Connect with us

News

Fantasia 2020: ‘For the Sake of Vicious’ is a Chaotic, Violent Ride

Published

on

For the Sake of Vicious

On all Hallow’s Eve, all hell breaks loose. For the Sake of Vicious starts on a bold high note and just gets more violent and hectic from there. In the film, a nurse comes home to find a tortured maniac and a suspicious hostage bleeding in her kitchen. What starts as a bad night turns inexplicably worse when they must face off against a wave of ruthless intruders laying siege to her home on Halloween night. It’s 81 gripping minutes of pure stress and crazed action. 

Co-directors Gabriel Carrer (The Demolisher) and Reese Eveneshen (Defective) — who also served as the film’s production designers, editor, and composer — have pooled their talents to create a film that fights tooth and nail. They start by building tension with a hostage plot; Chris (Nick Smyth) suspects Alan (Colin Paradine) of an atrocious crime that cannot be forgiven. Nurse Romina (Lora Burke) gets caught in the conflict when Chris asks her to patch up Alan, so he can continue his very hands-on questioning session. That alone is an interesting premise to work with, but Carrer and Eveneshen aren’t ready to let the other shoe drop just yet. 

They crank it up to an 11 with a vicious onslaught of masked maniacs that basically turn the last 40 minutes of For the Sake of Vicious into one continuous attack. The music — by Carrer with Foxgrndr — pulsates a heavy bassline that thumps like a heartbeat through the film. But they know when to pull back for maximum effect; one particularly savage fight sequence is scored by nothing but the sounds of violence, cranked up to overpowering levels of blunt chaos by a sound editor who must really love his job.

How is it that on a night with trick-or-treaters canvassing the block, no one heard the most raucous fight the neighbourhood has surely ever seen, you might ask? Shhh, it’s Halloween, don’t worry about it. Allow yourself to get swept up in the sheer brutality of the fights, and make a small mental note that all the stunts were performed by the actors themselves. 

Smyth proves to be quite capable during these fight sequences. Chris throws himself at the intruders with everything he’s got — he’s in a fight for his life, and you believe it. But it’s Burke who you can’t take your eyes off of. She has a strong presence that draws energy like a magnet.

Romina is a tenacious character to begin with, and Burke blends into her character so smoothly that she just lives it. You immediately empathize with her thanks to a poignant character introduction, and through the film it’s hard to not think of the fact that she’s in way over her head — she’s completely innocent in all this (as is her now thoroughly trashed house).

“It’s not about being the best, it’s about being better than you were yesterday” reads a serene plaque hanging in the kitchen. It’s a (completely unintentional) read into Romina’s character and why she silently agrees to help with the rather unconventional situation she comes home to. She could have called the police, but she instead decides to dig deeper and help, recognizing that without her interference this situation could get much worse. 

The plot — which is delivered in the broadest of strokes — feels a tad clumsy. But, much like your concerns about the shocking lack of noise complaints, it’s something you can overlook. The story hits the beats it needs to hit, even if it’s a bit loose along the way. 

The first half of For the Sake of Vicious is heavy with emotion, but the punch of tension doesn’t hit quite as hard. That said, the scene in which Chris recalls the traumatic event  — and what he suspects Alan of doing — works well (despite the realistically unlikely scenario). But with multiple interruptions to talk things through outside, perhaps the pacing is clipped a bit too many times for the first act to really build up momentum. 

It’s the second act that throws it all out the window, forcing the three unlikely allies together in a full out brawl for survival. Something is happening that is entirely out of their control. The fights (by stunt coordinators Adam Ewing and T.J. Kennedy) aren’t stylized or graceful, they’re panicked, head-bashing, gut-stabbing, anything-makes-a-weapon hectic. Our three main characters are beaten bloody but have no choice but to drag themselves onward. It’s gnarly as fuck. 


For the Sake of Vicious is a taut, heavy, ferocious action thriller. Right from the start, it draws you in with a crackling fire that erupts into a full-on blaze by the end of the film. With all its weight, it’s hard to describe this film as “fun”, but it drives fast and hard, and it’s an enjoyable — and completely vicious — watch. 

For the Sake of Vicious

For the Sake of Vicious is playing as part of Fantasia Fest 2020. For more Fantasia coverage, click here to read our review of The Dark and the Wicked.

Listen to the 'Eye On Horror Podcast'

Listen to the 'Eye On Horror Podcast'

Click to comment

You must be logged in to post a comment Login

Leave a Reply

News

Brad Dourif Says He’s Retiring Except For One Important Role

Published

on

Brad Dourif has been doing movies for nearly 50 years. Now it seems he is walking away from the industry at 74 to enjoy his golden years. Except, there is a caveat.

