The Unforgiving

Given the current genre of Horror movies out there i watched this movie with out any lofty expectations and almost purely based on the reviews of the many others who seemed to have a favorable opinion of it. Add the fact that the budget used to make this film was minuscule and i truly felt that i was about to be hoodwinked. Not at all. I was locked in from beginning to end and was very pleasantly surprised. Definitely one of the more suspenseful horror movies i have seen in a while. Now having said that, this is the kind of movie that requires your full attention and while the movie provides enough interest to captivate most viewers, I admit i had to watch it again after seeing the ending. I did so without hesitation though because it was an enjoyable enough of a movie to do so. I don't know anything about making films but i would think something has to be said about a director and a cast that can make such a decent film with so little. Easily worth watching!

The first half an hour of the film feels like a SAW rip off, but the film shoots off in a very different and exciting direction in the second act. The film uses a very novel way of telling the victims' stories, and this keeps you engaged as it builds to a bloody climax. The film uses the idea that the audience thinks they are watching a SAW or HOSTEL and flips those expectations on its head.

The film is inspiring to see what you can get away with on a very limited budget, and I'm not talking about Hollywood limited budget, I'm talking about bare knuckle, no budget filmmaking.

The film won't win any Oscars, but I am interested to see what these guys can do given even a B Grade straight to DVD American Budget.

The cinematography is very original and the editing is outstanding. The script could be a little more original but the actors cover the flaws in the script with decent performances.

Two survivors of a brutal attack by a masked man are interrogated by a police detective, the survivors both tell their account of grisly events more shocking than anyone could've imagined.

Unlike with other films that I'll just simply buy I decided to rent THE UNFORGIVING before buying it, this being a South African production shot on a shoe string budget I had to find out first whether or not this film was a professional job or did it look like it was shot with a cell phone camera.

When it got started I was pleasantly surprised by how well the film actually looked, the storyline itself immediately established the mood, set up the tone and maintained a steady pace throughout, it even at times came off as a SAW rip off but at a certain stage it started turning the whole concept on its head and went towards a more intriguing and exciting direction and at latter stages it seemed to merely reference SAW but it never at any time felt like a rip off.

The acting was very good considering this is practically a first time cast, the actors all did a very good job for them to be considered for future projects.

Also unlike both SAW and HOSTEL its not an all out gore fest, its actually pretty tame in the gore department, its more content with the plot than with gore but I can honestly say the climax is pretty intense.

Overall, THE UNFORGIVING can stand tall alongside SAW and HOSTEL as one of the best known films of its genre.

I have no what the budget of this film was but I'm guessing it's pretty darn low. A pity this was completely ignored on its theatrical run out here considering it's an okay-ish little suspenser. It's not really a horror film - at no point is the film ever truly disturbing and this, essentially, is my main problem with it.

I think it was marketed as a balls out gore to the wall horror film and it just isn't. You can't compare something done on this budgetary level to something like a "saw" or a HOSTEL. The characters are very underwritten, the dialogue pretty dodgy containing way too many clichés for my taste, some of the performances are a bit flat and there just isn't any real gore.

If you're out to make a gore film you have to show the gore - you can't just splash blood in someone's face, grade the $hit out of your picture (overdone in my humble opinion) and use way too many closeups to the point of the viewer saying - okay so where the %uck are we? If you have a needle - show it going in - don't imply it. You're marketing the film as an all out bloodbath but then all you're doing is teasing the audience.

The editing is tricksy and needn't be so. The script is tired and somewhat cliché ridden - we've seen it all before with more money and done better, but, and this is a big BUT, for a South African film this is leaps and bounds ahead of most of the crap that litters our screens.

At least these kids tried to make a halfway decent movie. At least they've produced something very flawed but also watchable at the same time and they deserve a tip of the hat for that. Well done for taking the time and at least trying to make a good movie guys...and for that they deserve a solid six out of ten at least.

Long live South African genre films may there be many more to come! Long live the new flesh!

If you can find this movie you have to watch it. I was lucky enough to watch it on the cinema and I can tell you I was really impressed.

This is a great example of no budget filmmaking. I would love to see these guys working on bigger films - I think they would really kick some ass!

This movie was made for no money, but the filmmakers use this to their advantage. Using cleverly created scenes where you see everything in Close-up- Alastair Orr creates a sense of confusion and disorientation, with a narrative that tosses between different points of views and times. You never really know what is going on until the end, where it all comes together very nicely. This is a gem of a little film - even if the gem is painted black.