A brutal revenge flick.
by Nav Qateel
I’ve never liked seeing rape in movies yet I find myself reviewing the second film in a week, concerning this very subject. The first was Markus Blunder’s debut effort, Autumn Blood, a stylish affair which sees a young woman gang-raped then, as she flees the men responsible, accidents take care of the rapists. In Michael S. Ojeda’s Avenged (previously titled Savaged), it’s the ghost of a murdered Indian Chief who uses a recently killed rape victim to do his bidding. Thankfully the rape in this film is barely seen, and instead the focus is on the savage and nasty revenge taken by the murdered deaf-mute, Zoe (played by the lovely Amanda Adrienne).
What helps with showing a brutal rape, or any drawn-out act of violence towards a helpless victim, is that it allows the audience to hate the bad guys enough to delight in seeing them get their asses handed to them in the most horrific way imaginable. This was a bit of a problem with Avenged, as director Ojeda didn’t show quite enough to get the hatred going. It’s a catch 22. The violence committed during the first act by the rednecks, while certainly realistic and horrific, was over too quickly, thus, never quite getting us emotionally invested enough to make our blood boil.
- Savaged
- Written & Directed by
Michael S. Ojeda - Cast
Amanda Adrienne, Tom Ardavany, Ronnie Gene Blevins - Release Date
6 March 2015 - Nav’s Grade: C+
Zoe is an attractive young woman who is deaf and mute, and she’s decided to move in with her fiance, Dane (Marc Anthony Samuel). The journey to Dane’s is a long one and on the way there, Zoe witnesses two Native American’s being murdered by a gang of racist men.
They capture Zoe, then after raping the terrified girl, leave her for dead in the desert, but an Indian holy man finds her. He prays over her body which causes the spirit of a long-dead Indian Chief to enter Zoe and use her to seek retribution, as they’ve both been murdered by a hated bloodline of the Apache’s.
One of the things I liked about Avenged was that we didn’t have to wait long for the action to commence, and when there was any going on it was good. If you enjoy gore in your horror then you’ll certainly enjoy what this revenge flick has to offer, with guts featuring quite a bit, particularly in one scene that sees Zoe (and us) finding out just how long the human gut really is.
While the editing and the writing weren’t the strongest I’ve seen in this type of film, the makeup, special effects and acting were very good. If this had been Ojeda’s debut film then the faults would be easier to forgive, however, the director has a fair amount of experience. That said, Ojeda has clearly managed to put this together on a very low budget, and he handled the editing and writing, as well as the direction, leaving us with a decent gore-filled horror that will please fans of the genre. Sadly, not many casual filmgoers will appreciate this type of film. Definitely one to see if you’re serious about horror or revenge films.
6th April 2014
