Raze

It is really good. Unfortunately a lot of people seem to watch it with the completely wrong ideas about it in their head. This movie is not about empowered women and it doesn't make any political statements. It shows how women from different walks of life act when thrown into an impossible situation. For this the organization who kidnaps them chose women who know how to fight or else the whole setup wouldn't make much sense. But it is not like your regular 90 minutes martial arts flick. There is nothing heroic about it. The directing, the lighting, the soundtrack - that's all closer to what you see in horror movies and they way they went about making this film reminded me a little bit of Saw.

I gave it 7/10. The acting is damn good and the general mood of the movie is dark. The fighting isn't glorified and flashy like in your regular action movie where male fighters have to fight in a to-the-death tournament. It is extreme, unpretty and direct. If they had given the story a little bit more room for getting into the surroundings and the organization who's holding the fights I'd probably have given it an 8. A few things were to compressed in my opinion.

This was a great action/horror flick with excellent acting and many touching scenes as well as some gruesome ones. The characters bring you inside them and you feel the psychological torture that precedes the physical one. Each fight scene is unique and the dialogue is superbly crafted. You can feel the female touch in the making of this movie as the actors are not presented as titillation but as human beings undergoing the most extreme situation. I wish there was more elaboration on the purpose of the cult. It reminded me a bit of the atmosphere of Martyrs, bringing that sense of intrigue and shock. I would definitely see a sequel.

On the down side a somewhat well worn storyline of people suddenly waking up in some undisclosed secure location and have to fight or kill follow abductees to find freedom. Has been done in many manifestations before. Nothing new here; same cameras with our hidden captor at first known only through their voice. Typical cage fighting - martial arts or whatever one can come up with for fighting. Back story, also done before, of wealthy audience being entertained throughout as inmates fight-for-life. Overacting, bad person roles especially; thus, not too believable. Ending scenes came across as even less believable and therefore viewer engaging.

On the up side, follow up with the slightly similar "The Seasoning House".

My quick rating - 6,0/10. A different look on the women behind bars story. These women are held captive and forced to fight to the death in an underground "dungeon"? That is what it looked like. Very brutal and quite depressing movie showing the violent side of the fighting coupled with the bonds this women create before they must face the inevitable if they win. They will have to fight each other. Pretty decent acting for the very limited budget. Didn't know who Zoe Bell was before (the main character) but she did a good job. Also to note, a very good ending that may or may not leave the door open for a sequel. Fighting scenes are not for the squemmish but beyond that, nice diamond in the unheard of rough.

Not a bad film. It's different, pretty brutal and bloody so if that's your thing, check it out.

My only complaints about it are that we didn't get enough info on the reasons why. There is a brief explanation but I would've liked elaboration and a better look at who the members of this society really were.

I'm on the fence about the ending. Some will love it. Some will hate it. I just don't know which group I fit into yet.

I say check it out. It's found a place amongst my "So Glad I Gave It A Chance" films.