The world of exploitation film ripped open and laid raw for you to experience. From 70's grindhouse to current underground, it is all here. So ripe you can practically smell it.
This indie drama based on the true multiple murder case in Australia that came to be known as the “Bodies in the Barrels Murders” A case
where one charismatic killer led several other blue collar people to kill with
him.
The film is very careful to establish mood and character long
before getting to any violence. The movie more or less follows teenager Jamie
(Lucas Pittaway) as he makes his way through the very disturbing stress of his
day to day life. The neighborhood he lives in is a complete shithole (Shades of
GUMMO abound) and his mother is doing everything she can to raise four boys, of
which he is the middle kid. Within the first five minutes of the movie she has
unwisely left the three youngest boys home along with her then boyfriend from
across the street. He proceeds to sexually abuse all three of them (the youngest
kid seems to be mentally handicapped or has some sort of autism), taking nude
pictures of them (the rest of the abuse left up to our imagination thank god).
Mom finds out when the local transgendered Queen Davey has heard the rumors.
Naturally the police do nothing about the abuse.
Into their lives comes John Bunting (Danial Henshaw in a
frightening performance) who is wooing the now single mom. He is charming, he
is a good cook, and he is good with the kids. He takes a particular liking to
Jamie, taking him under his wing and teaching him to stand up for himself. At
first it seems like John is justifiably upset about the pedophile living across
the street and takes it upon himself and Jamie to run the man out of town. But soon
it is obvious that John has a much more pathological lust for violence. His
raging homophobia being one element of it, he sees no difference between a
pedophile and any other local gay man, and has several rants to prove it. But when
Davey vanishes, leaving a voicemail claiming to have run away, everything seems
to suspicious. But by this point John has ingratiated himself into the family,
and has Jamie under his wing. It is only a matter of time before much more
violence rears its ugly head.
Originally just titled SNOWTOWN (after the small town where the actual bodies
in the barrels where found) this film is a pressure cooker mood piece, that
wraps you up in the complex and unsavory characters and before you know it, you
can’t get away. It is a film where
violence happens suddenly, but lingers like burnt flesh. This movie is all
about characters that just exude pain and frustration, and it is that overbearing
sense of ugliness that makes the movie both so powerful and so hard to watch.The movie leaves a stain on your mood that will be hard to shake for a long time afterward.
This extremely low budget shot on video action flick has a lot going for it. The story has a nice bit of social satire, the violence is splashy and nasty and even the acting is above average for a movie of this type. The movie is way rough around the edges of course but any movie that proudly boasts during the end credits that it was shot for $2500 is going to be. For a movie I went into completely blind, I was pleasantly surprised by GRIM, and even more so because of the embarrassing hard sell that TROMA is using on the dvd packaging and promotional marterials that tried to make it look like some ultra-gory, alternative/underground gore piece, which it isn’t. I was pleased to get instead a fun action movie with a bit of social satire.
The movie opens like a million other revenge tinged action films. With a multiple murder by a group of extremly unpleasant villians. These guys drive a man, woman and twelve year old boy out in the middle of nowhere. To which they proceed to beat the man to a pulp with a pipe and wrench infront of his family and execute him. The mother folows suit but they inexplicably leave the boy, though they do konk him on the head. Figuring his extreme terror will leave him mum about the proceedings. He is found by a kind man who spends the next nine years raising him. During that time he teaches him to use weapons as well.
Years later we find out this man used to be the Sheriff of the town and that he was forced to kill his own son when he joined the gang of the men who killed our hero’s family. This is where we get some important background information that sets the movie apart. Turns out the movie is taking place slightly in the future where an economic collapse has occurred due to continued bail outs to Wall Street and corporations by the government. Seems the people marched on Washington and many were killed in the ensuing riots. So much of the United States broke off into Tea Party styled militia groups who simply took over and emancipated themselves. But naturally this lead to dictatorships, chaos and social discord. The story we are watching takes place in Texas where one such faction has taken over. Our hero Nicholas Grim will now set forth into their clutches to find those who killed his family.
