# The banned 1973 movie that left Quentin Tarantino “ruined” by the end: “It’s rough”

- URL: https://talkfuse.com/story/the-banned-1973-movie-that-left-quentin-tarantino-ruined-by-the-end-its-rough/
- Published: 2026-11-10T16:15:00+00:00
- Updated: 2026-11-10T16:53:08+00:00
- Original publisher: Far Out
- Original article: https://faroutmagazine.co.uk/banned-movie-left-quentin-tarantino-ruined-by-the-end/

## Key points

- Tarantino struggled to finish the bleak 1973 thriller.
- The film was heavily cut and banned in several countries.
- He named it a favourite and cited its influence on his films.

## Summary

Quentin Tarantino has said that Alex Fridolinski’s 1973 revenge thriller *Thriller – A Cruel Picture* was so bleak that he needed several attempts to finish it. Despite describing the experience as rough and deeply depressing, he later called the film a favourite and praised its star, Christina Lindberg.

The film follows a mute woman kidnapped by a pimp and forced into prostitution and heroin addiction; an attempt to resist leads to a client removing her eye with a scalpel. It was banned in Sweden and faced bans, classification refusals or heavy cuts elsewhere: its original 107-minute version was reduced to 86 minutes, then 82, before approval in Sweden. Tarantino also said the film influenced *Kill Bill* and *Death Proof*, and it went on to become a cult classic.

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Summarised by TalkFuse (https://talkfuse.com/). Quote the original publisher for the reporting and link this page for the summary and discussion.