Actually, it was the Joan Hackett character who is killed. Mary Grace, the blond (played by Jule Sommers), is being strangled when she is saved by the other women.
I saw this film as a little girl, and it made a strong impression on me. It was the first movie I remember seeing where a character died in the middle, and that was very shocking to me. (It resonated more over the years with Hackett's own untimely death). Also, the movie was my first exposure to the idea that women were vulnerable to gender-specific sexual danger. I wonder which of today's films/TV shows are likely to impart a similar message to girls. Or undermine it (like, say, "Buffy").
I saw this film as a little girl, and it made a strong impression on me. It was the first movie I remember seeing where a character died in the middle, and that was very shocking to me. (It resonated more over the years with Hackett's own untimely death). Also, the movie was my first exposure to the idea that women were vulnerable to gender-specific sexual danger. I wonder which of today's films/TV shows are likely to impart a similar message to girls. Or undermine it (like, say, "Buffy").