Vile

As a rare reviewer on IMDb I only decided to comment on this after reading the rather negative posts from others. It ain't half bad - yes there are Saw/Hostel comparisons and it fits rather aptly into the "torture-porn" genre. It seems as though the production staff are fairly new to the game and I don't think they deserve the kind of criticism handed to them by the other (two, at the time of writing) reviews seen here.

Without giving anything away, it's a solid, tense first hour with questionable (but believable, considering the circumstances, and assuming you have an open mind) character development that would have benefited from a less ambitious attempt at a dramatic conclusion and something that's worth a watch for fans of the genre.

God have I seen a lot of such movies! Good, bad, worse and so on! Down to a grade that barely deserves mentioning, so yeah, I had my share of torture porn movies!

So would I recommend "Vile"? Sure! Motives? Well: acting was overall satisfying, the torture methods were far more natural and humane in this one, as people would rather do, not those sick things you get to see in movies that have no idea how to impress without relying on gore/nudity/stupidity, the plot works OK, the ending is very likable and some other reasons you'll find while watching.

Indeed, I was skeptic at first, really doubtful actually, but as time passed, I found myself quite involved in "Vile", as I wanted to see more, to see where its heading and what the finale brings. And overall my friends, I was entertained!

Therefore, "Vile", not your standard torture porn movie, not your usual portmanteau film, but something more natural, more close to the human nature! So, check it out, I think it will work for you as well as it did for me.

Taylor Sheridan, director of 'Vile', has gone on to make some absolutely sensational films in the last few years including one of 2017's best 'Wind River'. So when I saw that he had actually started out his career with a horror film, and a gruesome looking one at that, I knew I had to see it. It's safe to say he hadn't quite perfected his art just yet, however there are certainly glimpses of what his potential was. He didn't write it, so it's hard to say just how much of an impact he had on 'Vile'. And while it's hard to argue that there are a lot of flaws in this movie, there are also some real positives to it.

The negatives lie mostly in the writing. The whole concept is a rather bizarre one and takes a massive suspension of belief to get your head around. The characters feel like they simply accept the situation they're in far too easily. Also the dialogue ranges greatly throughout the film from really charming and natural, to unbearable campy and unrealistic. There were two writers of this film so that could have had something to do with it.

The positives are basically the concept. It allows so much freedom for the story to flow and for the audience to be shocked. Every character needing to be tortured by their fellow characters. It's a writers dream. There are some unbearable scenes in this film to watch. I have a pretty high tolerance level and even so found myself turning away at certain moments. This isn't a must-see film by any means, however if you do find yourself with the opportunity to watch it you're probably going to have a decent time (perhaps switch your brain off at the start would be my advice).

A group of people are abducted and trapped in a house. No one knows why they're there, not even after watching a video by the person who set it all up. All it tells them is that in order to get out they must suffer pain.

Monitors have been surgically implanted in the backs of their heads that measure the chemicals released by their brains. This leads to drastic action and lots of bloody violence.

Admittedly, the setup sounds familiar. Movies like SAW come immediately to mind. However, the motive behind the torture is different, and this movie lacks SAW's nifty devices. As with many such films, the characters are mostly unlikeable, though the acting is above average.

The most unrealistic aspect of VILE is just how quickly these supposedly normal, everyday people adapt to being body mutilators! It's also surprising just how boring it all gets at times. Rather than being terrifying / disturbing, It's pretty tedious, and the implementation of the torment is pretty mundane: A hot iron, boiling water, a screwdriver, etc.

This is torture for torture's sake with a halfhearted "twist" at the end...

Another cash-in in the wake of the success of the "Saw" movies. But that is not necessarily a bad thing. "Vile" turned out to be an adequate movie, actually, and it did have some pretty interesting scenes and moments that will have you curling your toes.

So was the movie vile, as the title claims? Hardly, but it was a good movie in itself, and a good jab at this particular torture movie genre. But compared to the "Saw" movies, then it is fairly tame.

The story in "Vile" is about a group of young people who get kidnapped and end up in a strange house where they are trapped along with another group of people. To get out of the house, they need to torture each other (or themselves) in order to collect some chemical that is released in the brain. They have to collect enough of this chemical to reach 100% before they are released.

I will say that the movie concept was interesting and well enough executed. It really helped the movie that there was a good amount of rather gruesome scenes of mutilation and torture. So there was even something to please us gore-hounds. But again, next to the inventive ways of mutilation and mayhem seen in the "Saw" movies, then "Vile" was like water in comparison.

As for the acting in the movie, well it was alright, but nothing groundbreaking or outstanding. Most of the characters tended to be generic and not really stand out from one another. The movie could have spent a bit more time on fleshing out the various characters, as to give the viewer some insight into whom was whom and what their personalities were. But then again, on the other hand, with this type of movie, the characters are merely just fodder for the grinder, so having generic characters is acceptable.

If you enjoy bloody movies that are violent and doesn't need to have a deeper and more meaningful storyline, then "Vile" might be right up your alley. I found it enjoyable because it was so simple, yet brutal in itself.

Without revealing anything of the ending of the movie, then I found it to be a rather lame and unrealistic ending to it. It was just downright insulting to end the movie that way for us who sat through it and hoped for something better at the end.