Vile

Another cash-in in the wake of the success of the "Saw" movies. But that is not necessarily a bad thing. "Vile" turned out to be an adequate movie, actually, and it did have some pretty interesting scenes and moments that will have you curling your toes.

So was the movie vile, as the title claims? Hardly, but it was a good movie in itself, and a good jab at this particular torture movie genre. But compared to the "Saw" movies, then it is fairly tame.

The story in "Vile" is about a group of young people who get kidnapped and end up in a strange house where they are trapped along with another group of people. To get out of the house, they need to torture each other (or themselves) in order to collect some chemical that is released in the brain. They have to collect enough of this chemical to reach 100% before they are released.

I will say that the movie concept was interesting and well enough executed. It really helped the movie that there was a good amount of rather gruesome scenes of mutilation and torture. So there was even something to please us gore-hounds. But again, next to the inventive ways of mutilation and mayhem seen in the "Saw" movies, then "Vile" was like water in comparison.

As for the acting in the movie, well it was alright, but nothing groundbreaking or outstanding. Most of the characters tended to be generic and not really stand out from one another. The movie could have spent a bit more time on fleshing out the various characters, as to give the viewer some insight into whom was whom and what their personalities were. But then again, on the other hand, with this type of movie, the characters are merely just fodder for the grinder, so having generic characters is acceptable.

If you enjoy bloody movies that are violent and doesn't need to have a deeper and more meaningful storyline, then "Vile" might be right up your alley. I found it enjoyable because it was so simple, yet brutal in itself.

Without revealing anything of the ending of the movie, then I found it to be a rather lame and unrealistic ending to it. It was just downright insulting to end the movie that way for us who sat through it and hoped for something better at the end.

A group of people are abducted and trapped in a house. No one knows why they're there, not even after watching a video by the person who set it all up. All it tells them is that in order to get out they must suffer pain.

Monitors have been surgically implanted in the backs of their heads that measure the chemicals released by their brains. This leads to drastic action and lots of bloody violence.

Admittedly, the setup sounds familiar. Movies like SAW come immediately to mind. However, the motive behind the torture is different, and this movie lacks SAW's nifty devices. As with many such films, the characters are mostly unlikeable, though the acting is above average.

The most unrealistic aspect of VILE is just how quickly these supposedly normal, everyday people adapt to being body mutilators! It's also surprising just how boring it all gets at times. Rather than being terrifying / disturbing, It's pretty tedious, and the implementation of the torment is pretty mundane: A hot iron, boiling water, a screwdriver, etc.

This is torture for torture's sake with a halfhearted "twist" at the end...

On the surface, the plot of this movie would seem like another lame piece of junk written by some dumb teenager who doesn't have a clue about anything. Many comparisons have been made to Saw and other torture movies, but really, it's not the same kind of thing at all. But make no mistake, this is not for the squeamish, it is quite gruesome. But it is not gruesome for gruesome's sake. Many of the gory parts are implied rather than shown, which I think is done so you can connect to the story rather than the gore. The acting and directing have done an outstanding job to pull off what I think is a great success in what could have been a dismal failure, given the plot. There are also a couple nice twists at the end to give it a bit more credibility.

It held me captivated because it wasn't just predictable guff. If Big Brother was more like this, maybe I would have watched it.

God have I seen a lot of such movies! Good, bad, worse and so on! Down to a grade that barely deserves mentioning, so yeah, I had my share of torture porn movies!

So would I recommend "Vile"? Sure! Motives? Well: acting was overall satisfying, the torture methods were far more natural and humane in this one, as people would rather do, not those sick things you get to see in movies that have no idea how to impress without relying on gore/nudity/stupidity, the plot works OK, the ending is very likable and some other reasons you'll find while watching.

Indeed, I was skeptic at first, really doubtful actually, but as time passed, I found myself quite involved in "Vile", as I wanted to see more, to see where its heading and what the finale brings. And overall my friends, I was entertained!

Therefore, "Vile", not your standard torture porn movie, not your usual portmanteau film, but something more natural, more close to the human nature! So, check it out, I think it will work for you as well as it did for me.

Two couples regret picking up a cougar hitchhiker after she knocks them out and they come to in the basement of a locked down house with some others. These others show them a video that explains that the only way out is through torturing one and other. The timer starts counting down and it's down to business.

Further testament to the (sometimes sad) fact that I'll watch just about anything on Instant Netflix, this film has a threadbare plot, even for a torture porn film. That would almost be excusable if it bought anything new to the table, it doesn't. The characters never seem real, the violence never reacher the caliber of Saw, much less Hostile. And before too long the whole thing grows very tedious.