Standing among long-forgotten brick kilns once used to actually bake bricks in rural God’s country, on a cold, damp, schizophrenically overcast and sunny day, is probably the best way to see the vision walking confidently toward me. It doesn’t seem at first like Christina Lindberg, or her character Candy in Todd Fischer’s new film CRY FOR REVENGE. It is Frigga, a.k.a. Madeleine, the young woman we once ached for and so desperately wanted to rescue…at least during the majority of 1972’s THEY CALL HER ONE EYE.

From this distance, I can’t see the details of her face—no laugh lines, or any indication that this grindhouse icon has aged 40 years since THEY CALL HER ONE EYE (a.k.a. THRILLER: A CRUEL PICTURE). The trenchcoat, the bell-bottoms, the shotgun and the swagger are all there, which would be enough to send the mildest of cult film fans reeling. But it’s the eyepatch that breaks me out in goosebumps. Speaking of which, what led writer/director Fischer to direct such a scene?

“I was going through a divorce at the time, and a revenge movie seemed like a good idea,” Fischer explains. “Instead of sitting around depressed over the lengthy divorce process, I sunk myself into drive-in cinema and grindhouse movies, and found the inspiration to write [CRY FOR REVENGE]. I wanted to not just make a revenge movie, but a Christina Lindberg revenge movie. I ended up finding a young actress who looks incredibly like young Christina, and we were in business.”

That “young Christina” lookalike in CRY FOR REVENGE is Stefanie Vuleta, who plays a younger version of Candy. Though he doesn’t reveal the plot details of just how Candy comes to be as vicious as she eventually is, Fischer is happy to discuss what it’s been like working with the legendary Lindberg. “Well, my favorite story is when she accepted the part,” he says. “There were two roles offered to her; one was a character who trains Candy to become the vigilante. I thought that was a fitting ‘passing of the torch’ for her. The other part was basically an older version of Candy. When she accepted the latter role, it took several minutes for it to sink in that it meant she would return to the eyepatch one more time.

“On set, she’s been more critical of herself than I am of her,” he continues. “She is a perfectionist. I had to keep reminding her that we were making a grindhouse [movie]; we didn’t have to be perfect. One thing that most people will never know because of the content of her old movies is that she is actually an incredible actress. I was literally floored by the emotional intensity she can bring.”

More details are coming soon here and in FANGORIA magazine about CRY—which features a fight, as seen below, between Candy and over 30 luchadors (!)—and Lindberg’s return to acting. Stay tuned! You can check out photographer Laura Skinner’s website here. 

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