Review of Compliance (2012) by Jeff H — 13 Mar 2013

Though "Compliance" does not claim to be a horror movie, it is. It is an exploitation horror film in the genre of the infamous "I Spit On Your Grave" from the early 80's and "Cannibal Holocaust" another "true to life" charmer from the same era. I greatly enjoy a good horror film and I even like being shocked by them sometimes. I've seen some really horrific ones in my time too, such as the two from the 80's I mentioned above (which I DO NOT recommend, BTW). I'm not squeamish. I finish movies once I start watching them too. I usually don't have to stop and come back to them four times like I did with "Compliance", but I always finish them. And in this case, I'm sorry I did. This is because "Compliance" has an utter lack of respect for its characters, lead actress, and audience members as well as being intellectually insulting due to the lack of understanding its director has of the subject matter he chose to tackle while making it.

If the true nature of the subject matter in "Compliance" were about our basic human need to follow any authority figure, even anonymous ones, no matter what they tell us to do, as the director Mr. Zobel states, then why not alter the story just a bit by having the store clerk, who is sexually victimized in the film quite graphically, be an overweight 52 year old hulking male with a tattoo of the Anti-Christ on his chest rather than a very young, attractive blonde woman who is barely 18? Because it matters who the victim is or the film fails to make a profit or even get made. Just like the "prank call strip" scheme would've failed in real life for the real perpetrator had he not VERY carefully picked his victims and scoped out their work situations BEFORE trying to voyeuristic-ally abuse them. The real life perpetrator of these crimes targeted very specific places to call and he targeted young girls because he got off on listening to them and watching them be degraded by the authority figures they were afraid to say "NO" to. Please, tell me the store manager depicted in the film as a kindly middle aged woman about 50, would have so readily demanded a large hulking older male clerk submit to a body cavity search because a "cop" on the phone insisted on it. She wouldn't even try. She would be far more afraid of the large hulking employee getting pissed off and breaking her neck than she would be of an anonymous "cop"caller.

The issue here is power and how the power we sometimes have over others can lead us to do horrible things to them under the right set of circumstances. This is not a film or a story about 3 college kids being asked to shock 3 other college kids in an experiment because their professor is telling them they have to no matter how much pain they are inflicting. It is not the story of Nazi Germany and the rule of that country by an evil dictatorship that was so invasive and total that even the gentlest of German souls felt compelled to be card carrying Party members and do horrible things to other human beings out of a fear of horrible things being done to them if they didn't. It was not at all necessary for Zobel to reenact the real crime on film for us to view or for the actress to have to endure its reenactment upon her, though obviously not for real. How must the real victim of this horrible crime feel knowing her most humiliating and painful moments in life are on display like a circus freak show for all to see? A good director would not have shown this horror show. We already know it is awful. That isn't the point. Showing it like it was in this film is exploitation cinema. Period.

The true nature of this story and this film is about the victimization of women and how vulnerable some people are to the people with direct authority over them taking any opportunity they can to abuse it. The perpetrator of the crank strip search calls chose not only his victims carefully, but also his accomplishes, for that's exactly what any store manager is who used an anonymous call as the impetus to sexually abuse his or her young female employees. They would NOT have done so to a big hulking man. And on the odd chance such a scenario did happen, no film maker would make a film like this about it because no one, and I mean no one, will sit through a film where a 52 year old overweight hulking man is graphically given a detailed cavity search by a 50 year old woman because an anonymous caller told her to.

"Compliance" is childish, boyish film making by a director who needs to grow up before he's allowed to make another film like this again. Or barring that, he at least needs to be as honest as the makers of "I Spit On Your Grave" and admit he's making an exploitation of women film. Inexcusable film making by an over grown man-boy. Shame on you Mr. Zobel. Shame on you.

As a final thought, I've read many negative reviews of this film stating that no one in real life is so "stupid" as to believe they would have to follow directions given to them by an anonymous "cop" caller. That is an unfair assessment of the individuals who did do as they were instructed. They weren't "stupid." Something deeper is going on here involving the abuse of power and a lack of knowledge about how our legal system actually works by some of the victims here. The store manager had power over her employee and somehow that, when combined with the impetus of the voyeuristic sex offender calling and telling her he was a cop, allowed her to feel she was justified in her actions. The perpetrator chose these places carefully. McDonald's and food stores were his places to call to victimize young female employees. Why these places? What is it really about them that made him feel he could manipulate the managers to abuse girls in them for his pleasure? Why not a Madison Ave bank? Why not a college classroom? Why not a Theoretical Physics Lab at the University of Chicago? What would the success rate for the perpetrator had been then? My instinct tells me, quite poor. Very poor.

Most places he called in real life did not do as he said. Some played along for awhile knowing it was a joke and believing a friend was messing with them before realizing it was far more devious than that. But several managers DID strip search their female employees. Too bad Zobel didn't have the intelligence to see the gold mine of material here and chose instead to focus on the "naked" stuff. What a lost opportunity. And I contend that his main purpose here is exploitative because had the clerk been a hulking brutish man, no phone calling cop on this side of Hell would get that middle aged manager to attempt a body cavity check on him or to tell him he was to be spanked.