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Brian: Word to the wise, if you
dislike watching someone slowly being tortured then
keep walking. That's what this film delivers in
spades and it's why it tops my list. The world is a
dark place filled with horrible people, among that
number are a little class known pedophiles. Mostly
male, they often prey on girls who are too naive to
see what they're walking right into. So I ask you,
what happens if one decided to strike back? This
film is full of just that, one girl striking back
for all the girls that never got the chance to. But
I'll stop here, because if I gave anything away I'm
afraid I'd find it to be torture for my own
conscience. |
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Richard is
back from war, and he has a chip on his shoulder.
His mentally disabled brother has been tormented by
a gang of criminals for as long as he can remember.
And Richard is about to face them down. What makes
Richard such a threat to this large group of men are
his advantages. He has no fear, no aversion to
violence thus no mercy, and he’s much more skilled
in combat than they are. Thus he’s about to stare
each and every one of them down and let them know
that his little brother’s troubles are about to be
fixed, even if he has to murder a few folks to get
the message out to them. Richard takes on his
methods learned in the military as he first sizes up
his opponents, then faces down their leader in
probably the most fantastic sequence of the film,
then proceeds in breaking their mentality down
through manipulation, humiliation and intimidation,
and then proceeds to wreak his bloody havoc before
they can even realize it.
Paddy
Considine is a pure force of psychotic nature as he
implements every single bit of rage within him and
uses it in the character of Richard a man who isn’t
your stylized pretty boy anti-hero. He is instead a
shell shocked and traumatized tragicharacter who
decides to expel the rest of his sanity in making
sure he goes through with the promise made to his
brother about confronting the folks who tormented
him, thus leaving the audience to question his own
sanity and moral breaking points. With this,
director Meadows places our character Richard on a
constant testy ground where he simply can’t come to
terms with his own sins and gradually grows more and
more violent while avenging his brother and realizes
it’s not all black and white. And by the time he’s
come to that realization, he’s already lost his
personal battle, even if he’s defended his brother’s
honor.
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Brian: Imagine, if you will, that one
night while you were out drinking with a friend you
passed out. Then, you open your eyes to find a
strange room, one you cannot leave. You have only a
television, a bed, a bathroom and you're given meals
through a small door. Imagine being alone for 15
years of your life with only what's in that room for
company. And suddenly, one day you're free. What
would you do? Would you be happy for finally being
set loose? Not the man in our story, no. He wants
answers. He wants revenge for losing the life he
once had. Not only does this film have excellent
writing but the fight scenes are truly a splendor to
behold. We're given a tale of a man who has nothing
left but his own quest for revenge, and he won't
soon give that up. The ending floored me not only
with it's twist but with it's violent nature. A
must-see for any fan of revenge movies. |
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Payback is a bitch, and
many times karma will and does catch up with you.
Sure, life isn’t always like that, but sometimes if
we’re lucky, the bad guys get caught, the bad guys
get hurt, and the bad guys pay. Take Jeff for
example, a man who is basically a wolf on the
internet lingering in chat rooms, talking it up with
preteen girls, and inevitably he comes across an
easy mark. Upon entering his local coffee shop he
comes across a young cute girl named Hayley. She’s
obnoxious, kind of shallow, is very passionate about
her thoughts, and even manages to seduce him with
her innocent flirting she deems just playful.
Eventually they make it back to his house where the
flirting and drinking ensue, and suddenly Jeff wakes
up strapped to a chair. Hayley is not a piece of
jailbait waiting to get popped, no, she’s actually a
lot older than she looks and is an utterly
intelligent and sadistic bitch who is going to make
the next self-reflective day of Jeff’s life very
miserable.
After much deliberation
and discussion, Hayley’s motives become pretty clear
after repeated viewings. She’s not a symbolic
character, she’s not an avenging angel of evil
spirit, no, she’s actually a friend of the murdered
girl constantly mentioned in the film. The murdered
young girl that Jeff is suspected of murdering is
being avenged, and Hayley and her mysterious cohort
we never see, are friends of Donna Mauer, the young
girl viciously murdered, and Jeff may have done it.
