A sex maniac (SHERLOCK HOLMES' Jeremy Brett) breaks into the home of happy housewife Tracey Lawrence (Anne Heywood) to assault and almost rape her which causes the girl to miscarry and become frigid. This, of course, is a problem for her husband, Geoffrey (Richard Todd), who finds solace in the arms of his sympathetic secretary (Nicole Maurey) but that's the least of Tracey's worries because the pervert makes it clear he'll stop at nothing to have at her again...
Britain was way ahead of the U.S. when it came to tackling adult subject matter in a mature manner beginning with THE VICTIM but that isn't always the right approach as THE VERY EDGE proves. Although marketed as exploitation ("No Woman Should See This Film Without A Man!"), it's actually a rather subdued "thriller" that comes perilously close to "timid" so don't expect many surprises. Unlike similarly-themed Hollywood exploitation shockers such as THE BEAT GENERATION and WHO KILLED TEDDY BEAR?, Tracey isn't raped in lurid fashion, just chased around the living room a few times but that said, the film's ahead of the curve on "stalking", a crime that wouldn't register on public consciousness until decades later.
Britain was way ahead of the U.S. when it came to tackling adult subject matter in a mature manner beginning with THE VICTIM but that isn't always the right approach as THE VERY EDGE proves. Although marketed as exploitation ("No Woman Should See This Film Without A Man!"), it's actually a rather subdued "thriller" that comes perilously close to "timid" so don't expect many surprises. Unlike similarly-themed Hollywood exploitation shockers such as THE BEAT GENERATION and WHO KILLED TEDDY BEAR?, Tracey isn't raped in lurid fashion, just chased around the living room a few times but that said, the film's ahead of the curve on "stalking", a crime that wouldn't register on public consciousness until decades later.