Naked Vengeance (1985) is a chimera. It’s like a twisted Hallmark film that becomes a grindhouse revenge flick, complete with an 80s theme song sung by its star. One can also find elements of a slasher film within its borders. At one point it seems to crib from Frankenstein.
Naked Vengeance was offensive in 1985. It could be viewed as differently offensive in 2025.
Naked Vengeance
Cirio Hermosa Santiago directed Naked Vengeance. After cutting his teeth in the Filipino film scene, Santiago worked mainly in the realm of exploitation flicks: Vampire Hookers, Death Force, Wheels of Fire and the like.
Reilly Askew and Anthony Maharaj wrote the screenplay. Debate exists as to whether or not they wrote it as an unofficial remake of I Spit On Your Grave. That question is not as interesting as how a person might perceive Naked Vengeance in 2025.
From a modern perspective, one could make a case that Naked Vengeance serves as a commentary on the present anti-man movement pushed to its most radical level.
Naked Vengeance stars Deborah Tranelli. She is best known as Bobby Ewing’s secretary on Dallas. Tranelli seems out of place in a role that should maybe be played by Cynthia Rothrock…or at least Sandra Locke. Today, we might get Charlize Theron.
Let’s work our way through these things. Spoilers as necessary.
The Naked Gun Vengeance
Naked Vengeance begins with domestic bliss. Tranelli and her husband are hopelessly in love. Even the fact that he forgot their anniversary can only elicit a good-natured laugh on her part. Five minutes later, he is shot dead in an alley.
Cirio Santiago understands a thing or two about pace, friends and neighbors.
After grieving to a soundtrack straight out of a sitcom taking an emotional turn, Tranelli goes the Hallmark plot route. She returns to her hometown and runs into men from her past. None of them have winning smiles, athletic physiques and small, but successful glass-making businesses, however.
They are all pigs.
Almost every man in Naked Vengeance is a pig who treats Tranelli with brusque flippancy or outright harassment or assault.
In 1985, what happens to Tranelli and the resulting sensationalized violence was the focus of controversy. Now that society is a few more decades along, we have seen a strain of virulent man-hatred develop. Within that context, the villains in Naked Vengeance are no longer exploitive caricatures. They are genuine representations of men, as seen by the most radical elements of the anti-man crowd.
At that point, Naked Vengeance ceases to be exploitive and morphs into commentary. The focus is no longer on the horror inflicted on Tranelli, sensationalized violence and woman power. The focus becomes on the horror men are capable of inflicting and what they deserve for it.
Naked Die Hard With A Vengeance
After being harassed by multiple males, Tranelli goes to report the incidents to the sheriff.
His response is along the lines of, “No harm done. Guys are a little wild and just having fun. Relax a bit. If anything, they were paying you a compliment. Calm down.”
In 1985, this is plotting to make sure Tranelli is on her own. In 2025, this is proof that a patriarchic world dismisses the plight of the female.
Suffice it to say, the pig-men are not happy with Tranelli’s rebuffs. They congregate at the local bar, get drunk and work themselves into a frenzy.
What follows is a scene that probably had the male actors saying, “Sorry,” after Santiago yelled “Cut!” They then dispersed to private rooms, stared at their reflections and muttered, “If this is what I have to do to make it in movies, I quit…”
Suffice it to say, things grow out of control. A murder happens. The pig-men try to cover their tracks and escape into the night while a shocked Tranelli attempts to come to terms with the emotional wringer she has been through in the last 40 minutes of runtime.
Afterward, the pig-men try to get their story straight. They blame each other and throw a few punches. At last they settle on a plan: go bowling.
In 1985, this was called move on to the next scene. In 2025, this shows that men move on with their lives after hurting someone because they lack empathy.
Naked Forced Vengeance
Tranelli ends up in the hospital in a fugue state. A delusional patient in the next room starts screaming about taking revenge on an invisible person. The rant strikes a chord in Tranelli. She returns to awareness with the crashes of thunder and an approaching storm.
At that point, Naked Vengeance morphs into a slasher film as Tranelli takes her revenge on her attackers one-by-one. A degree of thought is put into the kills. Some gore happens. None of it is earth-shattering, but it shows a smidge more ambition than expected.
Ultimately, Naked Vengeance effectively navigates its lane, leverages what it has to work with the best it can and delivers a workable movie. Truly, Santiago and crew know the type of movie they were making, and delivered according to specifications.
Codename: Naked Vengeance
Comparisons to Sudden Impact are inevitable. Both films came out at nearly the same time and have similar plots, in that a victimized woman hunts down the men who shamed her. Sudden Impact simply takes a more elevated approach. If you can call a Dirty Harry movie elevated. Naked Vengeance is pure comic-book sensibility.
Tranelli deserves credit for her work here as the regular woman turned vigilante. She is not the type of actress one expects in this role. She does not project an actiony, tough persona, nor a haunted, crazy persona. Tranelli is an everywoman, and she puts what she has out there, literally.
None of the nudity in Naked Vengeance is glorified. It is the type of nudity that makes a person want to hand the actress a robe. Santiago does his best at keeping things from going over that line, but that sort of line is challenging for any filmmaker. His level of success is up to the individual viewer.
Add it all up, and it makes sense why Naked Vengeance has become something of a cult film. One can argue whether or not its subject matter is appropriate and at what state of controversy it exists at today, but it is still a morality play at its most basic level.
Make evil choices and justice will make final decisions.