Recently, digital entertainment publication JoBlo’s Tyler Nichols talked to some of the Chucky television series cast members. During the interview, Dourif made an announcement.

“Dourif said that he’s retired from acting,” says Nichols. “The only reason he came back for the show was because of his daughter Fiona and he considers Chucky creator Don Mancini to be family. But for non-Chucky stuff, he considers himself retired.”

Dourif has voiced the possessed doll since 1988 (minus the 2019 reboot). The original movie “Child’s Play” has become such a cult classic it’s at the top of some people’s best chillers of all time. Chucky himself is ingrained in pop culture history much like Frankenstein or Jason Voorhees.

While Dourif may be known for his famous voiceover, he is also an Oscar-nominated actor for his part in One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest. Another famous horror role is The Gemini Killer in William Peter Blatty’s Exorcist III.

The good news is that Don Mancini is already pitching a concept for season four of Chucky which might also include a feature-length movie with a series tie-in. So, Although Dourif says he is retiring from the industry, ironically he is Chucky’s friend till the end.

Listen to the 'Eye On Horror Podcast'

Listen to the 'Eye On Horror Podcast'

Continue Reading

Editorial

7 Great ‘Scream’ Fan Films & Shorts Worth a Watch

Published

on

The Scream franchise is such an iconic series, that many budding filmmakers take inspiration from it and make their own sequels or, at least, build upon the original universe created by screenwriter Kevin Williamson. YouTube is the perfect medium to showcase these talents (and budgets) with fan-made homages with their own personal twists.

The great thing about Ghostface is that he can appear anywhere, in any town, he just needs the signature mask, knife, and unhinged motive. Thanks to Fair Use laws it’s possible to expand upon Wes Craven’s creation by simply getting a group of young adults together and killing them off one by one. Oh, and don’t forget the twist. You’ll notice that Roger Jackson’s famous Ghostface voice is uncanny valley, but you get the gist.

We have gathered five fan films/shorts related to Scream that we thought were pretty good. Although they can’t possibly match the beats of a $33 million blockbuster, they get by on what they have. But who needs money? If you’re talented and motivated anything is possible as proven by these filmmakers who are well on their way to the big leagues.

Take a look at the below films and let us know what you think. And while you’re at it, leave these young filmmakers a thumbs up, or leave them a comment to encourage them to create more films. Besides, where else are you going to see Ghostface vs. a Katana all set to a hip-hop soundtrack?

Scream Live (2023)

Scream Live

Ghostface (2021)

Ghostface

Ghost Face (2023)

Ghost Face

Don’t Scream (2022)

Don’t Scream

Scream: A Fan Film (2023)

Scream: A Fan Film

The Scream (2023)

The Scream

A Scream Fan Film (2023)

A Scream Fan Film
Listen to the 'Eye On Horror Podcast'

Listen to the 'Eye On Horror Podcast'

Continue Reading

Movies

Another Creepy Spider Movie Hits Shudder This Month

Published

on

Good spider films are a theme this year. First, we had Sting and then there was Infested. The former is still in theaters and the latter is coming to Shudder starting April 26.

Infested has been getting some good reviews. People are saying that it’s not only a great creature feature but also a social commentary on racism in France.

According to IMDb: Writer/director Sébastien Vanicek was looking for ideas around the discrimination faced by black and Arab-looking people in France, and that led him to spiders, which are rarely welcome in homes; whenever they’re spotted, they’re swatted. As everyone in the story (people and spiders) is treated like vermin by society, the title came to him naturally.

Shudder has become the gold standard for streaming horror content. Since 2016, the service has been offering fans an expansive library of genre movies. in 2017, they began to stream exclusive content.

Since then Shudder has become a powerhouse in the film festival circuit, buying distribution rights to movies, or just producing some of their own. Just like Netflix, they give a film a short theatrical run before adding it to their library exclusively for subscribers.

Late Night With the Devil is a great example. It was released theatrically on March 22 and will begin streaming on the platform starting April 19.

While not getting the same buzz as Late Night, Infested is a festival favorite and many have said if you suffer from arachnophobia, you might want to take heed before watching it.

Infested

According to the synopsis, our main character, Kalib is turning 30 and dealing with some family issues. “He’s fighting with his sister over an inheritance and has cut ties with his best friend. Fascinated by exotic animals, he finds a venomous spider in a shop and brings it back to his apartment. It only takes a moment for the spider to escape and reproduce, turning the whole building into a dreadful web trap. The only option for Kaleb and his friends is to find a way out and survive.”

The film will be available to watch on Shudder starting April 26.

Listen to the 'Eye On Horror Podcast'

Listen to the 'Eye On Horror Podcast'

Continue Reading