The Taming of Rebecca (Phil Prince, 1982)

nNowadays, your average serial killer has to worry about the authorities poking around their hard drives looking for “unseemly” material after they’re eventual arrested. But back in the 1980s, the authorities, after they kicked down the serial killer’s door, would head straight for suspect’s living room and start examining the contents of their VCR. And what do you think they found when they pressed play? That’s right, the first thing they typically saw was a deranged George Payne, a.k.a. “The Dean of Discipline,” screaming a blistering barrage of insults at a cowering Velvet Summers; who, of course, has a safety pin in their nipple. Hitting the eject button almost immediately, the authorities had just watched a scene from the infamous The Taming of Rebecca, an Avon Production directed by the equally infamous Phil Prince. While the scenario I just described might sound a tad far-fetched, I have read that this film was in fact found in the video cassette recorders of at least two serial killers when they were arrested. Knowing this going in gave the act of watching the film an added layer of danger. Sure, there are literally millions of people out there who watched this film who didn’t turn out to be serial killers. But the fact that two did… well, you know, like I said, it gave the film… (An added layer of danger?) Yeah, that. But it gave it a certain cachet, too.

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nIt also didn’t hurt that the film itself features dirty anuses, rape caves, pissing on flaccid cocks, pissing on flaccid floors, the music of The Stray Cats, a man with a full head of hair, pussy fisting, father-daughter toilet incest, lightning bolt necklaces, knee socks, hot New York accents, spanking and whipping. I’m sorry, did I just include a man with a full head of hair as one of this film’s selling points? Holy crap, I did. Now, granted, there are quite a few wonky selling points in that particular group, but a man with a full head of hair? What was I thinking?

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nWait a minute, I just remembered why I included a man with a full head of hair as one of my selling points for this wonderfully fucked up movie. It’s because George Payne’s hair in The Taming of Rebecca is, with a doubt, the fullest head of a hair I’ve seen in a motion picture in decades.

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nI know, watching me go on and on about the hair sitting atop the head of a sadistic lunatic must seem strange, especially when you consider the fact the movie I’m talking about not only boasts a skinny headband-wearing Sharon Mitchell prancing around town in a short tartan skirt, but has a scene where the gorgeous Cheri Champagne sits on a bed with her legs crossed (her creamy thighs mashing against one another with a scintillating smoosh). That being said, don’t judge me until you have seen his hair in action. And by “action,” I mean, acts of cruelty and degradation.

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nTo see George Payne cause others pain and suffering will bring a tear your eye. Oh, and not because he’s forcing a safety pin through your nipple, but because he looks so good while doing so.

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nJust for the record, he doesn’t actually force a safety pin through anyone’s nipple in this movie. No, he forces someone else to do it for him. He might be a sick twist, but he ain’t no monster.

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nBelieve or not, George Payne’s character isn’t the only sick twist in this film. After jumping in her daddy’s car, Rebecca (Sharon Mitchell) calls Miss Zorda (Stella Stevens), the, I’m gonna say, principal of a local school for sexually abused boys and girls, on a payphone and asks her if she can take refuge there.

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nWhen Rebecca arrives… Oh, and before she arrives, we’re treated to the theme from Halloween. On top of that, I could have sworn I heard the music of either Cluster or Tangerine Dream as well.  Anyway, when she arrives… Oh, and before she arrives, we’re treated to the sight of Sharon Mitchell walking down the street in her school uniform (a tartan skirt and white knee socks!). Yum.

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nNow, where was I? Ah, yes, when Rebecca arrives at the school, she tells Miss Zorda all about her troubled home life. What the fuck! Would you look how spacious that bathroom is. Mine’s the size of a broom closet, yet this sick twist is living it up in a home with a giant bathroom. I mean, look at this guy, he’s playing with his genitals on the toilet with his legs extended to their full capacity. In my bathroom, I can’t even turn around without knocking over something and this guy’s sitting on the toilet like he’s Larry Craig. It’s not fair.

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nTired of playing with himself, Rebecca’s daddy (David Christopher) calls for his daughter and tells her that he needs her to make her old man feel good. Hmm, I wonder what he means by that. Standing in the doorway in a pink nightie with white doily-like flourishes around the edges, Rebecca watches in horror as her daddy swings his floppy cock around like a deflated, floppy cock-shaped bag of day-old mucus .

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nIn order to remedy the slack nature of his floppy cock, Rebecca’s daddy instructs Rebecca to suck on it for an extended period of time.

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nAfter his floppy cock is not even close to being floppy anymore, Rebecca’s daddy tells Rebecca to sit on it. Now, you’re probably thinking to yourself: How is she supposed to sit on it? It doesn’t look comfortable at all. Do you see that patch of hair between Rebecca’s legs? Well, inside there is an opening. And believe me, when Rebecca’s daddy’s super-stiff cock gingerly slides into this opening, the comfort level he’s about to experience is going to be insane.