Along the way he will meet up with a shanty town ghetto of Mexican immigrants who will befriend him, as well a lot of bloodshed. There will be barnyard bare-chested fights, brothels, pick up trucks full of dead bodies, strangling, finger nails pulled out, bloody shootings that look more like SHOGUN ASSASSION style blood spray and lots of speeches about ones place in the role of society.
All in all GRIM is surprisingly ambitious, with a lot more on its mind that the last dozen Steven Seagal movies rolled into one. Sure the dialogue falls into preaching and speechafying more often than not, but that is to be forgiven just because at least the characters are talking ABOUT something, instead of just posing. There are even a few fight/action scenes that are well handled, especially that barn barefist fight scene.
Where GRIM fall on its face is the technical side. Apparently director Adrian Santiago has taken a page from the Robert Rodriguiz playbook and done literally everything himself. Literally directing, writing, editing, and shooting the project. The problem is that the cinematography ranges from acceptible to downright terrible depending on the scene. The scene where the whole back story of the USA collapse has the worse camera work I have seen in a legitimately released movie possibly ever. There is no reason that couldn’t have been reshot as it is horrible and distracting. The editing is also not up to par. It is never terrible, but when it gets to where thigns need to be exciting, the editing is simply not keeping up the pace. So perhaps on the next project Santiago will be able to afford some collaborators in those departments.
The DVD is typical TROMA with a completely useless intro by Lloyd Kauffman (does ANYONE even watch those anymore?) and a raft of Troma extras that have jack and shit to do with the movie including an embarrassing clip of Lloyd watching some home video footage of one of his (now former) employees at Cannes pissing in another employees luggage while they discuss it endlessly. Yawn. And a rather cute “Tromette” talking about Chaucer and showing her boobs. Yawn again. Santiago has a commentary but I didn’t listen to it yet. Perhaps I will.
I will say TROMA did a nice job with the painted cover art on this package. It reminds me of the work of Steven Romano and his book SHOCK FESTIVAL which I am sure was intentional. But I seriously could do without the tag line “The Most Fucked Up Film of the year” on the back. It isn’t even close and really is only selling this to the “hardcore” crowd and fifteen year olds.
But I say check it out if you get the chance, rude, crude and rough around the edges, there is still a good deal to like about this GRIM outing.
Day nine of the September Exploitation Challenge takes me way down the wrong path!!!
WRONG WAY (1972) D. Ray Williams Not on DVD 16mm Full Frame
This no budget, 70’s LAST HOUSE ON THE LEFT rip off is some sort of wonder to behold. Disgusting beyond belief, if only for the truly nasty people on display and the complete lack of moral compass on the part of the filmmakers. The movie seems to exist in a climate where the filmmakers saw Wes Craven’s film and thought to themselves “Hell we can do that, but who the hell needs all that moralizing crap! Let’s just add more sex and crotch shots!” Then they realized they only had fifty bucks to make the whole movie with.
The movie begins with a group of the perhaps scuzziest criminals in Grindhouse history laying around in the woods waiting on a drug buy. They complain incessantly about how it has been days since they have had any pills or grass. One thug who we learn is named “Crabs” (because he is scratching his nuts all the time and apparently has the nasty crotch critters) is particularly upset. He complains to another cohort that he got those crabs from letting his buddy “suck him off!’
"Only reason I got crabs is cause I let you SUCK ME OFF!"
Meanwhile two pretty girls get caught going the WRONG WAY (!!!) and their car breaks down and two of the thugs trick them into getting into their jeep and heading back to the camp where these dirt balls are waiting. The bikers making the drug delivery. One of them sucks down raw eggs so his “love torpedoes can have full blast”. The main thug is thrilled to finally gets to roll a joint and has a hilarious hallucination once he smokes up consisting of a naked woman in a military beret and dreams of a winning hand of cards! All the dudes are happy to get their hands on the nubile young girls for a day of sexing on the dirt roads.
"On no! The car is broke down! We better get into some more comfortable walking clothes!"
