Paul Martin is writing his second novel. He has shut himself away in a secluded cottage in the country to complete the task and a secretary is coming down to transcribe. But is she all she appears to be?

Expose acts not just a film but also as a time capsule. It was made at a point in the 70’s when envelopes were being pushed and boundaries challenged. Punk rock was just around the corner and whilst the end of the 60’s were all peace and love, the 70’s were grittier with explorations into sex, love and violence. What better film genre to fully exploit this than, erm, exploitation (the clues in the title).

Add to this the fact that Expose was co-financed by porn baron Paul Raymond and stars saucy actress Fiona Richmond and you can guess that Expose features plenty of carnal action. And you’d be right. Theres sexuality a go-go. And the look of the film reminds me of the way the extremely suggestive Flake adverts were filmed- soft focus, sunshine drenched country fields, nubile females…but with Expose being a horror film, this scenario turns out very differently with the female in question being sexually assaulted (one of her attackers is none other then Karl Howman of UK TV’s Just Good Friends and Brush Strokes). She then takes her revenge with a shotgun.

But whilst this all sounds like prime 70’s exploitation fare, it has a secret weapon up it’s sleeve. To lend an air of respectibility to proceedings, Udo Kier stars as the novelist Paul. And he’s very good. He’s here sporting a hairstyle that is blowdried to an inch of it’s life. He would later renounce the film as would other cast members.

The moments of horror are surprisingly effective. Paul has paranoid nightmares which resemble random sequences of images in rapid succession a bit like the dark fever dreams within The Exorcist. Also, look out for the lesbian lovemaking scene which ends with a closet door opening to reveal an old woman’s dead body. How’s that for a climax?!

Expose is a very entertaining film that could have been exploitative, derivative rubbish in other hands but instead has stood the test of time very well indeed. It’s interesting to see this fusion of a soft-core erotic thriller and more straightforward horror fare. I wonder if this was shown in *ahem* specialist Soho cinemas in the 70’s/80’s. I hope so.

Expose was also known as Trauma and The House on Straw Hill in other markets.

3.5 out of 5 stars