Stiletto

Raina (Stana Katic - "Castle", Quantum of Solace)is out for revenge. She takes it in the opening on a former lover (Tom Berenger), who manages to survive only, as he jokes, because of his lifestyle - a big belly! He puts Beck (Paul Sloan) on her tail, but she is hard to catch as she pops up all over the city like Jason, slashing her way through various bad guys, even Tom Sizemore, who imagines himself a player after leaving a group of Nazis who sell crack to teen girls before turning them out.

At the same time, we are seeing Amanda Brooks really do a dance on some others. She & her boyfriend Lee (Michael Biehn - Aliens, The Terminator) have an interesting way of removing tats; some massive gunfights, and lots more deaths.

A good slasher/gangster film.

After watching hundreds of films, you almost know what's going to happen next and often becomes somewhat predictable. Not so with this film. The minute you recognize the main movie star and his acting is par, you can sense the movie is going to be interesting. That's what this film is all about. It was entitled 'The Velvet Spider' 's abroad, but " Stiletto " in America and tells the story of a vengeful female assassin (Stana Katic) who believes some mobsters and their leaders are responsible for her sister's death. However, the main gangster is unaware of her assumptions or her quest, is only concern with the recovery of his two million dollars. Although aware of the assassin, he believes a single cop (Paul Sloan) can stop her, if not his top hit men (Michael Biehn and William Forsythe) in his organization will. The movie is exciting, action-packed and strewed with murder, violence killings and general mayhem. The actors in the cast are superb and very convincing. It's not often a director like Nick Vallelomga and a writer like Paul Sloan are teamed to create a gritty film like this one. ****

I was expecting very little from this, given the low rating here, but found myself pleasantly surprised. This is really a much better film than it's being given credit for. There's a depth of characterisation in the script that you don't find in the average B-movie. The cast, too, are well above average. Most of the actors are past-their-prime Hollywood notables who may not earn the big bucks any more but can still turn in a decent performance.

The action sequences are decent and, for the most part, realistic.

I was surprised to discover that the burly cop was actually the writer of the script.

All in all, this is definitely worth a watch.

I had to write this after reading a few reviews. Especially the guy who says he quit watching after 30 Minutes. What do you want a Oscar performance. This movie is better than a lot of the trash with bigger names in it. This movie is non stop action. Very brutal killings done really well. Even a couple ways I've never seen before and I've seen a lot. I just don't want anyone not to see it due to one idiot. What don't you like revenge flicks? Lack of adventure? Sit back and enjoy something different. So what if the story isn't A-1. The short attention span of most will be consumed with this one. A lot of familiar faces. Check it out. Not for the faint at heart or those with a weak stomach

Main Flaw Low Budget attributing to shortened story telling and cheap cinematography. Knowing Stana Katic was playing lead in this movie i knew that there must be some intelligent attribute to this motion picture, having seen her other efforts previously particularly "Castle" and "Faceless". Both of the former mentioned i recommend. The main flaw of the movie is that it suffers from low budget and short script. Budget is something that can be acquired after-wards if the script demands it but if it doesn't have much potential for a memorable experience for the audience then a high budget cant save the movie. The low budget is evident in the shortened city scape footages and the cheap camera technology used (cheaper in comparison to wild things III, which i think didn't have a decent enough script to be given some very good camera action angles and cinematography and colors). The main attribute that would really appall audiences is the hasty and cheap cinematography. It could be said that Stana Katic's performance is wasted in this movie having seen her in this endeavour she can make a decent action-heroine if not the best, rivaling 'Carrie Anne Moss'. All in all i would not say that it suffer from bad acting as almost all front and lead actor in this movie with the exception of "Stana Katic" and "Paul Sloan" are or were mainstream cinema veterans having starred in well known movies. i also can't say that it suffers from bad script or bad dialogue because it struggles hard not to sound clichéd or contrived , which is an intelligent attribute.

negative: low budget:(true)-1 point hastened storytelling:(true)-1 point bad cinematography(camera-everything):(true)-1 point needed something more:(true)-1 point All leads needed more air - time :(true) -1 point Explanation for the main characters killing skills: (true) -1 point ending needed more:-1 the cover gives a false impression of major motion picture or a high octance good budget action flick within the league of punisher(2004): -1 positive: good acting from all lead actors: +1 not a bad scrpit: +1 good casting:+1 main actor(Stana Katic) good performance:+1 All kills warranted:+1 ending was apt:+1

negative:positive -8:+5 movie:lost whether to watch it : Will be disappointed due to poor cinematography, but won't be by Stana katic's performance, i would recommend instead watching any of her Castle episodes or "Faceless", but then a huntress/killer Stana you'd be deprived of. Watch only if you wanna watch a killer-Stana with a feminine rage and a masculine charisma for killing.