Victim

...the content is pretty horrific, but you can't look away. I knew very little about this film going into it, and I think that's the best way to approach it. So I won't tell you too many details. It's better if you find it all out for yourself.

I will tell you that I don't consider this to be a "good film" because I necessarily enjoyed watching it. In fact, it was almost painful. "Victim" is probably one of the most vicious films I've ever seen. But there's something about it, so much purpose in its cruelty, that I believe it was well worth watching.

I will also tell you who this movie isn't for. First off, gore-hounds might be disappointed with it unless they're armed with the right information going in: There is definite violence, but this isn't Hostel. Although, I have to say I was surprised (impressed, actually) that a movie could be this dark and sadistic without excessive gore. So people who are into dark films in general will probably get a kick out of it. On that same note, this film is not for the faint of heart. It throws some pretty hefty stuff at you.

All that being said, like I mentioned previously, this is a film that is disturbing, but effective. And I believe it is most effective if you don't know the details going in--but prepare yourself for something quite a bit out of the ordinary. My vote is: take a chance with this movie. If you don't like it, you don't have to complete it. But especially for those of us who love a good detour into the dark side of Psychology, "Victim" is a well-made (and very thought-provoking) way to spend a couple hours.

A young man (Stephen Weigand) finds himself held captive by a mysterious doctor (Bob Bancroft) and his brutish henchman (Brendan Kelly).

The opening scene uses the POV camera that, frankly, never works in any film and comes across just as annoying here. Luckily, it is brief. And even more luckily, it never really comes back. (The opening is referenced later, but it is less obnoxious.)

This film has aspects of "Human Centipede", or really any mad scientist movie. Like "Centipede", the doctor has an unwilling victim whom he wishes to transform into something superior. I would dare say the centipede is more disturbing, but the transformation here is more drastic. (I cannot actually say what it is without giving away the plot, but I will say once you catch on the film gets a lot more interesting.)

Overall, I give this a modest recommendation. Certainly not among the best films out there, but it is well produced and the acting is above average (the mad doctor is spot on). If you have other things to see, see them first... but this is better than you might expect.

It is a low budget, badly acted, poorly executed movie. The plot is good copied somewhat from a french novel , which in 2011 adapted by Great spanish director Pedro Almodovar. Watch The Skin I live in if you have not seen. If you have already seen it, then don't watch it because there is nothing new here.

The entire plot is ridiculous and funny. It's a good movie to watch if you have a sense of humor and like the horror genre. Anybody else will probably think it's trash.

I wasn't sure what this would be truly "about" going into it (though I had read the other reviews and so I knew some of it). My advice if you happen to see this review first is this: If you like tense, sadistic psychological puzzles in which you get to see someone so thoroughly played with that their sense of self is utterly obliterated and replaced and you are open to seeing normally taboo subjects displayed on screen, then you might be well advised to stop reading reviews here and now before any of them give too much of it away, and just go watch the thing. What there is to give away is revealed in the first 30-40 minutes or so, but it would be so much more effective if you weren't quite expecting it. :-)

That said, I really enjoyed this movie. There were a few scenes where the quality of the acting degraded a bit, but I could more than excuse them for the tension and intrigue the film manages to string you along with the whole time. The truth about what's going on and why it's going on becomes easy to figure out about 20 minutes or so from the end, and I'm not going to reveal a thing about it to you.

It is a bit slow-paced in some ways, not a lot of blood and gore, but certainly tense and filled with mind-games. Also a few nicely-laced red herrings here and there to make you think one thing when you find out another is true, and the ending manages to satisfy by not being quite what you'd want or expect it to be. :-)

I'll definitely be watching this one again at some point. Two thumbs up. :-)