User reviews

I am gonna skip the synopsis and run to the review itself.

This low budgeted B-Movie is a good surprise. This British independent film has a small cast (3 actors only), very little dialog and set almost entirely in the woods. It hardly sounds like this thing can pull us up for anything good but Simon Boyes and Adam Mason have created a gory, shocking, intelligent and modern thriller.

Broken is somehow paced, I mean, could be a little bit slow for some people out there already hypnotized on clichéd/biased Hollywood horror crap, but let me tell you, this thing will throw suspense and confusion every time you think you know what's going to happen next...

Nadja Brand (Oh! What a gorgeous and sexy woman!), is absolutely fantastic while making her character very realistic and credible.

Eric Colvin is magnificent according to his character on script.

Abbey Stirling is a young actress and did a mediocre job for her first appearance. Who's to blame?

Summing all and concluding, the cinematography makes the film look a lot more expensive for a 9000 Euro cost. The editing is professional, the script good and the directing is quite an accomplishment comparing to other British indie movies of such grandness like Dog Soldiers, Cradle of Fear, Dead Meat and even Boy Eats Girl.

So, we or you will think: If it's so damn good why it's not being distributed in international theaters? Well... because it's too grim and too violent for the regular viewers... but not for me.

I bet on Broken... do you?

I thought this was a very well made film, which drew obvious parallels to Saw in the opening scene...but thats where it ends, its far from a Saw rip off as previously mentioned, it does challenge your sense of morals, the "baddie" is extremely well acted as is our heroine and the characters are a lot more than one dimensional killer/victim types. The atmosphere is realistic, and this film delivers a lot of award winning aspects.

As for the films contents, I really hated this sick guy, and wanted to see him punished, which brought out more emotion than your typical slasher flick, which most I term comedies due to their predictable outlandish villains.

There's none of the annoying stereotypical bad guy gets hit by car, shot by arrows, hit by axe and still comes a chasing scene that you find in the usual run of the mill films of this ilk.

I do recommend this film for everything that you can recommend a film for, except one thing... it should never have been made, you would have to be real sick to appreciate any entertainment value in this film, its gritty and a little too close to the bone for my liking...and I assure you I'm no prude.

Well done film makers excellent execution, but make something a little more pleasant next time, whats wrong with you !!

Broken is a grim low-budget horror film in the old-school tradition. I won't go into details about the story, as most comments already cover that. What I will say is this: Made for next to nothing, and with a simple and strong premise, it's an impressive piece of work. Firstly, it looks great. Atmospheric and intense, the photography suits the theme of the film. There are some shots near the end that simply look superb, and they've really captured that moist, raw "waking up in the woods in the morning"-feeling.

The story is simple and raw. The screenplay is well structured and exploits the premise without ever repeating itself. That's an accomplishment in itself! And it's scary and intense. The gore is well done without being over the top, and the acting is good.

I'm happy to see that people notice low-budget films like this, and give them the attention they deserve. Check it out!

An abysmally poor entry into the 'torture porn' genre, a British movie shot out in the Cambridgeshire woods somewhere with the writer/director's own wife playing a central role. I have two questions after watching this: who told the writing/directing team they could direct, and who told the main actress she could act?

BROKEN is the worst kind of horror film, a repulsive exercise in sadism designed to cash in on the popularity of the SAW franchise, which it rips off throughout (and most notably at the beginning). The opening credits play out over a montage of a young woman trying to retrieve a razorblade sewn inside her stomach, and if that sounds like your idea of entertainment then you're welcome to it. The repetitive self-mutilation continues for another twenty minutes or so before the film settles down into a plot less affair which tries to depict a supposedly tense relationship between hostage and captor.

The truth is that BROKEN is entirely void of original idea and intent, so instead it ups the ante in terms of on-screen gore and general nastiness. Not that the special effects are good, because they aren't, but there's a general undercurrent of depravity and sadism which makes it an alternatively gruelling and boring watch. Despite the unpleasantness, there's never any suspense or tension in any of the hackneyed scenes, and the intensely irritating Nadja Brand fails to elicit one iota of sympathy for her character's plight. The villain is a nobody, there's no motivation or backstory for any of the characters, no attempts at characterisation or realism. Just endless repetition and padding until the final, merciful moments.

