Bound to Vengeance (2015)

It's not often that I see a movie that surprises me. I watch many independent movies, and after a little research I give a new one a go. I didn't expect much with this one, but it had one recognizable name in it who I thought was pretty good (Richard Tyson).

He turned out to be pretty good as expected, but the real stand out was Tina Ivlev. It was basically her movie. I never heard of her, but looking her up I saw she had quite a few bits on TV. She was also in a TV movie called Death Clique. This girl really rocked in this film, and portrayed subtleties that acting veterans usually can't pull off in facial expressions and action sequences. The subject matter is fairly dark dealing with the human trade business, so you have to be prepared for that subject matter going in. Of course it's a retribution flick by the title so for me those are always interesting.

The main reason I gave it a 7 is because of Tina's great performance, but I felt the overall production merited a 5 or 6. Still very worthwhile for VOD, DVD, and select theater viewing. Nothing over the top here, just a few gritty performances by the main characters.

Fmovies: This one certainly gets full marks for originality, but then what?

After being imprisoned apparently for months in the basement of a sexual predator and likely serial killer, our heroine overpowers the bad guy in spectacular fashion, clouting him with a brick. She doesn't make the mistake of so many damsels - hitting him once and then making a dash for it - because damsel she ain't. After battering him senseless her first thought is naturally to escape, but a) she is out in the sticks, b) the phone line is dead, and c) rummaging through his personal papers she finds evidence that this sicko is holding other girls elsewhere.

At this point it would have been best to commandeer his van and drive to the nearest police station, but if she did that, this would be a very short film. Her captivity has clearly affected her judgment, so fastening a wire around his neck on a long pole she tells him to take her to the others, who are in a number of different locations.

Her first rescue goes badly when the hostage, whose mind has clearly gone, runs off and impales herself. The second is even worse, but she succeeds at the third attempt. Now there are two of them, but it soon becomes clear this guy is not working alone, and although apparently not now a serial killer, the prognosis is even worse.

Leaving the third girl to call the police, she continues her mission. What lies at the end of the rainbow? Inter alia a personal betrayal. This is a film that has no real resolution, but overall it certainly does not deserve the bad reviews it has received.

Really well acted revenge thriller. Well worn territory but a good one none the less. Recommended for a select audience and the direction is also top-notch. Superior to many other examples of the 'Revenge Chiller' genre and the leading lady gives a solid acting performance.

Bound to Vengeance fmovies. This movie. It was all over the place. Really. I suppose I could see how some people might have liked it. Those people must just have a drastically different idea of what makes a movie good. The only thing that kept me watching was that I was in the mood for a movie and after a while of fruitless searching for something new and exciting I settled for this. Then continued to watch for lack of something better. The acting was nothing special. The story was starting off good. Building up momentum and tension, drawing you in...the BAM it just get's to be too much. They take it over the top. You have no connection to the characters. The twist is very lacking. At times it becomes downright laughable.

At the end of the day if you want a movie along these lines, a movie that is well made and draws you in from beginning to end, watch Seaoning House.

I know that most movies are fiction and that we are not only supposed to not believe what happens on screen, but we should also not expect the people nor their environment to conform to what occurs in real life. But that never stops us from hoping and wishing that the characters would just do what normal people would do. Or do what we believe they SHOULD do.

This movie started off so strong then it took a turn toward what-the-heck-is-this-ville. The movie starts off with a woman escaping her captor who had her locked in a basement in the middle of nowhere. She gets the better of him but then has nowhere to go because the phones don't work (big surprise) and she doesn't have the keys to the van outside. She finally musters up the courage and the weaponry to demand the keys to the van to do what? To escape? To go to the police? No. To go round up the other captured girls because that makes the most sense. That's exactly what traumatized escapees do.

The movie was a tale of revenge. I don't begrudge the movie for being about revenge, I just couldn't get over the timing and the method of revenge. Later we see why the movie creators took the immediate vigilante/savior approach but to me it was a case of trying to be too clever. Every movie has to have a twist.

Too often vengeance movies sloppily put it all together. Either the motive for revenge is silly or the person seeking revenge is unlikely or the method of seeking revenge is unrealistic. The motive here was solid but as far as the person and more still the method... really wasn't in the plausibility ballpark. In all cases it detracts from the believability which detracts from the overall movie. This was a "I Spit on Your Grave" type with far less character, style and logic.

Ms. Ivlev really got into this part, as her acting seemed heartfelt. Her expression of pain and outrage was palpable. She seemed, like a real person not some prissy model, who needed her hair and make-up to be perfect in every scene. Mr. Tyson's work was also excellent. The direction, camera work and art direction were all excellent. The story line was generally good, although I did have to actively suspend disbelief over some details. However, the thrust of the action and Ms. Ivlev's powerful acting, made that easier to do. The use of flash-backs was very well done. This was a surprisingly good production for such a hackneyed subject.