Ferocious - Ruhm hat seinen Preis

The role Kim Coates has been dying to play, I'm sure. Another bad guy. Joke. But seriously, this isn't the regular bad guy. Coates plays someone much more sinister than usual and he clearly has fun with it. The plot has the lead character (Amanda Crew) return to where she was born to see her parents. She's a famous actress and is doing a hometown appearance. The media is all over her. She plays for the camera. She's good at it. But later, she heads to a night club. She's looking for something and we have to guess what it is. It must be important, or why would she go there. I'll confess that I saw it coming a mile away, but there are enough twists to hold my interest. Some of the dialogue stuck out and bothered me. But other than that, I enjoyed the movie. It's small, with only a few characters. But I like that sort of thing. Where everyone has to use their wits to survive. Directed with appropriate tension and good acting.

Kim Coates gives a two-for-one stellar performance in the film. Amanda Crew is terrific too, as is Michael Eklund. I found the screenplay well written and very well delivered, making for a relatively fast 93 minutes -- a fine fulfillment of the thriller's vision. Director Robert Cuffley's treatment of the story's monitor-and-mirror motif, definitely 'dark' in tone (much of the film is set in a dimly lit nightclub, after hours) becomes very big on the big screen; if we are paying attention, we recognize this 'monitor' as a mirror (and that any mirror can itself be a "mirage," as much as a monitor can). And to me an upclose- and-personal look at this reflection of archetypical truth, contextualized in clever and at times comical narrative, worth an evening's and a few dollars' investment.

Ferocious is a thriller that takes place in a night club. Not while it's open, but closed. Amanda Crew is back in town (she plays the lead character) to get something back she forgot. Turns out, it's a video tape. Have I seen this before? Yes and no. Despite this having elements from previous films, it plays out in a unique enough way to have kept me interested. There are not a lot of actors in it. Everything is sparse. But that's probably how it should be. Michael Eklund is in it. He's an employee of the bar. He's good (last saw him in The Call). But the real stand out is Kim Coates from Son's of Anarchy. He's so slimy you slide off your chair just watching him. What a good actor. I'm glad they let him have fun with it rather than being just an everyday bad guy. He's fun to watch. I give the movie a 6.5. But since IMDb doesn't let me vote in half number increments, I'll give it a 6. No, a 7

I'm a fan of thrillers that take place in one place. Cube, Buried, movies lake that. This is mostly similar as it takes place in a bar in a small town. Lee (Amanda Crew) comes home to where she grew up and has to get something sorted out from before she was a famous actress. She's a TV star. That takes her to the bar where Kim Coats works. Kim Coats is Dennis Hopper good. Could watch this guy all day. It's a creeper pot boiler. Pacing wise, I get what the director was trying to do by pacing it slow. That's a cool thing. BUT, sometimes it's a bit too slow. Matbe a result of lack of budget? I don't know. Could have used a bit more gore. But Kim Coats as the baddie is a no lose scenario.

Leigh is an actress. A famous one by the looks of it. But she still finds time for the fans and to return home. But things are never so perfectly laid out.

Darker tones come into play as we learn there may be an ulterior motive in her return home. I'll stop there, but as you can guess, things go wrong, both for her and everyone she comes into contact with. In a way, this is very timely. But sometimes it also feels like it's been done. Not saying it has been done, but that it felt like it had. Ferocious has a small cast and not much of a budget. But there's bang for their buck. Kim Coates steals the show. He's creepy as all get out. The other actors are good too, though I don't know any of them. I'll give it a 6. It's not incredible, but it's better than most thrillers which are increasingly paint by numbers.