Oh joy,, another foreign torture/bloody movie that sadistic gore hounds try to convince themselves and other people that it has value or merit. To anyone with an IQ higher than a rock this is NOT a good horror movie, it's just another mindless, silly gore fest.

While the movie "Inside" at least had suspense in the first half of the film, in the end , the movie Broken is just another excuse to show how much the human body can take getting ripped apart and how much an audience can stomach it.

Storyline takes another back seat to "special blood effects".. (yawn) It's not scary people, it just fossil fuel for the sick. I really think those men that get excited over movies like this should have a" I love tortured women" printed on their forehead, so that we know to keep our daughters and sisters away from your twisted selves.. :) LOL

After dating a wonderful man, Hope (Nadja Brand) comes back home, sees her daughter Jennifer and goes to sleep. She wakes-up in the woods with a psychopath (Eric Colvin), fighting to survive for more than forty days and asking information about her daughter to the stranger.

"Broken" is a sick, unpleasant and disturbing low budget movie. In spite of having a reference in the beginning of the movie that it is based on a true event, the pointless story is completely flawed, the character of Hope is a total idiot and the schoolgirl is very stupid and annoying. There is no explanation about where they are and how the women have been kidnapped and transported to the middle of nowhere; Hope is an imbecile, and I do not understand how her character does not kill the sadistic maniac when she has the chance and after being tortured the way she had been; the schoolgirl screaming all the time is really irritating, provoking the nasty situation with her tongue. I did not like this gross movie. My vote is three.

Title (Brazil): "Jogos Sangrentos" ("Bloody Games")

There's not a lot more to add to the already overwhelmingly positive reviews. First and foremost, this is a low budget, independent film that actually works to it's advantage. Without constraints of Hollywood pampering or any of that nonsense, what we get here is a film made by horror fans, FOR horror fans. These people have a clear understanding of what people want to see; none of this teen-orientated rubbish, this is a seriously disturbing and believable film.

With the main character being an ordinary person going through a horrific ordeal in the woods, this really could happen to anyone. From the outset, I felt my stomach churning, and to someone who has seen as many films as I have, this is indeed an achievement. Needless to say, I recommend this film to anyone who can appreciate a good, shocking and unpleasant film.

Keep your eyes on this director.... 5 years from now he will be a much bigger name!

First, I love horror films including slasher flicks but there is nothing here. They seemed to have had a decent director of photography and the acting isn't bad but sadly the problem is the film as a whole is pointless, senseless garbage. The point (if in-fact there is one) of the film seems clearly just to shock you with over the top gore and mindless violence, a theme I'm entirely sick of and in my opinion a total waste of film-making dollars. Maybe if they spent at least 5 minutes working out a story and characters it would be a decent film. But they sure as heck did no such thing here. Could have been good but this film will not be remembered.

I saw this film at this year's Dead by Dawn festival in Edinburgh.

You know the way you can watch a trailer, get excited by what you've seen and then be ultimately disappointed when you realise that the best bits were in that trailer? Well every so often a film comes along that bucks that trend and you realise what you have already seen was just a taste.

'Broken' is such a film.

The pace from the start is admirable, we know that a mother loves her daughter, so we're spared interminable scenes showing this. The main character is put in her predicament and we know just as much as she does (nothing). We have to found out information as she does. The film descends into mental one-upsmanship as cat and mouse struggle to get the upper hand.

For those weak stomached viewers... beware. This is a film that doesn't shy away from violence and its effects.. or showing them. People will do desperate and uncharacteristic things in the name of survival and when confronted by a cruel enemy, especially when a child is at stake. The escalating violence mirrors this desperation.

Not a film for everyone but an excellent one for those who enjoy quality genre cinema. Which let's face it, is becoming more and more rare.