Now Hayley is there to make him suffer, and she does
it through elaborate head games, mild seduction, and
yes, a castration that is a long and excruciating
sequence, guaranteed. Is Jeff a victim? Is Hayley
utterly insane? Is Jeff just misunderstood? No.
Hayley is perhaps one of the most deceitful and
clever avenging angels ever depicted on-screen, and
she shows this by her constant tormenting and
watching with glee as Jeff pleads for his balls.
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Brian: I have not seen the original
version of this film in many years, so I instead
chose it's remake. But do not despair for this
version is by no means sub-par in quality. By far,
the most classic tale of betrayal and revenge there
is, this is the story of a man who loses everything
he holds dear. His lover, his best friend and his
way of life all taken from him in one fell swoop by
the very man he trusts more than any. He's locked
away to never be released until the time of his own
death, leading to him beginning to question his very
sanity. Until the day he meets another prisoner as
he attempts to tunnel and ends up in our sad hero's
cell. He teaches him history, languages, swordplay
and many other things he feels he may need. And need
he does, as he uses every one of his new skills to
orchestrate his elaborate revenge upon the man who
took it all from him. |
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How do you take a
typical revenge plot, and make it seem fresh and
original? If you're Chan-Wook Park, you make it into
a film about a man who has lost precious time in his
life, and seeks the person who took it away from
him. In actuality, while Park plays this as a simple
man on a mission tale, "Oldboy" is two revenge
stories in one. "Oldboy" is one in the vengeance
trilogy about a drunkard name Oh Dae Su who is
kidnapped one night after being taken to a local
prison, and awakens in a small room. Unable to find
answers to his captivity, he endures violent
visions, is drugged nightly, and can do nothing more
than watch television. After fifteen years he's
released, and now seeks out the man who imprisoned
him, going on a journey of violence, blood shed, and
torture that makes "Oldboy" my favorite of Park's
vengeance films.
After solidifying his
bones to an extent thanks to sparring with the walls
in cell, Oh Dae Su possesses an almost inhuman
ability to withstand pain, which enables him to
endure some vicious retaliating from the men he
continuously spars with. Armed with a claw Hammer,
Dae Su battles a whole hall filled with weapon
wielding thugs, and withstands their hits and
beatings, and is subdued only for a moment when
stabbed in the back. The torture Dae Su takes is
only minimal when confronted with the man named Lee
who imprisoned him all of his lost years, when he
discovers that the entire journey of imprisonment,
kidnapping, and the incidental meeting of an
accomplice was actually his revenge all
along. Filmed with a gritty dirty atmosphere, Park's
ode to revenge in all forms and creative outlets
make this one of the most original spins on the
sub-genre, with an excellent performance Min-Sik
Choi.
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Brian: In recent years, I've grown a
taste for movies about criminals and the world the
exist in. I find it fascinating how intricate their
world truly is. This film brings face first into
their world and never once gives a chance to
breathe. Now, I could explain why it is on this list
in incredible detail, but I will not. You will just
have to take me at my word when I say it is a
masterfully told yarn of vengeance that is unlike
any other. It's a shame that more people aren't
aware of this great film. |
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Sure in
many ways it's kind of a rip off of "Lady Snowblood"
and "The Bride Wore Black," even though Tarantino
insists he rightly homaged those films. But in spite
of that endless argument, "Kill Bill" is a fantastic
set of films with vastly different storytelling
techniques. Want blood, gore, and endless carnage?
Try "Volume One" on for size which is the Bride's
full wrath and her attempts to even the score. After
being shot in the head with baby on the way, she
awakes from a coma after many years in a hospital.
She now remembers that she's been shot (now wearing
a metal plate), and her baby is dead... or so she
thinks. I was prepared to just mildly enjoy "Volume
One," but Tarantino thankfully begins the film on a
hook that guarantees an erratic and damn
entertaining film that he succeeded in bringing. An
ode to the revenge and samurai genre, "Volume One"
is a stylish, colorful and blood soaked preamble to
the Bride's pure skill and the endless bodies left
in the wake of her insistence on paying back the
folks she trusted.
