Britain 1975, with the news headlines dominated by violence including mass murders by the Provisional IRA and brutal bank robberies, but also by the struggle for women's equality, the subject of a major piece of legislation that year. Donovan Winter put the two together in this ironical story of an all-female murder-to-order squad. Headed by suburban mother Joan (Tracy Reed) who agrees terms with her clients over coffee and biscuits in an up-market venue, the victim, usually a partner who has become unbearable, will be taken out with the utmost efficiency, the surroundings always left spotless into the bargain. The film was criticized for being too long and slow, but I don't mind that if on board with the subject. Taking one example, the long conversation with the fussy housewife adds to the impact when she suddenly - and literally - gets the chop. The cynical flavour is summed up by neglected wife Heather Chasen reading Live and Let Die while awaiting the call that will confirm her despised husband has been terminated. The victims range from the slightly dislikeable to the downright repellent, with the middle-aged men looking seedy, though that might just be a reflection of the haircuts of the time. There's no faulting Winter's casting including a young Rula Lenska as a mysterious character turning up in the early stages and at the end. Tracy Reed, one of those actors who never quite got the breaks, is excellent, and would surely have made an ideal Avenger in the Honor Blackman mould.
Review of The Deadly Females