9/10 James

The thing with Broken is, despite being a horror movie, I think it only appeals to a select audience. I saw it under the impression that it was a lot like Saw and, although this is true at first, it ends up having more in common with Misery, with a character lead plot. It is very gruesome and also fairly amateur, yet still well made considering these two made the film on no budget. Another problem I had with the film was that they tried to create a complex villain, although he ended up coming across as all over the place. It also seemed at times that gore was just there to keep the audience interested. Overall, I really enjoyed this film, and made for uncomfortable viewing which is great as far as I'm concerned. If you watch this film bear in mind that is not a lot like Saw, it was made on next to budget, and is a valiant attempt at a character-lead horror.

This isn't even a remotely well put together film. It has no real plot. The film is disjointed and shows pieces and never puts them even remotely together. This film has a guy that tortures his victims and the director and writer torture anyone stupid enough to fall for this. It amazes me that people continually begin to make apologizes and put indie films on a pedestal just for being indie. I don't care of this film was made for 3 dollars or 3 million it would suck either way and trust me this movie sucks. The only thing you will get from this is the gnawing urge of wanting the time back you wasted on this crap. Want to know how the guy kidnapped his victim? What happens afterwards? Where the hell this true story is going? You won't none of these questions are answered. It's bad film making all around. I kept wanting to like this film... Sadly it was impossible too. Broken makes little sense. Broken is just like this review is starting to get. Repetitive.

I just can't agree with the nay sayers on this title. I watch an average of 40 horror films a month so for my taste I can instantly spot something that rises above the crap. True, there are many mysteries and perhaps because of that holes in the movie. The how's and Why's of the situation are never explained but then again a real life victim that is kidnapped,tortured and condition seldom gets a pat answer. The acting is convincing as is the gore and while the story is simple it's never boring.I think some people might have a problem with it's raw non Hollywood feel.SOme may link this to the current trend of "Torture Porn" but this is a far cry from the slick and premeditated madness of Saw or Hostel. THis is actually closer to the seventies horror survival films like Alive,Man In THe WIlderness,I spit on Your Grave and The Town That Dreaded Sundown. With such awful films like the remake of The Invasion Of The Bodysnatchers,The Boogey Man,Hide And Seek and Hostel 2 I am continually perplexed to hear people trash a film like this so indiscriminately. What is your cup of tea,Final Destination 3?

This film has all the ingredients for a truly tedious experience.Poor acting,senseless violence that has no purpose,even less of a plot(unless the surreal elements are so carefully hidden no one but the director is aware of them)and minimal dialogue. Nothing develops other than a resentment at having paid to see it. Of all the really good horror films made, which did not rely on close exemplars of gratuitous violence, I cannot understand why modern film makers cannot learn from their masters and create high quality films that extend the craft of those who preceded them. Why does everything popular have to be as banal as you can make it. There are still large numbers of film goers who have brains that work and enjoy being intellectually and emotionally challenged. Why are they being overlooked in favour of the mediocre masquerading as some type of new art form. If you want to waste valuable time living on this planet this film might appeal to you, but if your brain still works, give it a wide berth !

Let me start by saying that this movie was so bad that it inspired me to register as a user on this website and write a review.

This movie is only entertaining for the sick and twisted. I've seen movies like Hostel and Saw before. I would agree those movies are far more gruesome, however they do offer a plot line, which offers the audience some intrigue and interest.

Unfortunately, this movie is just disgusting. It offers absolutely no plot line, not even a piece of a story. The script was horrendous at best. There is also no resolution. On top of which, the killer is also a total incompetent pussy, which is contradictory to movies of its genre.

The only good side to this movie was the acting, which was pretty good for this genre of movie. If nothing else, this is why I give it 2 stars instead of 1.

How they got funding... I just don't know!

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It seems the Directors were in way over their heads. Poorly Directed, Poorly Filmed, Poorly Written, and Poorly Acted. I understand it was low budget and all that, but come on... First year Film Students could have done better. Small wonder it went straight to DVD. And another thing... the "Special Features" part is one of the most Inane, Juvenile ramblings from a "Director?Writer" I have ever seen/heard. He even goes as far as threaten physical violence against critics that have posted negative reviews of his film on the web. They should stick to making Music Videos...

