SEVERED CINEMA TEE


Tags
horror movie reviews,
exploitation,
gore,
rape revenge,
revenge,
extreme,
vengeance,
sick,
twisted,
nudity,
sex,
sleaze,
eurosleaze,
Fulci,
Argento,
Toe Tag,
Toetag,
murder,
Blue Underground,
underground,
mutilation,
Synapse,
horror,
arthouse,
cinema,
Plotdigger Films,
obscure,
cult,
Joe D'amato,
grindhouse,
One 7 Movies,
zombies,
cannibal
|
Torched - Plotdigger Films |
|
|
Written by Ray Casta
|
Thursday, 22 April 2010 |
HTML clipboard HTML clipboard
|
Directed by: Ryan Nicholson
Written by: Vince D'Amato / Story by: Ryan
Nicholson
Produced by: Ryan Nicholson & Nicole Hancock
Cinematography by: Damien Foisy
Editing by: Guy Russell
Music by: Necrophagia
Special Effects: Ryan Nicholson
Cast: Michelle Boback, Tamara Pender, Daniel
Lomas, Ryan Haneman, Rob Haneman, Rob Scattergood
Year: 2004
Country: Canada
Language: English
Color: Color
Runtime: 45 minutes
Studio:
Plotdigger Films |
|
Ever since it initially leaked
onto the internet years back, genre enthusiasts and gorehounds
jumped at the opportunity to see Ryan Nicholson's first foray
into extreme horror with Torched. Before his gruesome
full length exploits (Live Feed and Gutterballs),
Plotdigger Films' roots lay in this notorious short film, which
immediately became the talk of the online horror community. Not
until the 2006 anthology project released by Creepy Six Films'
Hell Hath No Fury, was this film available before,
outside of the internet. It isn't until now that Torched
is finally available on its own, in a DVD distributed by Ryan
Nicholson himself. For the first time ever, Plotdigger Films
presents Torched in an exclusive cut dubbed the "Char-Broiled
Edition" (limited to 666 copies). Different than any version
ever seen before, the "Char-Broiled Edition" incorporates
footage previously unreleased and features a brand new
soundtrack recorded by Killjoy of the Necrophagia.
For a ferocious 45 minutes, Ryan Nicholson's Torched makes for a
punishing viewing experience. The film opens with an attractive
young nurse, Deanna (Michelle Boback) on her way home from a
hard day of work. On the elevator, she is viciously assaulted by
a masked attacker with a stun gun. She is verbally abused and
subsequently raped. This attack is sudden and traumatic. She
spends the next night holed up in her apartment, shaken and
withdrawn. On the next night, she is attacked again in her
apartment. This time, however, Deanna is ready -- and with a
stun gun, she surprises the burglar. She keeps him hostage for
days and exacts her own brand of bloody, torturous revenge! That
is the plot of Torched and yes, the movie is about as
straightforward as it gets. But therein lies the beauty of the
movie. Torched has its particular agenda from its
inception and the story does not overcomplicate itself, nor does
the story do anything it isn't supposed to do. It doesn't dwell
on the humiliation and rape, but it certainly keeps focus of its
agenda: the woman gets her revenge.
In the rape-revenge genre, Torched easily ranks somewhere
at the top. In the world of the genre, the rape is the direct
catalyst for the female protagonist to exact her revenge.
Whereas Meir Zarchi's I Spit On Your Grave emphasizes the
notoriously lengthy rape and humiliation of the main character,
Torched is heavy on revenge. There is nothing more
disappointing than a rape-revenge film that hides from its
intentions, or flinches from violence. Thankfully, Ryan
Nicholson does not disappoint in any department. There are times
when the movie feels over the top, yet it achieves shocking
realism at these moments of pure, unadulterated chaos. Quite
realistically, Deanna's character descends deeper and deeper
into insanity as the movie progresses. In this respect, the
movie frighteningly explores the depths of depravity that a
person can achieve at the most savage level and ultimately, the
damaging loss of one's sanity. Michelle Boback flawlessly
channels a level of extreme insanity and her performance is
distinguished in the way it can be so over the top and insane
yet it never feels forced. Her characterization fits into the
whole over the top, fantasy "feel" of the movie.
