Dulce Venganza 2

An American wannabe model is raped, shipped to Europe and degraded until she escapes and plots her revenge.

Writers Thomas Fenton and Neil Elman offer a solid script, the claustrophobic NY apartment and then the European setting adds an air of danger for Katie's ordeals, it's pity the unsavoury Euro angle has be been done so many times already. In the vein of Hostel 2, Saw and following the format of the 1978's I Spit on Your Grave and its 2010 remake, director Steven R. Monroe's latest wincing film like its predecessor is nasty, arguably needless and borderline exploitation. Nevertheless, it feels more realistic than many of the films of its saturated genre and the cop and the priest play against expectations adding some surprise.

Jemma Dallender is first rate as Katie and gives a great performance but her character is not as liable as it's former lead Sarah Butler's Jennifer Hills. The supporting cast are all excellent notable are Mary Stockley, Joe Absolom who pulls off a good accent as Ivan and Valentine Pelka as Father Dimov.

It's a film of two halves, the first being the horrific abuse of Katie, the second revenge kills on her captors. Monroe's film looks good, it's slick with plenty of atmosphere, blood, great effects with the ominous lighting and locations heightened by Damian Bromley's photography. Corey A. Jackson's score also adds to the unnerving edgy scenes.

With the pro-woman, feminist, revenge angles already debated highlighted and explored with the 1978 version, this offering would have been a equal if not a better re-imagining than the 2010 remake but despite some great acting it's now left slightly redundant with even less to say.

Monroe's offering is commendable and as it is certainly not DVD fodder (like Hostel 3), it has cinema release execution and production values like his first instalment. Monroe needs a breakout movie but given the subject matter this just isn't it.