The Victim

Ultra-low budget private effort at a throwback to what was known as Grindhouse Movies. A deliberate attempt to be lurid with lazy film making and exploitation sub-genre subject matter. The more gore (H.G. Lewis), nudity (Roger Corman/Russ Meyer), the better and with great colorful posters and titles (Bloody Mama, The Gore Gore Girls) they would attract audiences and the public with taboo breaking bad flicks.

Most of them were pretty awful, with an occasional sleeper hit and a later discovered cult classic (The Texas Chainsaw, Massacre, Ms.45. Basket Case). But unless you are willing to go way over the top (Tarantino & Rodriguez) or somehow find a great script or story, the results are predictably, almost always BAD.

The trouble with setting out to make a bad movie (Attack of the Killer Tomatoes) is that it usually results in nothing sensational. LIke this Movie. The charm of an Ed wood movie is that he was not winking at the audience, he was trying really hard and the result was a primitive style that endures.

There may be kudos for an attempt, but eight hundred thousand dollars is hardly chump change, even in the independent film world, and this comes off more like someone saying lets make a gritty movie while we're on vacation, rather than an auteur deciding, well we only have a few bucks and a lot of willing folks so we can do this thing.

This movie is lacking sensationalism with unattractive nudity, has mundane violence, no surprises and is ultimately uninteresting, not entertaining, or worth the effort.

"I move all the way out here to get away from people, get away from trouble and this crap lands at my doorstep." Annie (Blanc) and her friend Mary (Harris) are out camping with their dates. When things go to far Mary ends up dead and Annie runs for her life. She ends up at the remote cabin of Kyle (Biehn) who wants nothing to do with her. After hearing her story he decides to help her, when he hears another side to it he is not sure who to trust. This is yet again another movie that has no real substance but is fairly entertaining to watch. The acting is pretty bad and the dialog is not impressive but it does keep you watching till the end. There are a few twists but to me this was still predictable. I have seen worse and for a B-rate horror movie this was not the bad. There are some fairly graphic sexual scenes in this but nothing over the top so if that offends you I would avoid this. All that said it did keep me interested for the whole time. Overall, nothing super but a good one time watch. I give it a B-.

I'm not a big fan of movies like this one, but it's pretty solid for what it represents. It is a surprise that Michael Biehn would do something like this, but he's open about this movie. It's not supposed to be taken seriously in any way. I get it that people were not pleased by it, but I'd hope some reviews wouldn't be so personal. I don't think Jennifer Blanc does a good job in this, but insulting her with foul language is really not a good way to express that.

The movie itself is pretty predictable, has some sex, some violence in it and Michael Biehn does also play in his own movie. This was shot quick and as gritty as possible. It's not for film purists and it won't satisfy gore hounds either (most of them anyway). But while ill-advised flashbacks do not add anything to the story, you're wasting your time being angry at a movie, that never pretends to be anything else than it actually is. If this is the worst movie you've seen, you should call yourself lucky or watch more movies. In any way, this curiosity is worth a look, but don't bother watching more than 5-10 minutes, if you feel that it doesn't work for you.

I felt more obligated to write this review to negate the extremely overinflated reviews here than to exact my own personal revenge against this catastrophe of a "movie".

I only noticed one truthful review, hidden amongst the pack of fans who gave offensively high numbers of stars, and really, for a small independent movie, it's to be expected. But, even in allegiance to a favourite actor, I can't imagine the willpower it must have taken for them to type out their drivel.

Okay, so now actually onto the movie.

I've seen my fair share of exploitation movies; some good, some bad. What Biehn has managed to do is create the absolute worst, and I don't mean that it's incredibly graphic - it lacks any sort of gritty impact or violence. Well, it has plenty of sex, that has to be something, right? Nope. Instead of creating an homage to grindhouse, I like to think that he has invented a sub-genre called outhouse.

Lousy direction, ridiculous writing, sloppy editing, a laughable soundtrack, a cast that has the combined acting versatility of a single plank of wood, and no story. Packed full of moody driving sequences with conversation reminiscent of old people talking about the day's weather. Now, I have to emphasise that the writing is really, really bad; it violates our intelligence. Nevermind that The Victim was filmed in under two weeks, it was probably written in under half an hour.

Ryan Honey playing the corrupt cop was just painful to watch, easily the worst combination of casting and acting I've had to put up with. Danielle Harris was only marginally better, but still utterly useless. I really don't know what was up with Biehn, who just raised his voice when he was angry, or his wife's inane ramblings.

If you've ever seen the TV series Lost, then I'm sure you'll have hated those Kate centric episodes with her terrible flashbacks. If you watch The Victim, then you'll be treated with flashbacks a hundred times more redundant and boring. I was with two friends at this screening and every time a flashback popped up we couldn't help but let out suicidal groans.

I went to this screening with an open mind, but I had checked the reviews on this site beforehand and, well, they were very easy to see through. Save yourself from becoming a victim to this travesty - I am not exaggerating in the slightest. Thankfully, it hasn't had a wide release as of the time of writing this review, but it will probably be torn to pieces when some delusional distributer puts out there.

Avoid.

(2011) The Victim PSYCHOLOGICAL THRILLER

A serial killer of missing prostitutes and escorts is on the mist of small town, co-written, directed and starring Michael Biehn as he plays. Kyle Limato recovering from a criminal past of six years. And while staying at his isolated cabin in the woods, an escort/ prostitute, Annie (Michael's real life wife at the time, Jennifer Blanc also credited as co-producer) spots his cabin and runs towards it. And by the time Kyle opens the door, Annie is frantic about an incident in which she tries to explain about two people looking for her as a result of her friend, Mary (Danielle Harris) accidentally killed by homicide detective, James Harrison (Ryan Honey credited as co-executive producer). Det James then convinces his friend, who also works in law enforcement, as DEA. Jonathan Cooger (Denny Kirkwood) to become an accessory. It's because Annie is kind of a witness to her friend, Mary's murder committed by James Harrison who accidentally broker her neck after making out with her in the middle of the woods. The first place they drive up to is Kyle's isolated cabin and it is just a matter of time they are going to cross paths again.

Michel Biehn is not bad as writer/ director except that it is way too contained to just this environment. Whereas, don't know enough about Kyle at all such as, did he used to have a job, and what was he doing before he was sent to prison, and for what did he do before he got out? In other words, how did he make his income? For his character is as ambiguous as the actions of the two detectives. Had Biehn received a much bigger budget, it might have been interesting.