christopher-underwood Not particularly explicit and barely any blood, this is nevertheless packed with red herrings and starring Suzy Kendall, so the fact that this is pretty much a British giallo does not come as such a surprise. Sleazy subject matter, schoolgirls getting raped in the woods behind the school and poor old Lesley-Anne Down gets it twice, although I reckon they used the same footage twice. Even so this starts at quite a pace with not just one girl chased through those woods but almost immediately afterwards another. The rest of the film is more a who-dun-it but keeps the attention and if some are under performing, like the very poor offering from Frank Finlay (never knew he was that small!) the rest acquit themselves well enough.

MuggySphere And I have to change my score from 7 to 6. It's been quite some time since I saw this film under the same title on an old VHS from my local video library. That was some 20 odd years ago.Some scenes seem different to me now. The rapes are vivid and quite alarming, and they don't look like they have changed those scenes at all since last viewing this. Leslie Anne Down did a marvelous job of playing Tessa the first victim who can not speak or, do much else after being attacked. Understandable of course.There is one scene I remember, even from my first viewing of this of a girl in the school library and the headmistress' sleazy husband. She asks him to, and I quote "could you steady me?" I'm thinking this translates to helping her stand on the chair. But he holds her with both hands on her waist, and as she stands then proceeds to move his hands along the curve of her hips and then push her skirt up... You see that in the scene then as his hand gets high they cut to her face with her looking down with a puzzling expression. It looks like a half smile on her face, as if she either doesn't care what is going on or might even like it. Anyway the scene is gross...Overall the movie tries to be serious, the only serious part is what happens to poor Tessaa played by Lesley Ann Down.... In the end the rapist finds her again right before the film ends but he is dispatched in the most silly manner that I can recall ever seeing.So after watching this today I don't think I'd give it another go. Pass and put this DVD in the bin.

The_Void Assault is apparently a British attempt at emulating the popular Italian Giallo sub-genre. If that is indeed what the filmmakers were aiming for, it has to be said that they've done a rather good job, as Assault incorporates many of the common Giallo trademarks. We've got a killer on the loose, a number of victims, a police investigation, an eyewitness, lots of red herrings and an unknown assailant, among other things. I'd even go as far as to say that if I didn't know better, I might have thought this was an Italian production, set in the UK. It's unfortunate, then, that director Sidney Hayers wasn't able to take the script and craft an exciting mystery out of it, as the film features far too much talking and not enough action, leaving it caught up in boredom for most of the running time. The plot follows the murder of a young girl in the woods outside of her school. When another is found dead in the same way shortly after, the police are brought in. Their only witness is a young teacher, who says the killer looks like the devil and puts herself on the line to catch the psychopath.One common element of the Italian Giallo is a silly plot, and that has been copied for this film also. The idea regarding the capture of the killer is preposterous, and the murderer would have to be a complete and utter fool to fall for it. The film doesn't seem too keen on keeping itself away from complete farce either, as the climax is very silly and it's often hard to keep a straight face while watching the film unfold, and that's not what you want from a thriller that handles themes of murder and rape. The cast is distinctly British, and Derbyshire-born Giallo star Suzy Kendall, who has also worked with the likes of Dario Argento, Sergio Martino and Umberto Lenzi on Giallo thrillers, takes the lead role and is joined by a host of tea-drinking co-stars. Sidney Hayers' direction is a little turgid at times, although scenes such as the one in which we get an early glimpse of the murderer are well shot. The conclusion to the mystery is disappointing, as the identity of the killer just sort of comes out of nowhere. Overall, this film isn't all that good; but it may appeal to Giallo fans for the fact that it's a Giallo, but it's not Italian.

biggee The film is typical of its time, with the lighting, camera work and fashion giving a clear indication of 1969 to 1971 British cinema.It is not scary, but there is reasonable suspense and enjoyment.My main reason for commenting is has anyone else noticed the very strong similarities with the brilliant (but sadly never shown) "I start counting"?There is the same fashion, the similar colour technique which is surprising given this is Eastman and "I start" is De Luxe, an emphasis on short skirts, an unknown serial assailant who is revealed at the end but throughout most of the film the viewers attention is diverted to other suspects. There is also the woods where the events take place; the atmosphere in the woodland scenes is very similar. Finally, there is a young and good looking central character in both, Lesley-Anne Down and Jenny AgutterWatch the film if you enjoy late 60's, early 70's Britain and a bit of suspense.