Hostage: The
Christine Maresch Story
(1983)
Another set of rare VHS captures.
Hostage, also known as "Savage Attraction," is a
drama/thriller
based on a true story, set between 1974-1979, about an abused girl
Christine (a Michelle Williams lookalike, Kerry Mack) who escapes to a
traveling carnival where she meets a German dissident Walter (German actor
Ralph Schicha) who is working as a handyman at the carnival. He takes an
immediate liking to her and after she dumps her latest dud boyfriend,
Christine starts going out with Walter. Things develop quickly to the
point where Walter asks Christine to marry him and when she declines he
shoots himself. In hospital, Walter gives her an ultimatum; marry him or
let him die. So, Christine reluctantly marries Walter.
Big mistake.
It seems Walter is the possessive type and he has
plans to go back to West Germany. Events occur that make his passage back
home viable, but she gets pregnant (for the second time) and she wants an
abortion. He tells her to get one in Germany. In Germany, things are about
to get very very bad for Christine. Turns out Walter is a part of a
neo-Nazi group who want to take West Germany. And he's an armed robber and
he's going to force Christine into it as well as the higher ups don't
think she is down with their little social group. And there's more...
Wow, if this is a true story then fuck me. I
haven't even gone into the more outlandish aspects of the movie including
the film turning into Dead Calm (before Dead Calm), Walter immediately
taking Christine to a zeppelin field once they enter Germany, a truly
bizarre sequence in Turkey and of course 'Baby with a Crossbow'. There's
so little restraint in this film that it's almost impossible to take
seriously. And when things slow down, which is rare, a nude scene is
thrown in with the gorgeous Kerry Mack, so the film is hard not to like,
but whether it's any good is another matter.
And Hostage: The Christine Maresch Story was the second highest grossing
Australian film of 1983. How did that happen? And how is film not on
DVD???
Kerry Mack VHS film clips. Collages
below.
|