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nIn an unexpected twist, Rebecca’s daddy then orders Rebecca to sit on his face. It’s unexpected because cunnilingus isn’t usually on the menu in these types of situations.

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nTold to get on all fours, Rebecca’s daddy gives Rebecca’s ass a good spanking. Oh, and get this, after each smack, Rebecca’s daddy demands that she thank him for spanking her.

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nFinishing things up in the bathtub with some rough doggie-style action, Rebecca’s daddy ejaculates a smidgeon of seminal fluid in the general direction of his daughter’s face. The end. Oh, wait. It looks like Rebecca’s daddy wants Rebecca do something else for him. Leaning back against the wall at the base of the tub, Rebecca’s daddy tells Rebecca to, and I quote, “Pee all over my cock, daddy likes that.”

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nA shocked Miss Zorda looks at Rebecca with an air of disgust and disbelief after she finishes giving her a sampling of what life is like at home.

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nBringing Rebecca to meet the other “students,” who are listening to The Stray Cats in the school’s rec room (complete with a pool table and a David Bowie poster), Miss Zorda introduces her to Saundra (Velvet Summers), John (Ron Hudd), Barbara (Cheri Champagne), Bob (Jamie St. James), Cindy (Ambrosia Fox) and Paul (Tony Mansfield).

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nAs the final introductions are being made, guess who walks in the room? Why, it’s The Dean of Discipline himself, Dean Minindao (George “Shut the fuck up!!!!” Payne). Oh, man, you thought Rebecca’s daddy was a sadistic piece of shit. Honey, you ain’t seen nothing yet.

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nIt’s when Dean Minindao’s secretary, Linda (Niko), is giving him “dictation” in his office that I really started to take notice of George Payne’s beautiful mane of thick lustrous hair. What’s his secret? Castor oil? Monkey cum? At any rate, the sex scene between Dean Minindao and Linda is actually quite tame as far as sex scenes go. No one yells dehumanizing obscenities at the top of their lungs, no one expels pee on anyone, and no one is related to one another. In other words, yawn. Just kidding, it was kinda refreshing to see two people simply fuck for a change.

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n”That Minindao… he’s such a jerk-off. And Zorda… did you see her in the gym the other day? My god, that woman didn’t have any underwear on. She’s a real sleaze. She’s going to get hers one of these days.” And with that line, we’re introduced to the gorgeousness that is Cheri Champagne’s Barbara. I know, we were introduced to her during the rec room meet and greet, but this is the scene where Cheri Champagne does some of her best work. I mean, the way she says, “jerk-off,” with her thick New York accent will cause your toes to curl.

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nSitting on the bed in a yellow dress with her legs crossed, Barbara, and her friend, Cindy, start talking, or, I should say, tawking, about “The Cave.” When Rebecca hears about “The Cave,” a subterranean netherworld where Dean Minindao supposedly carries out more serious acts of punishment, she doesn’t believe that it actually exists.

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nIn order to become more enlightened, cave-wise, Rebecca calls in the guys. After briefly discussing The Cave, one of the guys… the one in the aviator shades… wait, two of the guys are wearing aviator shades… The skinny guy in the aviator shades suggests that they have an orgy. Without even giving the suggestion much thought, the gang are taking their clothes off to what sounds like Suicide.

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nHopping to her feet, Barbara pulls her yellow dress off with quick hiking motion utilizing the cross-armed technique. As the dress goes swooshing past her mid-section, you’ll notice that Barbara isn’t wearing any panties. You know what that means, right? Yep, Barbara is a hypocrite. If you remember, Barbara calls Miss Zorda a sleaze for not wearing panties. And, as Barbara’s cross-armed hiking motion just proved, she doesn’t either.

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nJust as the skinny guy in the aviator shades is about to get up to his wrist in Barbara’s vagina, Dean Minindao bursts into the room. Busted.

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nThe first feel the brunt of Dean Minindao’s wrath is Rebecca, who is whipped (“You like that? No? Good!!!”) and raped in his office. But not before the line, “Don’t ever stand behind me… ever!!!” is uttered; my personal favourite of his many outbursts. After that, it’s John (the muscular guy in the aviator shades) and Saundra’s turn, where Dean Minindao forces John to shove a safety pin through Saundra’s nipple.

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nWhen we finally do enter The Cave, most people will either be too traumatized or too exhausted to carry on (even though the film is barely an hour long). However, the too outre for words performance given by George Payne is the real reason the stick with this movie. Seriously, the improvised bile that comes out of his mouth as he torments his victims is like listening to vile poetry being read by a coked up mental patient. “How so??? How so??? Don’t fuck with me!!!” Ah, the unpleasantness of it all.

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