Big Zapper

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Big Zapper
Big Zapper.jpg
Directed by Lindsay Shonteff
Written byHugh Brody
Produced byLindsay Shonteff
Elizabeth Gray
Starring Linda Marlowe
Gary Hope
Sean Hewitt
Cinematography John C. Taylor
Edited by Spencer Reeve
Music byColin Pearson
Production
companies
Delta Film Company
Lindsay Shonteff Film Productions
Distributed byMiracle Films
Release date
  • 20 September 1973 (1973-09-20)
Running time
92 minutes
CountryUnited Kingdom
LanguageEnglish

Big Zapper (also known as The Sex Life of a Female Private Eye), is a 1973 British action film directed by Lindsay Shonteff and starring Linda Marlowe, Gary Hope and Sean Hewitt. [1] It was written by Hugh Brody, and was followed by a sequel, The Swordsman (1974). [2]

Contents

Plot

Harriet Zapper is a detective hired by Jeremiah Horn to locate his missing daughter Pandora, who has in fact been murdered by gangland boss Kono. Attempting to investigate, her brother Septimus is also killed by Kono. With the help of three samurai imported from Japan, Zapper pursues Kono and, with her skills in unarmed combat, brings him to justice.

Cast

Critical reception

The Monthly Film Bulletin wrote: "A paltry and nasty sexual fantasy which looks as though it has been dreamed up for the entertainment of impotent sadists. ... Attempting some kind of balance between jokiness and titillation, Shonteff effectively stifles both. The feeble jokes and tricks fail to camouflage the dominant motif: knives penetrate, blood gushes, heads roll. And to crown it all, particularly inane use is made of a cod Chandler narration." [3]

Russel Davies wrote in The Observer : "Big Zapper is a crude abomination which director/producer Lindsay Shonteff may look back to with shame when he grows up. Starring Linda Marlowe, whe has the legs of Arkle and the face of an actress with possibilities, it is a non-stop, non-start action-comic, a mindless farrago of chops and slashes narrated by Miss Marlowe in the would-be deadly monotone of a Michaela Spillane." [4]

The Jerusalem Post wrote: "Big Zapper will surely be a strong contender for the worst film of the year. This British picture, produced and directed by Lindsay Shonteff, bears some resemblance to Mr. Hercules Against Karate , which is now being shown in Israel. But while the latter is an amusing, almost non-violent spoof on the current "karate craze" in the cinema, Big Zapper is a nauseatingly brutal piece. Moreover, though it is often incredibly silly, the film is never even remotely funny. ... Slick and sickening." [5]

References

  1. ↑ "Big Zapper". British Film Institute Collections Search. Retrieved 29 December 2023.
  2. ↑ Sheridan, Simon (2007). Keeping the British End Up: Four Decades of Saucy Cinema. Reynolds & Hearn Books. p. 99. ISBN   978-1905287543.
  3. ↑ "Big Zapper". The Monthly Film Bulletin . 41 (480): 3. 1 January 1974. ProQuest   1305838797.
  4. ↑ Davies, Russell (24 February 1974). "Crisis at the fan factory". The Observer : 31 – via ProQuest.
  5. ↑ "Worst film of the year contender". The Jerusalem Post : 7. 11 March 1974 – via ProQuest.
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