VANish

well i am fan of Danny Trejo Machete, From Dusk Till Dawn, Dead in Tombstone, a lot more i love with his movies. reason i watched this movie i love R Rated bloody, shooting, chopping, lots of swearing, Mexican style cartels witch i really like my type of movies there was not much to say and watch again for second time because the movie didn't do much i love gore but trouble is i know Danny trejo is not main character for movie i like him as villain but i just didn't like characters and camera what they filmed looked terrible the way it's shot plot is easy made like director is out of ideas what's to write quick story OK i like quick story i have no problem with it but this movie has noting to do with Taken or Gunman films.

story follows is that girl named Emma (Maiara Walsh)was girl got kidnapped and forced to go at a road trip similar story like from dusk till dawn when George Conney taken family as hostage to go to Mexico but in this film you have 3 guys jack (Austin Abke), Max (Bryan Bockbrader), Shane (Adam Guthrie)were driving to met Carlos (Danny Trejo) was cartel was her father. in very half way of movie it's all about 3 guys and 1 girl in van driving like million miles these 3 characters were just idiots specially 3rd guy Shane when he had plan to escape Emma to find shotgun, then Max find out later about plan Shane kills him and leaves him the scene was very graphic scene i have ever saw very well made for low budget with blood with good work on it. thing is Shane turned against Emma because Shane has a blackout there was scene when Emma blows Shane head with double barrel shotgun to his head witch had very great action it and dialog when Shane said i got Axe Emma I GOT SHOTGUN BANG ! ending shooting scene was noting to it i thought another characters were boring specially jack was just jerk first of all he turned into bad guy to good guy ? come on i wish that was Danny trejo no problem with him as villain but him as good would not be that bad just way it ended like noting 4.10 noting special good gore bloody weren't that much CGI it is very low budget movie. there is Alternate Ending of movie i am not sure of on blu ray

there was a lot of gore high impact violence i love it that way it had less impact violence the movie didn't had much of action it had more of crime, thriller type of thing when you don't have much Action in movie. Danny trejo doesn't show up like almost to end of movie just shots sub machine gun at end movie went for 98 minutes long that's it i expect more then that for main role for trejo apart using him as villain i thought main actress Maiara Walsh wasn't too bad but i expect someone else Mexican actress i had no problem with actress and Danny trejo doesn't appear from ending of movie witch is just poor made for him to be in mostly for 1 hour of movie it's 3 idiots and Emma is hostage OK but eh this movie is noting special 4.10

I had fun with this movie. It wasn't high art but I really enjoyed the characters and their interplay. That was the best part really, I just liked listening to them talk to each other, but it was enough to keep me watching through the first half, and then I was just curious enough to finish it. The challenge they set themselves of only filming in and from the van was interesting. And the lead actress was very charismatic and beautiful, reminds me a tiny bit of Kate Siegel. Also always grateful to get to spend any time with Tony Todd or Danny Trejo.

It's definitely worth a watch.

What hooked me in was that they had Danny Trejo's mug on the poster (which by the way I think is one of the better indie posters I've seen in a long time). Now, I always come in with very low expectations when it comes to a Danny Trejo film as he's in every single film you can imagine so his quality control is scant. Having said that, I thoroughly enjoyed this film. It surprised me on how entertaining it was having only been shot entirely in a van! The director Bryan Bockbrader highlights this very well, using the tight space and passenger POV to claustrophobic effect. His performance as the sadistic half-brother to the film's protagonist played by Austin Abke is equally effective in its own right. Performances were solid overall with what may possibly be a career-turning role for Maiara Walsh as the acerbic and witty abductee of the brother's scheme to rip off her formidable, drug lord father: the one, the only, Danny Trejo. Tony Todd's brief but memorable cameo was especially exciting to see as well as new comer Adam Guthrie as the junk fiend, ex-military buddy along for the ride. Though maybe not an awards contender, VANish is a fun, fast-paced thrill ride that is sure to entertain even Trejo skeptics like me.

An independent/low budget movie that does deliver mostly. The story is nicely told and the action is nicely shot as well (there will be blood at times, so you can't be too squeamish about it). Don't expect to see too much of Danny Trejo though. I think he's doing a lot of movies, where he just has a small role (like in this one).

But the movie works well, especially the twists and turns along the way (no pun intended). There are a couple of different endings to this which normally isn't the best sign, but I think the ending that made it into the movie is the best one. It almost couldn't have ended any other way (even if it did and you can watch those scenes on your disk)

After a month and bit of watching purely Oscar nominated films it always takes a bit of getting used to, and is somewhat of a relief, delving back into standard action-thrillers. 'VANish' is obviously a long way from being Oscar material but it's still pretty good. The dialogue actually holds together really well for the most part and the story moves at a good pace. In fact the pace really does move along at supersonic speed. The film doesn't even reach 80 minutes but they could easily have panned it out to 90 if they'd wanted to with needless extra scenes and irrelevant dialogue (or heaven forbid an opening title sequence). Bravo to them for being happy with the runtime and not insulting the viewer.

"Girl Power" seems to be a large part of what director Bryan Bockbrader has gone for here and it works. Almost every male in the movie is a complete moron and the one and only female is a calm and competent woman who rules over them all (even when her hands are tied behind her back). That's not to say there's nothing for men to enjoy - there's more blood, guts and gore than your average thriller, that's for sure. Maiara Walsh did a very good job in the lead role and her acting seems to have taken a step in the right direction since I last saw her in 'Desperate Housewives'. All in all a nice surprise.