Death Weekend a.k.a. The House by the Lake

A sleazy oral surgeon (Chuck Shamata) lures model Diane (Brenda Vaccaro) to his country home with the promise of meeting some good people. Those other “guests” of course never arrive—but some unwelcome ones do: a group of repulsive vengeance-seeking backwoods locals (led by Don Stroud) Diane pisses off on the ride up in a humiliating demonstration that she—yup, a mere woman, one who also knows how to fix a carburetor—can outdrive them. Produced by Ivan Reitman, this film is a cut above the standard home invasion/rape-revenge thriller, most of all because Vaccaro plays it smart and tough—though Diane may have been unwise to accept the invitation in the first place, she’s no bimbo. If exploitation films can have a conscience then let this be an example.