It’s Halloween night and nurse Romina (Lora Burke) arrives home to find two men in her kitchen. One of the pair, Alan (Colin Paradine), has been badly beaten and is tied to a chair, the other, Chris (Nick Smyth), demands that Romina help keep the captive man alive. Not to save his life, but to ensure that maximum pain and torture can be inflicted upon him. Chris believes that Alan raped his young daughter, and after the courts didn’t help convict him, he has decided to dish out his own brand of punishment. As Alan professes his innocence, Romina finds her morals as a medical professional tested. Before she can settle on a side however, a group of helmet-wearing maniacs break in and all Hell breaks loose.
A film with two distinct halves and contrasting tones, For the Sake of Vicious, will appeal to a wide range of viewers for different reasons. The first portion is a sombre, chilling, and claustrophobic tale that plays heavily on the emotions. Anyone who has, or knows, any young children, especially a young girl, will have a really tough time. Writer and directors Gabriel Carrer and Reese Eveneshen channel elements of FrightFest classic Big Bad Wolves, and craft a dark and uncomfortable narrative.
The second half sees the story morph into a violent bloodbath home invasion action-thriller. This section is fun and frenetic, the considered pace at the start thrown out of the window in favour of all out anarchy. It’s a brutal and visceral steady sequence of bloody carnage that revs the viewer’s adrenaline levels till they spike. Carrer and Eveneshen exhibit an eye for cathartic brutality; the gore sequences are deftly handled and keep the audience on the edge of their seat. Nonetheless, the pair also want the audience to have a bit of fun as they add a few moments of light relief to the second part. Romina and Alan share swigs of vodka as they do battle with the invaders, being one example.
Accompanying both sides of the narrative is an elegantly crafted musical cacophony of noise. It’s hard to fully articulate exactly what it sounds like other than a random jumble of sounds that jar and begin to fray the viewer’s nerves. It works particularly well during the opening as it signals to the audience that something isn’t quite right. Once the epic smackdown begins, the score blends in perfectly, working as a way to properly emphasise the punches and hammer strikes.
If there’s one criticism of For the Sake of Violence, it’s that once the fighting starts, the character development stops. We never know much about any of our characters outside of some very one dimensional traits, and whilst it doesn’t dampen the enjoyment, it’s a shame that we don’t get further insight.
For the Sake of Violence will get your adrenaline pumping and send your heart rate sky-high with its savage cacophony of blood, noise, vengeance, and survival mayhem.
For the Sake of Vicious was reviewed at Arrow Video Frightfest Halloween. For the Sake of Vicious will be released on Digital HD on 11th January 2021.
For the Sake of Vicious
Summary
A film of two halves that for once feel like a cohesive unit, For the Sake of Vicious takes viewers on an epic and bloodthirsty journey that will leave your nerves frayed.