But when the bikers discover the girls are there against their free will, they actually take a stand - “We thought those where your old ladies. We are in for any kidnapping and rape charges. You gotta let them go.” But out comes a shotgun and the bikers get on their motorcycles and ride off like little kids who just got scolded for playing on some-one's lawn.
"This is the kind of Hallucinations you see when you smoke really primo pot, according to this film."
Then proceeds the twelve minute long rape scene. A scene that would be offensive if it was actually done well. Instead it is handled so poorly you can’t help but notice nasty details like the fact the guy playing Crabs hasn’t wiped his ass since he was seven years old and his entire butt is now stained bright green. Seriously, we are talking Green Giant ass here. Or that the hippie red head seams more interested in running around and touching the asses of his buddies than doing anything to the girls. even worse is the tenth rate Bob Dylan tune that plays not once but twice over the scene trying hopelessly to ape the David Hess folk rock from LAST HOUSE ON THE LEFT. What IS effective however is the poor girls reactions to being ground on by these nasty, grungy post hippy thugs who really do look like they just got out of prison. The takes go on forever and these actresses have to endure the constant grinding of each of this dirtbags from every angle and position. The whole thing is very disgusting and dirty. When they are done with the gang rape they just leave the girls on the road and take off, never to be seen again!
"It is really horrible enough to get gang raped by these greaseball thugs. But to have one have them has a green stained ass just makes it the worst experience ever."
Meanwhile one of the girl’s father has called the police and a search party has started. Even a helicopter is looking for them. I suspect that is the case because A) someone the filmmakers knew had a chopper or B) they had stock footage of a chopper they could use (I suspect B is the case). But the cops are making very little ground.
The girls go looking for help, stopping at a stream to was their ravaged vagina's. Naturally this calls for loving close ups. They hear people and investigate hoping to find help but instead find ANOTHER group of hippy criminals! This is where the movie takes a sharp turn away from being a LAST HOUSE rip off and into it’s own weird little territory. Seems these Hippies are some sort of Manson-esque cult and they have just killed a man. The girls has stumbled on his burial (including a two year old helping dig the grave, a nice touch!) and now this cult is pissed at them too. The cult leader decides they must join the cult and become their sex slaves and have their “will and egos broken”!
"Hey you, over there! Why is your ass all green?"
Then the movie gets REALLY weird! Suddenly we meet two older men and a really cute dark haired girl they take into a shack out in the border town this is all happening in. they explain to her they are going to take her to Mexico and sell her for Heroin. Who the fuck are these people? They try to rape her, but since she is now a junkie she relents and loves it?!?!?! The chopper sees this and suddenly the plot is now about these guys!
"Who the fuck are THESE GUYS?"
*SPOILERS* The cops get a call on the radio in which we are told the police found the two girls. We get two or three brief shots of a shoot out in which one of the cult members is shot in the balls and we see them trying to rape the girls yet again. All in all the shots last about twenty seconds. The rest is recounted in voice over. The girls were found and are back home! Now the movie shifts gears to this secondary plot about the kidnappers and heroin dealers!
It is almost like some weird shit happened and that portion of the cast said FUCK YOU and refused to finish the movie. Considering the on screen treatment of the girls in the early rape scenes, and that it looked like they were going to have to do a bunch more, I am willing to bet that is EXACTLY what happened. That they just had enough and so the movie had to be rewritten hastily with what was there. It all ends with a cops confronting the heroin dealers/ kidnappers confrontation.
"You've defiled us, made us see the green ass guy and join a cult. We've had enough. We QUIT this Goddamn movie!"
This is one of the sleaziest and weirdest Grindhouse exploitation movies I have seen in many a moon. Directed in long takes like storefront porn, shot almost entirely outside in the woods, and cast with people who do not look like actors but seem to really be the parts they are on screen. This is nasty ass, low brown cinema at its most ghetto. I cannot imagine the audience this was meant for or where it even played. But I would have loved to have been there to see them. But something tells me they would have been so stones they would have barely noticed the movie at all.
WARNING: Even for the material normally discussed and contained on this blog, the following pictures and video may be objectionable and disturbing. The following contains images of real death and embalming, so proceed with caution.
