In its nearly 50-year history, Troma has become infamous for many things, including mismarketing some of its films. For instance, they tried selling Combat Shock as an all-out action film when it’s more of a character study. There was also The Dead Come Home, which they sold as a horror-comedy called Dead Dudes in the House. Other times, they’ll retitle a film, such as You Better Watch Out being retitled as Christmas Evil. Thankfully, Troma never recuts or reedits the films, but the mismarketing can lead to confusion. Such is the case with The Hunting Season, a rape-revenge film from Orange County by writer/director/star Richard Gardner. While the movie was initially released around 1979-1981, Troma acquired the rights and released it on VHS in 1987. Since then, the film has been rereleased on DVD and Blu-ray with the title Deadly Daphne’s Revenge.
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Rating
Synopsis
Charlie Johnson (Anthony Holt) and his friends Steve (Richard Gardner), Bruce, and Bobo are taking a weekend RV trip. Along the way, they pick up seventeen-year-old hitchhiker Cindy (Laurie Tait Partridge), who’s immediately put off by Charlie’s bigotry. She confides in Steve and even makes love to him, but Charlie and Bobo rape her after he leaves. Steve confronts Charlie the following day while Cindy runs off to try and press charges against Charlie. While her lawyer Starke can help her, Cindy is reluctant because he insists they prosecute all four men, including Steve. Charlie and Bobo get arrested, and while they’re eventually let out, the story spreads like wildfire across town. Steve loses his high school coaching job, Bruce kills himself over the guilt, and Cindy is second-guessing her decision. Little do they know that a woman from Charlie’s past named Daphne is seeking her deadly revenge!
Review
Mismarketing aside, Deadly Daphne’s Revenge is one of the weirdest rape-revenge movies I’ve ever seen. Rather than going the I Spit on Your Grave route of the attackers getting killed, this becomes a legal drama. While it’s unique, you wouldn’t expect a sleazy exploitation movie to turn into The Accused years before that came out. It’s interesting to see this obscure exploitation film tackle issues of double standards and victim blaming in a nuanced way. Unfortunately, whatever points the filmmakers tried to make are outdone by the acting, which ranges from mediocre to ridiculously over-the-top. Anthony Holt, in particular, is so stereotypically hateful that it comes off as one-note, which clashes with the serious tone. Laurie Tait Partridge is decent, and it’s easy to root for her, but she doesn’t leave much of an impression. Also, the titular Daphne gets her revenge but doesn’t appear until the last 10 minutes.
The rest of the cast is largely forgettable, although a pre-Fresh Prince of Bel-Air James Avery has a minor role. Aside from that, I’ve touched on just about everything there is to say about this movie. While the rape scene is appropriately disturbing, the revenge aspect is very unsatisfying and lacks the punch of similar films. There’s nothing on par with a crossbow-wielding Linda Blair in Savage Streets or architect-turned-vigilante Charles Bronson in Death Wish. Sure, the filmmakers handled the subject matter more objectively, which is commendable, but it could’ve been better. I can only imagine Troma fans’ disappointment when they popped this in the VCRs back in the day. It doesn’t help that they were probably confused about why the lead woman wasn’t named Daphne like the title. Overall, Deadly Daphne’s Revenge is a film whose title is more interesting than the actual movie.
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