The torture Deanna inflicts upon her attacker is some of the
most harrowing, inconceivable acts of vengeance ever depicted on
screen, hands down. Torched is the start of Ryan
Nicholson's gruesome special effects work. For his first
project, Nicholson stamps his name on the genre, in a variety of
ways. Needles, a power saw, an enema, and a blowtorch are among
the instruments he incorporates for the violence and torture
here -- and never have those objects been more horrific. To say
the movie is "painful" would surely be an understatement. This
movie reaches a new level of pain and suffering. What's
fascinating about the movie is how there is no one to truly root
for. You feel sorry for Deanna when she is victimized. However,
when she tortures her male captive with no mercy, you become
scared of her and what she has become. You become to realize no
one is safe around Deanna. Her rage cannot be tamed. The
captive, whom she believes was her rapist, is presented as an
object for Deanna. She is a nurse and he is her patient. A
nameless character, he is deliberately never seen or really
heard from behind his ski-mask or the moment he breaks into
Deanna's apartment. He practically exists for Deanna to do
whatever she wants -- and this is where Torched is at its
most unapologetic.
There is a sequence where Deanna comes home drunk from a night
of drinking at "The Night of the Bloody Fox", a college club her
best friend Leanne (Tamara Pender) invited her to. She runs into
her neighbor, Trevor (Daniel Lomas), and he takes her back to
his place where Deanna, inebriated and vulnerable, plays the
aggressor and pushes Trevor into his bed. She rides him, and
naturally takes control. Torched is superb during these
quiet, subtle moments. In this scene when Trevor takes control
and gets on top of her, it does not look like Deanna is enjoying
it at all. She is reliving the attack in her mind. There is no
full frontal nudity throughout the film. The actresses did not
want to show nudity and their decision works in favor of the
work. Example: After Deanna is raped in the beginning, she takes
a shower. There are many voyeuristic shots of her changing
clothes yet the camera never exploits her. Deanna changes her
mood like she changes her clothes. She puts on an outfit which
is appropriate for her mood. Part of the brilliance in Boback's
performance is how she is forced to change roles at varying
occasions. She gets dressed for the part -- for working at the
hospital, going out with her friend or mercilessly blowtorching
and sticking syringes in the cock and balls of her helpless
captive. These subtle touches are what make the movie
audaciously original.
Plotdigger Films presents Torched in a 16:9 aspect ratio
that looks well done. The video looks a bit rough around the
edges at times, but for a low-budget independent film, it is to
be expected. The audio is presented in English 5.1 Dolby Digital
and works very well with the film -- plus the new soundtrack
over it sounds great. For a DVD he presented himself, Ryan
Nicholson did a terrific job with the supplemental materials to
be found here. There is a documentary featurette called, "Behind
the Burn: The Making of Torched", which clocks in at about
15-minutes, and it features certain shots at special effects
being completed (such as the self-proclaimed "money shot" of the
film - the cock and ball torture) and Ryan directing. All in
all, this is a quick and worthwhile featurette. Additionally,
there is an interview with Ryan himself, which also runs at
about 15-minutes. In the interview, Ryan explains this DVD is
the first (and final) legit release of the movie. He explains
the changes in this cut and he also speaks on the genesis of the
story and his inspirations for it. The director's commentary
isn't all regurgitated material from the interview, so the track
is definitely worth a listen if you are a fan of the movie. The
DVD also rounds up an original trailer for the movie which looks
as if it was made recently (most likely for this release) as it
mentions Live Feed and Gutterballs.
Inspired by such rape-revenge classics as Ms. 45 and I
Spit On Your Grave, Torched drives home an
empowerment theme. This is where Ryan Nicholson first portrays
woman as not the victim but the strong lead who has the upper
hand. As Ryan stated before in an interview, "I like the
males to be tormented in my movies more so than the females."
With Torched and his later works, this statement is wholly
proven. There are a few images here which may be difficult to
witness if you are a man. This is more than a movie with balls.
Torched stabs the balls of the exploitation film and blowtorches
its penis. Shot in only four days on a low-budget, Torched is
highly impressive in that it ventures into territory rarely seen
in a rape-revenge film hence making it the unabashedly nasty
piece of nihilism it is.
|
















|
RATING: |
VIDEO: |
     |
AUDIO: |
     |
DVD: |
     |
MOVIE: |
     |
DVD SPECS:
Aspect Ratio: 16:9
Region: NTSC 1
Audio: English Dolby Digital 5.1, 2.0
SUPPLEMENTAL MATERIAL:
- Behind the Burn:
The Making of Torched
- Director's commentary
- Original trailer
|
|
Last Updated ( Thursday, 22 April 2010 )
|
|