Orozco The Embalmer (2001) D. Tsurisaki KiyotakaCinema ObscuraS.O.V.
Widely considered to be one of the must brutal and in your face of the mondo-documentaries that has floated around the underground in recent years, OROZCO THE EMBALMER has gathered a reputation that's proceeded it. Mostly by gorehound death fetishists that don't understand, nor care enough to look beyond the guts being spilled on screen to see the spiritual, political or just plain human context they may be watching. All they want to see is bodies being ripped open and blood splashed all over the place. This movie delivers that in a matter of fact manner that puts films like FACES OF DEATH or even the turgid and offensive FACES OF GORE series to shame. But at the same time there is an exploration of a real person here, who does a very real job, in a very real place, that very much resembles hell on Earth.
Orozco is an embalmer in one of the poorest, most crime ridden grottoes in Columbia. It is not uncommon here to see someone gunned down in the street, or for cars to run someone over and reduce them to paste in some sort of drug fueled vendetta. A life of crime is basically the only way to survive in this place and people die all the time.
Even the stray dogs have to take time to get plastered up to heal after street warfare in Columbia.
Hell, even the stray dog's are not safe. Orozco's business is booming due to this. But at the same time, he understands that the people he serves are poor and suffering, so he charges less than the city hospitals for an embalming and he makes his services affordable to the people he lives and works among. He also hires as assistants people from the neighborhood, including a local mentally handicapped man and that man's son who he has basically almost adopted as his own and is training.
Orozco finishes dressing a dead child for a funeral, while the parent waits patiently in the wings.
But don't let all this selflessness fool you - Orozco is one grumpy son of a bitch. The daily grind of cutting people open for little pay obviously gets to him. He is an old man now, the lines of a life that has battered the shit out of him are etched on his face. He barely seems to blink, and his mouth is always down turned in a frown. He applies his trade in a swift and aggressive manner, cutting into the bodies he is working on as someone would expect a butcher to attack a side of beef. Chunking his knives into the flesh hard and fast, tearing into abdominal cavities to release bloated gases, pockets of settled blood, and sack after sack of gorged internal organs that are simply in his way. He is not performing an autopsy, his job is to relieve the body of the artifacts that are going to start decaying soon that will prevent the body from being in a funeral service. He might even go as far as to apply make up if he deems it necessary for that particular person, though he has pretty strong opinions on that matter, expressing about one corpse "why paint this person up like a clown now, when that never looked like that when they were alive?" The brain is always removed and replaced with newspaper because that rots away the quickest and will smell immediately. It is all a daily grind for him: body after body, old men, women, and occasionally little babies or children. Sometimes he will notice things the hospitals or morgues have missed, such as an elderly corpse on his table he clearly notices had been abused while alive, but the cause of death does not indicate such. But he steps away from saying anything, claiming that to do so would only start trouble. Orozco was in the military when he was much younger but refuses to talk about it, as well as his time in the police. He clearly saw things that were quite awful, illegal things, murderous things. Things in which to spend his days among the dead is not terribly different.
A typical way someone ends the day in Columbia now and again.
The documentary crew visit one of the local hospital morgues to watch how they do their embalming, which is no more high tech than Orozco. In fact, in some ways it is just as savage. They take more time in the clean up, with more make up and prep for the funeral, but the actual cutting up and discarding of parts it is no different. Still, the embalmer has no problem talking shit about Orozco and his team. In a weird and out of place bit, the documentary director begins to talk off camera to the embalmer about the corpse and how it has a "really pretty hairy pussy" which kinda comes out of nowhere. Once that is said, though, it does sort of make you notice that a lot of the camera work has included crotch shots of the corpses which seemed a bit unnecessary. And very, very weird.