Tarantino also manages to bring a wonderful
performance from Thurman, which is pretty rare in
her career, while her character is both fun to watch
and utterly sympathetic. Knowing she needs help, she
asks for a sword from the best sword maker in
history, Hattori Hanzo, and the blood pours. Want
more story? Check out "Volume Two," my preferred
film of the pair, as the Bride travels across the
world to stop Bill, with two of her four comrades
left dead. This time though, she confronts Elle
Driver, the one eyed foe who wants Beatrix Kiddo
(the bride) dead, and Bill's Brother, who manages to
accomplish killing her. But the Bride returns,
implementing the training from her master Pai Mei,
and she confronts Bill in a bout of words,
manipulation, and a bloody finisher that satisfied
me more than other Tarantino fans. Sure, we could
have ended this on a beheading, but Beatrix and Bill
were once lovers and had a child. She couldn't have
murdered Bill viciously, either way. While Tarantino
gave us a brief end due to time constraints, the low
key approach is much appreciated, and David
Carradine has never been cooler. Same for the
revenge genre.
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Brian: To finish
of the list I gave it much thought. There were
numerous excellent movies to choose from. I selected
this one because it really belongs here though.
Think it over in your head and you'll know I'm
correct. A group of cruel school children push a
girl to her death and are never punished. They grow
up living as if they never did the horrendous deed.
As if her life never mattered. But one person
disagreed and this is all about him giving them
their comeuppance. Prom night has never been more
satisfying, or more bloody. |
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Senseless brutal crimes
often leave its survivors in a state of sheer
amazement, and many people in and around the crime
often find ways to grieve and make some sense of
what occurred regardless of how illogical and
improbable the reasons may be. Almost all the time
though, vicious crimes can’t be explained, nor can
they be explored in any coherent thought. For “The
Crow,” a senseless crime has brought about a
miraculous turn of events as the victim of a
terrible ritualistic crime has returned from the
grave to bring back his murderers with him into
death. Because as protagonist Sarah explains:
“Sometimes, just sometimes, the crow can bring that
soul back to put the wrong things right.” In Brandon
Lee’s final film and testament to the pure potential
and charisma he was going to offer us in film, “The
Crow” is the story of a simple musician named Eric
Draven who is murdered and tortured alongside his
wife Shelly, who is gang raped and suffered a long
excruciating death.
Thrown out of his
window, he returns from the dead years later with
the help of a mystical guide in the form of a Crow
that pulls him from his grave, and helps him become a vicious costumed
murderer, hunting down those that made sure to
inflict pain on him with the help of his new powers
that enable him to be faster, stronger, and
stealthier than the average human. Though considered
an action film by
many, “The Crow” is much more supernatural horror
than anything, as most of the action elements are
secondary to the more demonic presence Draven
possesses in the guise of the avenging angel who
paints his face to spark fear into the hearts of his
murderers. "The Crow" is much more in the tradition
of the revenge sub-genre, as he's engaged in hunting
in and around a crime ridden city.
Draven fishes through the muck and grime to
stalk and slowly murder folks like Tin Tin: a knife wielding robber,
and T-Bird: a pyromaniac gang leader which helps Draven to reclaim some of the humanity lost with his
new role as harbinger of death, and he seals old
wounds, strengthens bonds between a beat cop that
stood by Shelly before her death, and even brings
closure to a young stalwart named Sarah who now
wanders the streets attempting to find a direction
in her life. But as the search
thickens, the threat becomes larger, and Eric
becomes more and more of a ghost who leaves a trail
of bloodshed and bodies in his path to put him and
his wife’s soul at rest at last. It’s a beautiful
finisher to a career that ended too soon, and it's
by far the best of the sub-genre I've ever seen.
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Compiled and written by Felix Vasquez Jr. and Brian
Pittman
Reproduction and reprinting should only occur with
express written permission
and proper credit to Cinema Crazed and its authors.
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