For the longest time, Sweden was seen as the home of sin to repressed Brits – softcore movies would be frequently retitled with the word ‘Swedish’ inserted, regardless of the actual nationality of the film, and although it was Denmark that led the way in porn liberalisation at the end of the Sixties, for horny Britons, it was free-love hapy blonde Swedish girls who fired the imagination.

As it turned out, Sweden wasn’t quite the liberal, anything-goes paradise we were led to believe – censorship was rife, especially of horror films, where restrictions actually made the British censors seem lax. And more recently, while film censorship has ben relaxed, Sweden has become the world leader in strident feminism, resulting in heavy-handed anti-prostitution (or, more accurately, use of prostitute) laws and an atmosphere that is far removed from the sexually liberated image of old.

Nevertheless, Sweden did make its contribution to sleaze cinema – from the revolutionary nudity of early Ingmar Bergman through revolutionary films like I Am Curious – Yellow to notorious shockers like Thriller – A Cruel Picture, the nation cranked out an impressive array of lurid porn, action and horror.

A long overdue study of these Swedish exploitation epics, Daniel Ekeroth’s book offers a fairly exhaustive look at the sex, violence and action films that the country produced from the late Fifties to the early Nineties. After a short history off what he dubs Sensationsfilms – and what you might call Swedesploitation – and an introduction by the nation’s finest export Christina Lindberg (pictured), Ekeroth takes us on an A-Z (actually, A-Y) of Swedish cult movies. There are notorious arthouse films that pushed at the boundaries – Dom Kallar Oss Mods from 1968, 1964’s 491 – alongside respectable films from the likes of Bergman, hardcore porn, softcore comedies, action films like Animal Protector and trashy horror efforts like the infamous Blood Tracks. It’s surprising how many of these films were new to me, and I now want to see them all!

The author takes a pleasingly jaundiced look at the films – you suspect he has something of a love-hate relationship with his nation’s movie output – and writes tight, pithy critiques that thankfully avoid being too po-faced about the movies. And of course, there are plentiful illustrations to accompany the text. There’s also a guide to the important figures of the genre and a handy – and amusing – reference guide to Swedish cultural phrases.

If I had a complaint about the book, it would be that films are listed under the original language titles, which makes looking up titles you do know quite hard. A minor issue, and perhaps a petty one, but as the book is in English, I wish the film titles were too.

But that’s not really important. This is an essential guide to demented sounding movies that have, for the most part, rarely been written about until now. For that reason alone, it’s an essential purchase – assuming you need any further recommendation after seeing the glorious cover.

DAVID FLINT

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