tbyrne369 Absolutely god-awful exploitation film is something of a rape/revenge story with a woeful lack of attention to the "revenge" part. The movie instead focuses on the rape of a lipstick model by a weirdo music teacher and no one believing that she was raped. It holds your attention because you want so badly to see the rapist scumbag get his just desserts. The worst part is that because the victim was a lipstick model who sometimes posed half-naked the rapists' lawyer drags out all these seductive ads she did and badgers her on the witness stand about her "wanting it". It's repulsive. Unfortunately, I'm sure this kind of stuff happens in real life. Chris Sarandon is excellent as the rapist creep (it's hard to believe he also played Al Pacino's transvestite lover in Dog Day Afternoon), Margeaux Hemingway is ok as the victim. Not great. Just passable. Young Mariel Hemingway is excellent playing real-life sister Margeaux's sister in the movie. This is one of those movies that could only have been made in the 1970s, a decade rife with cynicism and a total lack of nostalgia. People would actually go and see movies like this in a theater, which seems extremely odd today.

IPreferEvidence wikipedia:"it contains one of the most infamous scenes in motion picture history, showing an extremely graphic rape scene" wtf?A music teacher rapes a fashion model and gets freed by the court...you can guess the rest but I don't want to spoil anything. The film is well phased(even though the revenge action takes place pretty late in the movie) and quite entertaining even though its not your typical I Spit on Your Grave type rape/revenge flick but more of a crime-thriller drama. Its well acted and nicely shot and genuinely a well made film, but I wouldn't recommend it for everyone.Its not gory or horribly violent or anything and thats kind of the downfall of the movie, its nothing special so you don't miss much if you haven't seen this. Its just another take on the revenge flick, one of the better made ones but not one of the more memorable ones. Anyway if you like Rape 'n' Revenge like I do check it out but don't expect I Spit on Your Grave or The Last House on the Left. Oh yeah I also have to mention the trippy synth neo-classical soundtrack. Its pretty cool, especially in the 1st rape scene.

Dave_Violence ***Spoilers*** The general plot of "Lipstick" is typical fare for an episode of "Law and Order: SVU" - and it could be done, just take out the profanity and breasts.I saw "Lipstick" last night. I remember when it came out, and it being an "R" and me being 13, no way would I see it. My parents, after reading the poor reviews, had no interest in seeing it, either.So finally, the wife rents it - she'd not seen it either when it was released, but remembered it. Now, the blurb on the DVD envelope read as if this would have been a mediocre Law and Order episode. That, and just recalling the name of the film, there's a picture in my mind's eye of Margaux Hemingway holding a rifle.Too bad the film was marketed this way because it cheapened the product.This is a tense, psychological thriller; it's a great courtroom drama; and it's a showcase for great acting. The trial scenes and the pretrial work by Anne Bancroft as the District Attorney (or something - the prosecutor?) haven't been matched by Law and Order - yet. Chris Sarandon proves that he is an amazing actor. I don't know if I've hated an on-screen personality so much.And what an interesting character: not only does he have a sado-violent side, but he's an experimental musician - at a good time in history (the mid-1970's) as he'd be influenced by Can, Tangerine Dream, UK, Walter (not yet Wendy) Carlos, et al. And he's a tortured artist - so much so that he can't control it, etc., etc.The ending... Yes, the ending... That mental picture in my head - from some newspaper ad - is about half a second of the ending. This isn't about revenge, it's not about a woman who's had enough or is out for justice herself: it is about a woman who SPONTANEOUSLY does what needs to be done. It's the unexpected spontaneity of the act that takes what could have been a simply "vengence" movie and turns it into something as near=real as it can get. I'd compare the film with "Taxi Driver" though without the seediness (which was necessary to Taxi Driver).

Hoohawnaynay This movie did get a bad rap. Chris Sarandon is excellent as a school teacher who rapes fashion model Margeaux Hemingway. There is lots of tension before the rape and we really see Chris as a big time weirdo who plays really bad music while poor Margeaux tries to make an excuse to leave the room. When he sees this as a way of her dismissing him as a person he goes berserk. The rape scene is actually not as graphic as some of the crap that passes todays censors. For a first time actress I think Margeaux was quite good. Her little sister proves natural acting talent does run in the Hemingway family. She does excel in this role an gives an understated perforamce especially after she herself is raped by the same teacher. The building used in the fashion sequences is not the Beverly Center as mentioned by another IMDb user but actually the Pacific Design Center a few blocks away. The ending is quite good as it shows the hypocrisy of our legal system. Anne Bancroft adds a bit of class to this production and the disco music is dated but it gives this movie a cool 70's feel. The ending is sensational but still believable.