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This could very well be the worst movie ever made. It is beyond me why there are so many people that have positive things to say about this truly awful piece of film.

Let's get something straight, I don't think it's "awful" because it's violent. I think it's awful because it was made by a bunch of hacks.

Just go up to the actors listed in the film to see what they've done after this movie was made in 2006. It looks like only two have gone on to do other things. That's because the acting in this movie was an abomination. You could use this movie in film class to show young directors how to NOT get good performances out of their actors.

First of all, the casting was atrocious. They couldn't find a less threatening guy to play the antagonist then they one in the film. He looked like the small doofus that played the little guy on the chain gang in "Oh Brother Where Art Thou." And we're supposed to believe this guy has been living in the woods when he's wearing clothes that looked like they were freshly bought off the rack from some new Western store. The woman, "Hope," looked like an ugly Baby Spice. Why anyone would want to kidnap her is a mystery. Jeffrey Dahmer took better care in picking victims than the evil guy in this movie.

Second of all, the character development was none existent. Let's forgo the third-of-all and fourth-of-all and just rattle some more off here.

There were scenes where the captive could easily get the chains off by lifting them over her head. The first scene had a woman go through torture to stay alive only to kill herself when she got through the hard part. The movie took place over a month yet they looked just as clean at the end of the movie than they did at the start of the movie. The school girl victim was the most annoying character ever. I was begging for her to die. The ending was retarded.

The movie was typical Euro movie making: Don't explain anything, just film a bunch of stuff and play it off as being artsy.

It's like these Japanese horror films. They say they don't like American horror films because we have to explain everything and we have to exact revenge on the antagonist. I say, it's lazy screen writing to not provide back-story and a resolution.

Avoid this movie at all cost. If you see it in the store do us all a favor and burn it. No eyes should ever witness the abortion that is Broken. I'd like to spit in the directors' faces for being such hacks and somehow getting a bunch of moronic fans to back their lazy garbage. Go screw.

Broken shows us a man who is systematically putting a stream of young women through graphically horrific trials in isolated woods in order to test their strength. It seems as if he's searching for a woman strong enough live at his side as his partner. And it seems he's aware you need to break someone down before you can rebuild them into something you desire. Clearly, the qualities 'physically and mentally strong' and 'subservant' are at odds with each other. This is something 'the man' has taken in to account, figuring ritual abuse, humiliation and demonstrations that if you try to fight back, you'll pay the price will be enough to mix this oil and water. He's wrong. But then, just perhaps, he always had a back up plan anyway... isn't it always best to change behaviour before it's set in stone?

Grim viewing (possibly difficult if you're not acquainted with fairly extreme horror imagery) and leaves you pondering. This is the best work by a long shot so far to come from the Brand-Mason stable, and perhaps will be the film to 'put them on the map'.

Upside: I enjoyed this movie throughout. The box art always caught my eyes and I do say, break the stitches to see the sight for sore eyes. When I watched the movie, I made a comparison that this movie was a combination of 'Saw' and 'Wolf Creek'. If you have ever heard of 'Stockholm Syndrome', this movie's plot fits its very definition.

Downside: The camera angles are a little strange at times, I wanted to say something like a soap opera. I will also point out that sometimes the lead actor overacts her part, to the point where I laughed. Considering the circumstances at the time and the horror around her, I really should not have even chuckled.

Overall: I gave it a 7/10. I would say watch it, put it in the dusty DVD rack and break it out from occasion to make a few friends lose their lunch. If you cannot handle or understand a grizzly horror film, don't waste your time.

I think you'll find they misspelled the title of this movie. Only a few letters out, but it should've been BOREDOM, because that suits it down to the ground.

It did start off with a nice dark tone, but never went anywhere and budget restrictions can hardly be blamed because there's no problem with the look of the film, it's simply the screenplay that's lacking.

That's about it really, barely worth even a rental as you're not missing anything.

P.S. I'm sure that by now most people are aware that IMDb reviews are a breeding ground for hype from the people involved in the film itself, if not then beware of all the high ratings/reviews a lesser known film receives, especially early on when the film's newly/barely even been released. You have been warned!