Los Violadores del Amanecer (Rapists at Dawn, 1978)

Quinqui Raw Cinema

Spanish Mercury Films Blu-ray edition without english subtitles




I'm not sure if this could be called a horror film as it's more of a crime action-drama, but it's so gruesome and nasty it certainly borders to the Horror.
This film were made under the Spanish Golden Era of horror, crime mysteries and sex exploitation film approx. between the 1970's to early 1980's and
this film could've been a Spanish Rape and Revenge crime action in the same vein as Charles Bronson's Death Wish movies. But, with the exception
that this film is mostly Rape and very little Revenge. High quality Spanish exploitation maybe as this film is very well made, and uncomfortably so.

This film was a more exploitative rip-off of the Spanish Street Crime Juvenile Delinquency genre - the Quinqui Raw Cinema that director José Antonio
De La Loma kickstarted with his "Perros callejeros" in 1977, with non-actors and even real criminals in the roles and filmed in Barcelona's worst
neighbourhoods/barrios. Loma and others strived for realism and a raw shocking look, social commentaries when Iquino had a sleazier slant to it.

This film seems to be a cult movie within the Spanish Peliculas de Terror genre but seemingly unknown outside of Spain. On my Horror page 1 you
can read more about the fantastic 1982 horror "Secta Siniestra" made by the same director, Ignacio F. Iquino and maybe, one could hope for it, will
there be more releases on DVD/BR also of these Spanish genre gems from the later period of the Golden Era. This about Iquino i wrote on Bloody Sect:

Other Iquino movies

"Ignacio F. Iquino (1910-1994) was a veteran Spanish filmmaker who between 1934 to 1984 directed 87 films and in a wide spectrum of genres. He ended
his career with making a lot of sex comedies (some with beautiful Concha Valero and Emma Quer), with this Secta Siniestra his only horror movie and
with his crime movie, the 1978 infamous Nastie Los Violadores del amanecer. The latter film a disturbingly well made crime thriller about a vicious
Barcelona gang of robbers and rapists. A film that makes you want to take a shower, no 2 showers, no 3 showers after watching it. Yuck! "

Los Violadores del Amanecer - a short description:

At the outskirts of Barcelona, up in the hills, a young girl, Maria (Linda Lay) is kidnapped and raped by a gang of young thugs, the scum of scums.
The gang consists of 4 guys and a heavily pregnant prostitute (Alicia Orozco) and when they don't rape schoolgirls they also do some robbery.
They are animals ... or worse as they're Evil and with no souls. They follow their lusts blindly and grabs a girl whenever they want, driving by in plain
sight they abduct them from the street into their car, and away for some gang rape, and it goes on and on .... ugh, this film Nauseates you.
But, the Police does their work and finally these disgusting young monsters will face the law.

This sounds really sleazy doesn't it, but the film is very well made, it's well shot with crisp photo of Barcelona outskirts, it's well acted not least by the
rape victims (played by Linda Lay, Mireia Ros and Eve Lyberten) which makes these scenes painful to watch. Iquino also inserts some real documentary
footage from a real demonstration against violence against women. Silvia Solar, Spanish Trash Cinema icon plays the mother of victim no. 2.

Linda Lay in 1978 sex film Emmanuelle y Carol

The beautiful raven-haired Linda Lay made 4 films with Iquino and i haven't found any Bio info about her, but IMDB says that she only made 7 films
between 1977 and 1981. Probably she also was Catalan/Catalonian like Iquino and so many others involved with the Barcelona Trash-Film industry ?
Interestingly Linda Lay in this film reprises her role as a victim of molestation by juvenile delinquents from her first film, the 1977 groundbreaking of
the Juvenile Delinquency Street Crime genre - "Perros callejeros" by director Josë Antonio de la Loma.

Ignacio F. Iquino show us the suffering of the victims and their families, the pain and the grief due to the mindless violence and lust from these lowlife
creeps without any moral compasses at all. The film also has copious amounts of nudity though, so that makes it an -
Exploitation Quinqui crime drama with boobs and some social commentary

The fine Spanish Blu-ray presents the film in a 1.85:1 widescreen ratio with a spanish audio 5.1 DTS or 2.0 mono LPCM and WITHOUT english subtitles
Gallery and filmographies extra

 

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