Revenge

Directed by Christopher Lewis, low-budget horror Revenge is the sequel to shot-on-video movie Blood Cult (1985), a film that I haven't seen, and which I now have no real desire to see.

Patrick Wayne, son of John, slums it as Michael Hogan, who returns to his home-town to investigate the death of his brother. Teaming up with widow Gracie Moore (Bennie Lee McGowan), he uncovers the existence of a murderous cult (led by ageing horror icon John Carradine) who worship the dog-god Caninus, and who are collecting body parts of their victims for use in a ritual that will resurrect their deity.

Protracted scenes of deathly dull dialogue make up the bulk of this 100-minute crap-fest, and remaining conscious throughout proves a challenge. Lewis tries to inject some excitement into proceedings with a mysterious motorcyclist intimidating Gracie by racing his bike and popping wheelies outside her farmhouse, but these scenes are poorly handled and go on for far too long. There are also a few ineptly orchestrated deaths designed to keep the viewer from nodding off: a farmer gets a hatchet in his forehead, a girl steps in a bear trap and has her leg cut off, a woman is burnt to death by supernatural means, and a girl in a jacuzzi is repeatedly stabbed and then decapitated. Unfortunately, the kills aren't that graphic, and what gore there is is cheap and unconvincing.

Kudos to anyone who makes it to the WTF? ending without having caught a few z's along the way.

2.5/10, generously rounded up to 3 for IMDb.

I gave this movie a 2 simply because the acting (aside from 2 women who make a brief appearance, only to be killed) was not as bad as i had expected. Dont get me wrong - it was cheesy - and many times the actors stumble over their lines - but i expected worse from this movie. As far as the "plot" goes, well, you will be sadly disappointed. Murder is the name of the game in this movie - senseless mass murder - as a cult attempts to resurrect the founding member to take over the world. Horribly done, but a must see for those who love the "b" movies!

The original "Blood Cult" has a certain appeal to it that the sequel lacks, though the films are nearly the same in quality. First of all, in "BC" I was amused by the innovation of using a Betacam to shoot an entire film. This is just a plain old low-budget horror film.

"Revenge" is not entirely without merit, though. There are certain bright spots, like the death scene in the jacuzzi where the water turns red from all the blood. I think part of the problem lies in the screenplay. The story was written by Joe Vance (an actor from the first film), but the screenplay was by Christopher Lewis, the director. Lewis has admitted that horror is not his favorite genre, so the film seems to have an identity crisis, trying to choose whether it wants to be a slasher flick or a "Columbo"-type mystery.

The acting is worse too. Most of the good actors--like Joseph Hardt, Bennie Lee McGowan and Charles Ellis (in a brief appearance)--were brought back from the original film. The rest are horrible. John Carradine is given next-to-top billing just to grab people's attention. First of all, he's only in the film for about 6 minutes, and second of all, he sleeps through those 6 minutes. What is legendary actor John Carradine doing in a low-budget, direct-to-video horror flick? Beats me. I guess senility caught up to him in the later years of life. Unfortunately, great veteran actors don't always leave this world having made a great films for their final appearances. That surely wasn't the case with Rod Steiger, and several others. The film's main error was the casting of Patrick Wayne in the lead role. They say the apple doesn't fall far from the tree, but that may have not been the case with him. His father, as I was baffled to discover, is screen legend John Wayne. Yes, The Duke himself. Patrick Wayne is an utter stoneface, not showing a hint of emotion from start to finish. I expect these kinds of performances from actors in direct-to-video horror movies, but not from The Duke's son. Supposedly, he's a veteran actor as well, having been in many westerns, including the hit "Young Guns." Well, hopefully if I decide to check out those films, I'll be oddly surprised.

Overall, "Revenge" is mildly watchable and not an utter disaster, but if you're searching for a rental this shouldn't be at the top of your list.

My score: 5 (out of 10)

I have seen worse movies than Revenge. If you are seriously into B grade films, don't miss this one. Some of the scenes are only shot in one long take and listening to the "actors" stumble on their lines is priceless. The gore is not bad either, the special effects are nothing ground breaking but at the same time, the blood scenes have an erie effect. The acting is dismal but it's entertaining (it's-so-bad-it's-funny) and if you enjoy low production values, whacked out plot lines and the ocasional splash of blood, you should pick over the nearest post-rental bargin bin. That's where I found my copy.

Sure, with my fascination and love of the horror genre, then of course I opted to sit down and watch the 1985 movie "Revenge", without ever having heard about it. I had the opportunity to watch it here in 2024, and of course I did so. I didn't know what I was in for, but the movie's cover was actually interesting enough. But I was expecting a certain level of 1980s cheese and campy horror clichés.

Granted, I haven't watched the 1985 movie "Blood Cult", to which "Revenge" is a direct sequel. So I don't know how much I was missing out on in terms of being able to fully understand or appreciate the narrative and storyline in this sequel, which was released just year after its predecessor.

The storyline in the movie was a bit all over the place; one minute it was a slasher movie, the next it was a supernatural slasher, and then a psychological thriller. It felt like writer and director Christopher Lewis didn't really know where to go with the story, nor how to really construct a red thread in the narrative. Watching "Revenge" felt like it was pieced together by numerous small independent shots that Christopher Lewis had filmed, and then attempted to fuse them together and make a cohesive narrative from it.

Of the entire cast ensemble in the movie, I was only familiar with Patrick Wayne and John Carradine. Despite the fact that the movie's script and storyline was a dumpster fire, then the acting performances were actually fair.

This 1985 horror movie from writer and director Christopher Lewis was a swing and a miss. It was a pretty weak horror experience, and the movie is highly forgettable. This is definitely not a movie that I would recommend to horror fans. Nor is it a movie that I will ever sit down and watch a second time, as it was a struggle enough to sit through the boredom the first time around.

"Revenge" is a mid-1980s horror movie that should remain shelved and collecting dust. Not really worth spending a staggering, and boring, 100 minutes on watching.

My rating of "Revenge" lands on a two out of ten stars.