Which leads me to the movie's biggest detriment, the direction. The movie has a truly fascinating subject with Orozco, and the actual town in Columbia, but the direction itself is beyond sloppy, with many long, useless montages of life in the street (all set to the same droning, repetitive music) that just pad out the movie. There is one long aside of a drug addict allowing the camera to follow him to a corner in an alley to smoke crack, that has nothing to do with the movie at all. Then there is that weird sort of leering sexual asides the movie takes form time to time, the worse being the bit at the hospital morgue, where the camera seems to linger on a corpses genitals or breasts just a bit too long, which seems really fucked up.
The brain is removed to prevent stink of decay during any services the family may ask upon.
When I mentioned this on a message board someone mentioned that this film started life as an episode of the DEATH FILES series in Japan which is just a Mondo Death footage series (and one of the most brutal and outrageous). That series is just footage of dead people, usually at accidents in third world countries (of which there is plenty of here) or murder sites (once again plenty of that here). One of the most famous of that series was an off shoot called DEATH WOMEN which is just that, random footage of the corpses of women at accidents, murder scenes, morgues etc. Seems this director cut his teeth working on those series, and then make some short "art" films called JUNK FILMS which were basically more of the same. Orozco was originally intended to be more of this until he got a hold of such a fascinating subject and it become something entirely new. And that saves it. The focus on Orozco himself gives it all context and form, as well a lot of social dynamic as he explains how these people live and die.
Certainly well worth watching if you can stomach it. But be warned it IS as rough as you've heard.
I'm willing to go to bat for the SAW films. While I thought Pt 5 was terrible, and Pt 4 not much better, I've still defended the SAWmovies pretty widely and will continue to do so. Horror fans in our age group LOVE to shit on them, then turn around and fall over themselves about how great the original Friday the 13th and Halloweensequels were. What it really is, is a generational thing. We give our old school loves a pass, even though they are dumb as dirt, but shit on the new favorites almost out of a sheer act of rebellion.
My thing is that the SAW series, for all it's faults, and there are a lot of them, are still among the most creative and interesting continuing horror franchise going today. All people see is the gore and "torture" but fail to notice that the series has an ongoing "philosophy" about taking responsibility for your own actions. Each entry (well the first three and this new one) are all about characters that have to realize, through coming close to death, that they need to take responsibility for something in their lives. Sometimes it is addiction, sometimes it is an all encompassing need for vengeance, sometimes it is how one's selfish actions hurt others.
The games have begun. This reminded me of the breathing treatments I have seen so many people have in the hospital recently.
The torture and pain are almost biblical penance for their crimes against the fellow man. Jigsaw is not even a serial killer, but a very creative anti-hero who shows far more compassion than any of the other characters in the films. The movies themselves work more like episodic TV than sequels like the old slasher films we grew up with, as each entry divulges more details, more character development and more plot twists. Casual viewers and more importantly, those who just like to stand on the outside and throw stones, claim that all there is to the series are set pieces of people being tortured. But when the SAW series is at its best (part 3 and this one in my opinion) there is a helluva a lot more meat to chew on.
What would you cut off to give that important pound of flesh?
SAW VI opens with two new people in a trap. One obese man in one cage and a thin woman in another. Via pre-taped video they are told that they are to fill a scale between the caged 9via large plastic tubes) with their own flesh within 60 seconds of the giant metal bolts attached to their heads will detonate and be pounded into their skulls. Seems they worked for a large corporation that gave loans out to poor people that in turn had interest rates that made the loans impossible to pay back. Thus took everything from these people. Now these two are being made to judge themselves for what they have done to others. Naturally the fat man goes for his meaty love handles and carves them off, but the woman realizes her limbs have more weight value...
The movie proper begins with Detective Hoffman (Costas Mandalorwith his lips permanently pursed in his only thought configuration) working his way out of the glass cage he encased himself in at the end ofPt V when he killed Special Agent Strahmin the compacting room (his squished corpse makes a special appearance). Hoffman is setting about finishing his work his has taken up since Jigsaw died. this time targeting the head of a Health Insurance company that specializes in fucking over their policy holders. Seems that this company (like pretty much ALL health insurance companies) has a staff trained to find loopholes and pre-existing conditions so they don't have to help or pay out when they are needed most. This head of the company even has a mathematical equation he has specially developed that ways human life value against the bottom line. The bottom line wins every time. Seems Jigsaw's Widow's methadone clinic was partially funded by this joker at one point, AND Jigsaw had this company as insurance when he found out he originally had cancer and wanted to get an experimental treatment.
