When Fear Made Her a Victim, She Turned Fear Into a Weapon

What she did to survive is nothing compared to what she'll do to get even.

Alone and Vulnerable. The perfect victim...or so he thought.


Attacked by a masked assailant, Marjorie (Farrah Fawcett) lives in mortal fear that the unidentified man will strike again -- especially since he knows her address. Sure enough, Joe the attacker (James Russo) breaks into Marjorie's home and subjects her to a night of terror and sexual humiliation. But Marjorie manages to turns the tables on her attacker, knocking him unconscious and rendering him helpless. The remainder of the story charts Marjorie's battle with herself: should she turn Joe over to the authorities, who may very well set him free, or should she mete out her own punishment? ~


Marjorie (Fawcett) is a young woman who works in a museum and lives with two female roommates, Pat (Woodard) and Terry (Scarwid). One night, while getting into her car, she is attacked at knifepoint by a masked assailant (Russo).
Marjorie manages to escape, but not before the mugger makes off with her purse. She goes to the police but is told there is very little they can do. One week later, while Marjorie's roommates are at work, her nightmare comes true as the assailant (named Joe) casually enters her house, having used her personal information to find out where she lives.
A terrifying scene of events unfolds as Joe subjects Marjorie to a continuous barrage of mental and physical assaults. The tables finally turn, however, when Marjorie overpowers Joe by spraying his eyes and mouth with insect repellent as he's getting ready to rape her.
Marjorie then ties Joe up and subjects him to the same kind of physical and mental assaults he used on her earlier, even reducing him to tears as he pleads for his life when he learns that he's ingested some of the insect repellent Marjorie sprayed at him. When Terry and Pat return home, they try to convince Marjorie, who is contemplating murdering him, to think about the consequences of her actions, since Joe didn't actually rape or attempt to kill her. Joe points this out when he compares his beaten and bloodied self to Marjorie's own physical state. He attempts to fabricate a story that he knew Marjorie through a one-night stand at a party some time ago, which her roommates almost believe, until Marjorie calls him a liar and attacks him, finding the sheath knife he used on her in the first attack, proving her story to Patty and Terry.
Marjorie forces Joe to admit his guilt by torturing him with the blade, and at one point threatens to castrate him if he does not tell the truth. Defeated, a sobbing Joe confesses by saying he watched the house and stole letters to gain insight into how the women lived...and that he intended to kill Marjorie and her roommates that day. He also confesses to the rapes and presumed murders of three other women. Finally at peace, Marjorie allows Patty and Terry to call the police.

Release Date: August 22, 1986


Distrib: Atlantic Pictures


Boxoffice: $13,418,091 2013: $29,114,700