Pain

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.

Vile is what indie horror should be. With that said, this is not an amazing movie, but it does the genre right. Indie horror should have an interesting premise, solid gore, passable acting and avoid obvious stupidity. And with the bar set low, Vile easily sails over the bar.

Shockingly, the movie starts with a group of teens getting kidnapped. However the twist is they then finding themselves in a locked house with another group of people who discover they must torture themselves to extract a drug from their brain before they can leave. Interesting premise – check.

The horror is both physical and psychological. Could you torture yourself via burning iron, finger nail pulling etc? What would you do? All good questions, and often the characters come to the same conclusions (eventually) as I may have. When the audience does see gore, it is very tactfully done, looking real, but not over blown. This is not a torture porn movie. Solid gore – check.

The actors are solid, characters are interesting enough, and create some marginally engaging dynamics. Characters have a good balance of screen time, and enough personality to create some realistic group tension. The directing is also solid, although some of the sub plots might have been expanded on more clearly. Acting – check.

The obvious stupidity is questionable. The premise is good, but as the cliché goes, there are enough plot holes to drive a truck through. These lead into an ending that predictably is a letdown. I could not think of an ending that would be much better. The movie just kind of locks itself in. This is common with indie horror, so I mostly gave it a pass. Enjoy the build up, not the pay off.

So there you have it, a solid indie horror movie with lots going for it, but some obvious pit falls that are hard to avoid. Sometimes as a director, to get characters into situations you want them in, you just have to hope an audience overlooks some obvious trucks.

As a rare reviewer on IMDb I only decided to comment on this after reading the rather negative posts from others. It ain't half bad - yes there are Saw/Hostel comparisons and it fits rather aptly into the "torture-porn" genre. It seems as though the production staff are fairly new to the game and I don't think they deserve the kind of criticism handed to them by the other (two, at the time of writing) reviews seen here.

Without giving anything away, it's a solid, tense first hour with questionable (but believable, considering the circumstances, and assuming you have an open mind) character development that would have benefited from a less ambitious attempt at a dramatic conclusion and something that's worth a watch for fans of the genre.

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.

Taylor Sheridan, director of 'Vile', has gone on to make some absolutely sensational films in the last few years including one of 2017's best 'Wind River'. So when I saw that he had actually started out his career with a horror film, and a gruesome looking one at that, I knew I had to see it. It's safe to say he hadn't quite perfected his art just yet, however there are certainly glimpses of what his potential was. He didn't write it, so it's hard to say just how much of an impact he had on 'Vile'. And while it's hard to argue that there are a lot of flaws in this movie, there are also some real positives to it.

The negatives lie mostly in the writing. The whole concept is a rather bizarre one and takes a massive suspension of belief to get your head around. The characters feel like they simply accept the situation they're in far too easily. Also the dialogue ranges greatly throughout the film from really charming and natural, to unbearable campy and unrealistic. There were two writers of this film so that could have had something to do with it.

The positives are basically the concept. It allows so much freedom for the story to flow and for the audience to be shocked. Every character needing to be tortured by their fellow characters. It's a writers dream. There are some unbearable scenes in this film to watch. I have a pretty high tolerance level and even so found myself turning away at certain moments. This isn't a must-see film by any means, however if you do find yourself with the opportunity to watch it you're probably going to have a decent time (perhaps switch your brain off at the start would be my advice).