Say what you want about the movies, but the SAW films have some of the best poster art going today.
They promptly dropped him all together when they found out he was going to attempt treatment that might actually cure him. So before he died he laid out plans that put this company and the employees that have destroyed the lives of so many people over the years directly into the cross hairs of his life or death manias. Leaving Detective Hoffman and his wife to carry them out.
The Health Insurance Company has left Jigsaw in worse shape than the last five sequels combined.
Many of the questions that have been unanswered in the previous entries are answered this time. What was in the big box Jigsaw left to his wife? What was that letter Amanda read in part 3? How about the significance of the audio cassette in part 4? Lots of minute details from throughout the series find their way back into the plot fold this time out making this entry a very rewarding and satisfying experience. Unlike part 5 which just felt like you were spinning your wheels for ninety minutes, this one makes you feel like you've stuck it out for six movies for a reason. Not just to rehash the same crap movie after movie, but to actually see a story arch through from part two to part six. Like a mini-series on cable or something.
The series does have its detriments though. For one the acting has never been a strong suit. Tobin Bell as Jigsaw is terrific, has been from day one and has manged to really infuse the character with a sense of loss and tragedy. He is the real center of the series and they made a great casting choice with him. Shawnee Smith as Amanda was smart casting as well, she does a good job as the formerly heroin addicted assistant that struggles with her allegiances. She is only in pt VI a couple of scenes but it is nice to have her back. Betsy Russell former tits and laughs 80's actress from such classics as TOMBOY and AVENGING ANGEL made her first appearance in pt IV and looks terrific, especially for a woman her age, but her acting is just as still today as it was back then.
Betsey Russell may not be ANGEL anymore, but she still looks fine.
She's not terrible, but she isn't great either. Probably doesn't hurt she's married to one of the series' regular directors. Then there is Costas Mandalor... Another heart throb from a couple of decades ago. Remember the teenie bopper gangster pic MOBSTERS? Of course you don't, I only do because I worked at a theater and projected the damn thing. It was him, Christian Slater, and a couple of other nineties era dorks. Well, that was the height of Mandalor's ability I think. I've felt he was miscast here from the beginning. He's like watching a plank of wood.
I've also had issues with the directorial style and editing of the series too. That hyper stylized flash cutting that they use, especially in the torture/kill scenes. As the series has progressed it has become less and less prominent, but it has always gotten on my nerves. For me it takes me right out of the moment. Perhaps that is the reason they do it, because the actual violence often being portrayed would be unbearable if they concentrated on it with out that hyper stylized, distancing effect. All I know is it distracts me and reminds me I'm watching a movie. Its weird cause there have been what, four different directors and all of them have been forced to do it for continuity.
But with all that said, this entry is easily the best one since pt III if not THE best one to date. The whole story attacking the insurance companies is completely relevant and makes a bold and hearty statement about the faceless nature of corporate killing in the name of the bottom line. I'm sure the last thing die hard Liberals want on their side is the new SAW movie, but here it is anyway! I would say it is actually making a more humanist statement actually. Plus as a series capper this entry brings all the previous elements together and wraps them up neatly and nicely. There is an open ending, but not so much that they couldn't stop here and be done with it. All the questions are answered at this point. There is no need to go on now, except studio greed really. Plus for the gorehounds who just LOVE this stuff, it is still fairly intense in spreading around the red stuff. There is less interpersonal "torture" this time as the games scenarios are more aimed at making the characters make choices about other people's lives (hence the health care debate). There is an incredibly intense scene involving a carousel of people and a loaded shotgun that is probably among the best of the series. It isn't so gory, but the intensity of it is outstanding.
A lot of people have probably given up on the SAW series. Just as many people wont give it a chance because it is cool to do so. To those people, just remember when we were kids, the adults wouldn't watch aFreddy movie orFriday the 13th movie for the very same reasons.
