quasi un precursore del Jack Torrence di Shining per le assurdità che scrive se non fosse che il suo personaggio non impazzisce ed ha anche una giustificazione per non avere talento. Il rapporto tra Paul e la dattilografa Linda(Linda Hayden)infatti non è affatto casuale. Quasi tutto il film comunque si prosciuta tra scene di masturbazione e sesso promiscuo tra i personaggi,compresa la fidanzata del protagonista,la porno attrice Fiona Richmond,che è messa lì per fare solo quello,una delle facce più volgari che abbia mai scrutato dallo schermo.La fama del film si deve al fatto che fu bandito per la scena di stupro che contiene nel Regno Unito. A vederla non si direbbe.

Description / Информация о фильме:
Original Title / Оригинальное название: Trauma
Also Known As: Травма / Дом на Соломенном Холме / The House on Straw Hill / Exposé
Released in / Год выхода: 1976
Genre / Жанр: Horror, Thriller, Sex, Independent Film
Director / Режиссер: James Kenelm Clarke / Джеймс Кенелм Кларк
Writers / Сценарий: James Kenelm Clarke (writer)
Cinematography by / Оператор: Dennis C. Lewiston, Phil Meheux (uncredited)
Original Music by: Steve Gray

Cast / В ролях: Udo Kier, Linda Hayden, Fiona Richmond, Patsy Smart, Karl Howman, Vic Armstrong, Sydney Knight, Brian Smedley-Aston...

(In)famous for being the only British film to get itself stuck on the dreaded UK 'Video Nasties' list, "Expose" (or "The House on Straw Hill"as it was originally known) is actually an overblown soap opera drama enlivened by a few sex/nudity scenes and a spot of the old bloody violence.

A sadly dubbed Udo Kier gives a muted performance as the highly unlikeable Paul, who spends the entire film being rude to people, moaning, being arrogant and pulling faces that seem to suggest he was just a few seconds too late getting to the toilet.

His pleasant manner is perfectly shown in his very first words to Linda when he picks her up at the station;
"As a rule I don't like people about, I don't trust them". How's that for a warm greeting?

He does have a few good lines, but his best scene is actually after pulling some unexpected 'Novelist Kung Fu' on a couple of yobs who are hassling him and Linda. Driving away he pulls a wonderfully wide-eyed expression and rants…"They were after me! Going for me"! If only this could have been delivered in his own distinctive tones!

And given the crap he dictates as part of his new novel it's safe to say he should give up the day job. Best of all are his fevered erotic passages…

"Here in his arms was a sensitive being. Passionate and demanding!

Then Angus's tongue starts it's slow exploration…darting here, arousing… there.

Playing on Anna like a virtuoso with a Stratovarius, or… a Steinway. A great, wonderful catharsis of lust"!
Oh dear!

So it's left to the ladies to entertain us. The delightful and sexy Linda Hayden looks great and given the non-role she has to play with she does as well as can be expected as the mysterious secretary. She actually hates this film because it's not the film she thought it was going to be and was just plain sleazy, and is on record as saying as much very recently. But I have to say I fail to see her reasoning.

She openly masturbates (many times…careful Linda, you could go blind)) has a couple of lesbian encounters, strips to the waist and gets screwed in a cornfield while masturbating a shotgun! Given all that, it does make you wonder what kind of film she THOUGHT she was making!

Fiona Richmond's grossly over the top, but passionless, moans of passion get very annoying very quickly. And basically she is all big hair and ridiculous tan with nothing else worth noting except for her willingness to strip off her clothes (including some welcome full frontal shots) and pout a lot.

One of the yobs that Paul Karate chops is played by Karl Howman, who went on to make the very popular, prime-time TV comedy "Brush Strokes" (and can also be seen in the superb "Long Good Friday") and is now in a successful ad campaign for 'Flash' cleaning liquid!

But I'm sure he hopes that this obscure film (barely released in the UK before being banned and only getting a near invisible re-release, heavily cut, years later) stays obscure...as I'm sure the sight of his pale, white arse bouncing up and down in a field in a 'Video Nasty'' is not something he puts very high up on his CV when he goes for jobs. If it's on there at all!

Violence wise it's pretty tame except for (perhaps it's most infamous and oft censored scene) a naked stabbing that is a fine piece of sex 'n' violence melding in the best Exploitation fashion.

The sex is pretty tame, but the nudity, multiple positions (no one flips 'em over like Udo!) and a nicely staged lesbian breast kissing sequence add to the movie's entertainment value. And Paul feels the need to slap on a pair of latex gloves before feeling up Suzanne...though this may be a way to stop her tan staining his fingers! Who can tell.

But it's the awfully lifeless direction, equally lifeless and unpleasant characters and it's cheap look that really damage the film. There is just no energy here, nearly 10 minutes is spent on watching Linda slouching around the cottage and unpacking as the camera just fixes her in it's emotionless gaze.

Thank goodness for the lean running time. Anymore padding and close-ups of emotionless faces and you could well find yourself slipping into a deep sleep. And all the blame has to thrown at the feet off Clarke, as he wrote the script as well as directing..

The movie also attempts to play like an English 'Giallo' (the mystery thrillers made in Italy like Dario Argento's "Deep Red") with only the hands of the killer being shown. But seeing as there are only 3 characters in the cottage, and given the way many of the scenes/events are set up…it can be only one person. And we all know it. We know it from the first killings in fact as nothing is hidden!

It's pointless, and as such comes across not as suspenseful just irritating.

So…Not much to speak highly of here except the sex, nudity, Linda Hayden (who is a pleasure to watch as always) and one murder sequence.

There was a good framework here to build a suspenseful, sleaze and violence packed little psycho thriller…but sadly it fails to build on this framework except for slapping a few nipples, pubic hairs and a bit of blood around the place.

Best way to sum it up is thus. Linda gets dirty, Fiona gets naked and Udo gets dubbed. / Beardy Freak Reviews /

Additional Details
Country / Выпущено: UK
Company / Производство: Norfolk International Pictures
Duration / Продолжительность: Dual Spa.- Ital.- 01:20:17 / Eng.- 01:20:28
Language / Язык: English / Spanish / Italian

Dual Spanish - Italian DVDRip
Format: AVI 1.0 (VFW 1.1)
Video Stream: XviD Final 1.0.1 (build 35), 608x304 (2.00:1), 25 fps, 1087 kbps avg, 0.23 bit/pixel
Audio Stream #1: MPEG Layer 3, 48 kHz, 2 ch, 256.00 kbps avg
Audio Stream #2: MPEG Layer 3, 48 kHz, 2 ch, 256.00 kbps avg
Size: 924.96 Mb (969 891 840 bytes)

Eng DVDRip
Format: AVI 1.0 (VFW 1.1)
Video Stream: DivX Codec 4.x, 640x480 (1.33:1), 25 fps, 1047 kbps avg, 0.14 bit/pixel
Audio Stream #1: MPEG Layer 3, 48 kHz, 2 ch, 128.00 kbps avg
Size: 684.74 Mb (718 002 530 bytes)

Download: Trauma / ом на Соломенном Холме (1976) DVDRip

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