1. Based on Robert Sheckley’s 1953 short story the “Seventh Victim”—included in Store of the Worlds: The Stories of Robert Sheckley,—Elio Petri’s The 10th Victim is a psychedelic trip to the future where civilization’s strategy to end wars is a legalized, cathartic “Big Hunt”, where two strangers are designated “hunter” or “victim” and then have to kill or be killed. Marcello Mastroianni with bleach, cropped hair (it’s the future!) is victim and Ursula Andress with bullet-shooting bra and back-less dresses is the hunter. Need I say more? Scenes not to miss: Andress shooting someone with her bra (in fact, all the outfits);  Mastroianni bringing Andress over to his ex-wife’s house, only to be interrupted by both his ex-wife and his current lover; the two of them wrestling in the Roman Forum; and the list goes on. Highly recommended, both the Sheckley book and the movie.

  2. Robert Sheckley, Michael Dirda, and bullet-shooting bras

    If Sheckley is known beyond the confines of science fiction, it is probably for “Seventh Victim,” made into a 1965 movie called “The 10th Victim” (and still fondly remembered for Ursula Andress’s bullet-shooting bra). In a future society, war has been eliminated, but man’s killer instincts remain. So some outlet for his aggression must be found. The outlet is a game, of sorts, overseen by the Emotional Catharsis Board. In it, people alternate being hunters and victims, the object being to kill — or be killed. A hunter knows the name of his victim, but the victim doesn’t know the identity of his hunter. What happens, though, when you’re Stanton Frelaine and the person you’ve been assigned to murder is Janet-Marie Patzig, a beautiful young woman with whom you find yourself falling in love?

    —from Michael Dirda’s review of Store of the Worlds: The Stories of Robert Sheckley in The Washington Post. You can read the rest of the review here.

  3. The Tenth Victim is based on the story “Seventh Victim,” collected in our upcoming volume of Sheckley Stories, Store of the Worlds (edited by Jonathan Lethem and Alex Abramovich). Today the film is mainly remembered for its high camp quotient, including Ursula Andress’s bra-gun wearing character—spoofed in the original Austin Powers movie. scienceetfiction: La decima vittima (The Tenth Victim), 1965 In the future, society entertains the violent impulses of the masses by arranging the Hunt, an elaborate international game made up of alternating Victims and Hunters who must engage in ten rounds before winning the grand prize. Advertisers pay top dollar to have the victors spout slogans over their dead conquests, while the authorities frown upon murder unless it’s all in the name of good sportsmanship. adaptation of a story by Robert Sheckley  summary from here

    The Tenth Victim is based on the story “Seventh Victim,” collected in our upcoming volume of Sheckley Stories, Store of the Worlds (edited by Jonathan Lethem and Alex Abramovich). Today the film is mainly remembered for its high camp quotient, including Ursula Andress’s bra-gun wearing character—spoofed in the original Austin Powers movie.

    scienceetfiction:

    La decima vittima (The Tenth Victim), 1965

    In the future, society entertains the violent impulses of the masses by arranging the Hunt, an elaborate international game made up of alternating Victims and Hunters who must engage in ten rounds before winning the grand prize. Advertisers pay top dollar to have the victors spout slogans over their dead conquests, while the authorities frown upon murder unless it’s all in the name of good sportsmanship.

    adaptation of a story by Robert Sheckley 

    summary from here