THE COLLECTOR (2009) D. Marcus Dunstan Fortress Pictures 2.35 This amazingly brutal slasher picture is in a lot of ways a throwback to the horror films of the early 80s in that it is played absolutely straight. No funny business, no one liners, no bullshitting around with the audience to make them feel comfortable and safe. No hedging of the bets so there will be T-shirts and lunch boxes and other crap that the Hot Topic crowd will talk about as they paint their fingernails black while waiting for the next TWILIGHT book and discussing who will play Pinhead in the remake of HELLRAISER. Nope. THE COLLECTOR is the real deal. Is it perfect? Not by a long shot. But it is pretty damn good, and very serious, and these days that counts for a whole lot in my book.
The film is about a young locksmith/thief, played by Josh Stewart, who has cased a country home owned by a rich family. The family are basically decent people, with two daughters, one a young girl, the other a 17 year old sexpot. He has agreed to rob them because his own girlfriend is in hock to a local loan shark, putting his preteen daughter directly in danger and forcing him to come up with the money by midnight to get them out of trouble. When he breaks into the home that night the family is supposed to be out of town, yet he finds that he is not alone in the house: someone else has broken in right before him and wired the entire home with intricate booby traps that do things like cut off fingers if you open windows, or impale you if you go out doors. He then discovers the parents are alive in the basement and have been tortured with the intention of being "kept". The youngest daughter is alive somewhere in the house hiding, and the other daughter is out on a date with her boyfriend. Both are in danger of this rampaging murderous psychopath still in the house.
You have to suspend your disbelief to get into the movie right away with the idea that someone could set up all of these traps in one day, plus we never really know too much of why he would do it, as the movie is not exactly heavy on plot details. But this isn't really a plot piece, it's an adrenaline movie that pumps you up and keeps you scared. With that it works. The killer is creepy as hell with his black S+M mask that looks like the black leather version of Decker fromNIGHTBREED. But unlike many other killers in horror films, he is fast and vicious. Once he zeroes in on someone, he attacks - no slow stalking, no Michael Myer's walking while they run. He jumps in and BOOM: he's on them, slashing, stabbing and tying them up with barbed wire. Juan Fernandez plays the killer and it's an incredibly physical performance. Readers may remember him from several Charles Bronson programers, such as the ultra scummyKINJITEwhere he played a flesh peddler who was the first guy in a train run on a 13 year old girl in one of the most repellent scenes I have ever seen in a movie. He also showed up in severalFerrera films over the years, as well. Now he gets to add another nasty villain to his repertoire.
I'm sure many people will have complaints about the level of violence and torture in the film, especially considering that the writers and director have done the last several SAW films. But I felt that the material here was pretty justified and intense. Never did I feel like I was invited to enjoy the suffering the people on screen were going through (as has sometimes been leveled at the SAW or especially HOSTEL). I felt for these people and their plight, making it all the worse to bear out. Which is the point. I was genuinely afraid and disturbed for the characters on screen.
This is the strength of the movie. The characters, though not given a lot of characterization, are at least recognizable and likable. Especially the lead. It was refreshing to have a hero who was flawed, but still trying to do the right thing. Several times in the movie he makes some cowardly and bad decisions, so he's far from perfect and I liked that. It made me feel for him a lot more than I would some stupid teenager who only wants to get laid or high.
Technically the movie is outstanding with incredible editing, and really sweet cinematography. It does get a little too dark once things get trapped in the house, but overall it is a visually striking film, with really great use of color and moving camera. The soundtrack is terrific too, with intricate and unsettling sound design and tremendous use of discordant industrial music throughout, including Bauhaus' "Bela Lugosi's Dead" in a key moment. My only complaint in that area was the opening credits that were way too much like the movieSE7EN.
I'm making this sound like a little classic, and it really isn't. The plot is thin, and there are holes a plenty. But the good outweighs the bad by a far margin. Just be prepared to get a balls-out, in-your-face movie that doesn't intend to play nice with you. They really don't make them like this much anymore. This is horror without a safety valve and I appreciated that.
