Woman's Torment, A (Vinegar Syndrome) Review

Distributor: Vinegar Syndrome Edition Details: Standard Blu-ray/DVD Combo Pack Movie Specs: Genres: Golden Age Classic, Feature Film, Horror Run Time: 85 minutes Rated: X Release Year: 1977 Director: Roberta Findlay (as Robert W. Norman) Written by: Roberta Findlay (as Robert W. Norman) Cast: Tara Chung, Jennifer Jordan, Jake Teague, Jeffrey Hurst, Marlene Willoughby, Crystal Sync (as Harris Compton), Michael Gaunt (as Michael Grant), Clea Carson (as Anna Davis), R. Bolla Release Specs: Audio: English DTS-HD Master Audio 1.0 Mono (Blu-ray), English Dolby Digital 1.0 Mono (DVD) Subtitles: none Video: Widescreen, 1.78:1 (anamorphic) Video Format: NTSC Format: Blu-ray/DVD Regional Code (for DVD/Blu-ray): 0 (All) Number of discs: 1 Blu-ray, 1 DVD

A Woman's Torment is a well-done horror/adult film hybrid from writer/director Roberta Findlay using the pseudonym Robert W. Norman. The horror and adult film mixture seems to be the one combination that adult filmmakers have struggled with the most throughout time; and the majority of the films that fall within this subgenre are usually utter failures, which is something that this reviewer has always found to be odd since the horror/softcore film genre has many enjoyable films. Roberta Findlay's A Woman's Torment is an exception to this and works on both levels as an adult film and as a horror film.

In A Woman's Torment, Frances Compton's (Crystal Sync) step-sister Karen (Tara Chung) moves in with her and her husband Don (Jeffrey Hurst). Karen is non-verbal, unbalanced, and hears voices, which concerns Don, so he asks his friend Dr. Otis Vorel (Jake Teague), a psychiatrist who is having an affair with Frances, for some advice. Frances doesn't want Karen to end up in a mental hospital but Don thinks she belongs in one; one night Karen hears Francis and Don discussing her potential fate and goes to stay at the family's empty beach house on an island that is empty due to being offseason. Alone, Karen's grip on reality slides further away.

The aspect of A Woman's Torment that causes the film to work so well is that the sex scenes are integrated into the plot. So often in horror/adult films, the sex scenes seem awkward and forced into the film, so often to the detriment of the film. The story itself is very well done and not just a vehicle to move the film from sex scene to sex scene. The film also has more plot than your standard adult film, which obviously helps. The cast does a great job with their material, both sexual and non-sexual, in the film; especially Tara Chung who puts in a great and frightening performance as Karen.

In addition, A Woman's Torment is beautifully shot. Roberta Findlay has a great eye for where the camera should be pointed, more so than many adult film cinematographers during this period. This coupled with some excellent locations makes for an overall nice looking film. Walter E. Sear has composed an excellent score for A Woman's Torment, which also helps the mood of the film greatly.

Way too often films in the hybrid horror/adult movie genres fail. Either the hardcore sex scenes are awkward and out of place ruining the mood of the film or the plot is just silly failing to create a mood. A Woman's Torment is a true exception to this pratfalls and is an excellent horror/adult film hybrid that should please all fans of the genre. This is definitely a film to pick up for your collection.

Vinegar Syndrome had done an absolutely beautiful job with their Blu-ray/DVD combination package for A Woman's Torment. A Woman's Torment was shot on film and Vinegar Syndrome has used a 2K scan of the 35mm camera negative for this release. Both the Blu-ray and the DVD in the package contain the same material. A Woman's Torment is presented in the anamorphic widescreen aspect ratio of 1.78:1 in 1080p on the Blu-ray and 480p on the DVD. The film image contained on this release is just beautiful! The image has great colors and an almost defect-free image, which has less than the expected amount of grain, artifacts, and print damage. Vinegar Syndrome has done a great job with the image on this release.

A Woman's Torment is presented with an English DTS-HD Master Audio 1.0 monaural audio track on the Blu-ray and an English Dolby Digital 1.0 monaural audio track on the DVD. The audio has a low hiss throughout the film, however, this has no effect on the viewing experience. The dialog in the film is clear and easy to hear throughout.

Vinegar Syndrome has included some great extras on the release. The 87-minute R-rated version of A Woman's Torment is included, in full, on the release. There is a feature-length commentary for the R-rated version only with Roberta Findlay and Casey Scott. There is the “Wrath of A Woman's Torment: An Interview with Michael Dattore aka Michael Gaunt” featurette that runs for 16 minutes. There is also the introduction and question and answer segments from the Quad Cinema showing on August 30, 2017, with Casey Scott and Roberta Findlay that runs for 23 minutes.

A Woman's Torment is an excellent horror/adult hybrid film from writer/director Roberta Findlay. Findlay does a great job of the complex balance of horror and sex within A Woman's Torment and Tara Chung is excellent in the lead role. Fans of the genre should not let this film pass them by and Vinegar Syndrome has done an excellent job with their Blu-ray/DVD combination package release of A Woman's Torment with absolutely beautiful audio and video quality.

The screenshots are taken from the Vinegar Syndrome DVD release for A Woman's Torment.

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