Deadly Virtues: Love.Honour.Obey.

Deadly Virtues: Love.Honour.Obey. With a title like that I should have see it coming. But nevertheless I still watched the movie. My bad though, because honestly there are tons of better movies then this one. It starts promising, where you have the feeling it might become a good thriller, but piece by piece as the story unfolds you realize you're going nowhere with this story. It's just an unrealistic and quite boring movie. The actors are not that bad, neither are they future Oscar winners, but with a story like that you can't just have a good movie. It's just impossible. I think they tries to create some sexual tension, but it's just a failure. The end is also a completely letdown. Too ridiculous for words in fact. I wished I didn't waste my time with this one.

I started watching this with the expectation of being creeped out and disgusted by one character and by the end of it my whole perception had changed. Definitely some very sexually and emotionally intense moments. Overall a really good watch.

Haneke would have a field day with this. He actually already had one - it's called Funny Games. Either the original version or the remake will do. And while this adds "eroticism" and bondage to the mix, it just never works. The movie is out to shock and tell a story about a bad man, trying to send mixed messages too. Shouldn't you obey if someone holds you hostage? Should go with the flow? All this could be interesting things to explore and if you're being nice to the movie, you sort of see them in this too.

Those are just a few of the things that could make this even more uneasy to watch! As if the torture and the general humiliation wasn't enough you might ask - the problem with that is that it just never actually makes a point in the end. Especially the ending which sort of alienates the viewer even more (Freedom can be different things and there are layers to that too, none of them explored here, not to mention the reveal and explaining it does with the very last seconds of its running time ... unnecessary)

The story is dull and doesn't make any sense. There is no suspense and characters make absolutely no sense

Ate De Jong brings Mark Rogers' story of fetish, and horror to life in dark, visceral , sometimes uncomfortable intensity. Normally I pass on films that I consider torture porn, or at least I bail on the film once I get that impression. I am glad that I did not check out on "Deadly Virtues" because it is definitely a tight, methodical nightmare that pushes one to experience that taboo in the horror genre, the eroticism of sexual nightmares. Much like "Straw Dogs (the remake)", this movie goes into those areas and exploits those darker subjects.

"Deadly Virtues" doesn't completely nail it, there are moments that play out almost like cliché of the erotic horror subgenre. At times the energy falters, and certain moments that could have really pushed the horror over the edge are only mediocre. That being said, the characters are developed more than you usually see in these sorts of stories, the subtext is deep and dark, and the acting is captivating enough to cause you to built a very intense connection with the characters. Plus the ending is one that I didn't quite see coming, made me angry until the ending finally played out- an ending that is well worth setting through the sexual overture that runs through "Deadly Virtues", and that sense of discomfort in seeing some of the scenes play out.

Overall, "Deadly Virtues" is worth watching on so many levels. I enjoyed being pushed into less comfortable forays of "what is horror" and "what is erotic". Rogers story balances it nicely and De Jong brings it to scream wonderfully. The special effects are practical, even though they are limited and not a big focal point of the movie. The real focal point of "Deadly Virtues" comes from actually watching the film, experiencing this situation through the eyes of these tragic characters, and that ending. This is one of the better, more elevated torture-porn, exploitation, and modern cult films I have seen in a while.