Rape is a Circle (2006)

The micro-budget film world is one where anything can happen. A small group of people get just enough money to fund their basic idea of the movie, and they make it happen without spending any more than the little bit they have. The results don’t always end up the best. More times than not, the movies turn out bad. But there’s a love of making movies that tends to exist behind-the-scenes, which makes something special out of what might otherwise be a completely forgotten project.

One of the biggest directorial names to come out of micro-budget filmmaking is Bill Zebub. He started making movies in 2002 and has since accumulated sixty-two directing credits on IMDb. His style is to push the boundaries of what people might find acceptable. That can be seen through his movies, but also through the titles that he has given them. Some examples include Jesus Christ: Serial Rapist, Metal Retardation, Antfarm Dickhole, and his most recent effort, Boogers of the Antichrist. This week’s movie could also be included in that list of offensive titles.

Rape is a Circle was released in 2006. Isabelle (Niki Rubin) and Kerri (Yelena Sabel) were on a road trip when their car broke down. They hitched a ride with Kat (Natalie Williams). She took them to her home to have a couple drinks. The drinks were drugged. Kat tied the women up and began to perform sexual acts on them. Things escalated until a breaking point.

On its surface, Rape is a Circle might sound like an exploitative film that makes light of rape. Someone who only sees the title and knows the name Bill Zebub could think that the movie was going to be nothing but in your face sex and violence. That was not the case at all. There was some boob grabbing and kissing and violence, but the movie was much more about what happened to a person after they went through a sexual assault and rape experience. It showed how that sort of thing could change someone.

The obvious change was the physical, which came early in the film. Kat tied Isabelle to a bed and started to touch her in increasingly sexual ways. Isabelle was straight, which she told Kat when Kat kept saying that they were going to have a good time together. Kat didn’t take that well and put a hot curling iron into Isabelle’s vagina. There was another scene where Kat forced a man to have sex with Isabelle by putting a nail through his penis so he’d have an erection. The physical torture that people endure during rape was on full display, with some heightened aspects to it.

More than the physical changes, Rape is a Circle highlighted the mental changes that a person could go through during a rape experience. Each of the primary characters changed in different ways. A movie that seemed like it would be torture porn through a rape story turned out to be a thoughtful, though very in-your-face and violent, look at what rape could do to a person, mentally.

Kat was the villain of the film. She was the person torturing the other two women by sexually harassing and raping them. This behaviour came from her past. Her past was slowly revealed throughout Rape is a Circle. As a child, she came to terms with being a lesbian. Nobody could understand her, so she was bullied and pushed away from any friends she could have had. She built an imaginary world around herself with her dolls. One of the male adult figures in her life used her isolation against her. He coerced her into a sexual relationship when she was still young and told her that she couldn’t tell anyone about it. This experience forced her further into herself. It taught her that predatory behaviour was okay. It was fine to treat people that way, which is why she treated Isabelle and Kerri as sexual objects. Her rape had led to her raping other people. Things had come full circle. Rape was a circle.

Kerri was a little different. When Kat kidnapped Kerri and Isabelle, Kerri’s reaction was to completely shut down. Her emotions were gone. Her self-awareness was gone. She simply went through the motions. Whatever Kat demanded of her, she would do without question. She would do it without putting up any sort of fight. As Isabelle would say of her, and this is paraphrasing, Kerri could adapt to any situation. And she did. She became the sex slave that Kat wanted.

Isabelle, on the other hand, fought back against the person who raped her. She was never going to fall in line with what Kat wanted to do. She went against Kat every step of the way. Kat wanted sex, but Isabelle said she wasn’t a lesbian. Kat went to cry, so Isabelle attempted an escape. She drugged Kat and eventually got away. The problem was, she wanted revenge. She returned to Kat’s house, captured Kat, then tortured and murdered her. The rape of Isabelle led to Isabelle becoming a vengeful murderer. She had already been raped prior to the film, by a man she had met at a club, and was travelling to find and kill the man at the start of the film. Rape had driven her to be a killer.

Three different women had experienced rape in their lives. Each of them took a different path as a result. One turned into a rapist. One did whatever people asked of her. And the third became a murderer of any rapist. Three different mentalities after experiencing the same sort of traumatic incident. Bill Zebub explored all of that in Rape is a Circle.

That’s not to say that Rape is a Circle is a good movie. It still has elements of the exploitation that would be expected of a Bill Zebub film. Nudity, murder, sexual overtones, and action all exist within the confines of the film. He didn’t shy away from it. But there was some substance to the story he was telling. He took an exploitation concept and fleshed it out enough to make it interesting.

When it comes to micro-budget filmmaking, anything could happen. A filmmaker might have something to say, or they may just want to make a movie. But with their lack of money and resources, they tend to try and come up with something creative. They need to make things work with what little budget they have. That could be through story. It could be through effects. It could be through jokes. Whatever the case, there tends to be something interesting about micro-budget that keeps people coming back to them.

These notes might not be as interesting as the post:

• Some other micro-budget movies that have been covered are Science Crazed (week 72), Redneck County Fever (week 199), Nightmare Asylum (week 134), and The Final Sacrifice (week 312).
• Have you seen Rape is a Circle? Have you seen any Bill Zebub movies? What did you think of them? Let me know on Twitter or in the comments.
• You can leave a comment or contact me on Twitter if you have any movies that you think would be a good fit for the Sunday “Bad” Movies. Tell me about them.
• Sunday “Bad” Movies is on Instagram. There’s stuff going up there regularly. Check it out for more Sunday “Bad” Movies fun.
• Now it’s time to talk about the next movie. This one should be fun. I’m diving back into the world of animals and sports. I’m not going with Air Bud, or more movies from the Air Buddies franchise. I’m also not taking a look at MVP or its sequels. But those are all in the right ballpark, pardon the sports pun. I’ll be watching Russell Madness, a professional wrestling with dogs movie. That’s what will be on tap for next Sunday. See you then.