Sede de Vingança

I liked this movie. Though its not a brilliant movie that blows your mind away, this still is a good watch. Its not the usual revenge flick with lotsa action and nothing more. This movie had originality in showing the revenge seeked by a husband whose wife got murdered by criminals because she was a witness of murders in a desert. I liked the way our hero was not shown as a superman who just walks and throws people away as if they were pieces of rough paper. This man is a normal guy who is scared of criminals but still wants revenge. He gets defeated by the villain quite a few number of times, but still does not give up. Realizing he can't win over them by just using guns and trying to kill them, he hatches a plan to seek revenge. And boy, what a method it was !! This movie really has one of the best climax in recent times. And the last scene is one of the most original scene I have seen in a long long time. Of course you know what would happen in the end but still you would like to watch it. Definitely recommended !!!

I feel I should start the review by saying whether I had previously read the Stephen King short story before watching this movie. As a matter of fact, I had. I didn't find it one of his better stories, namely because the story early on reveals exactly what the protagonist is planning, and subsequently does it. No surprises or twists. The screenplay for this movie does fix this, not revealing what the protagonist is planning until it happens (though there are a few hints along the way.) However, the screenplay does still have some flaws. It runs too long, a pitfall many movies adapted from short stories have. There are many scenes with Dolan that don't seem necessary. And there are some plot holes, like how the protagonist got Dolan's cell phone number.

Another flaw is with Slater. He tries REALLY hard, enough that he deserves an "A" for effort. But he's still the last person you'd imagine to be a gangster. Had someone older and more weathered been in his role, I think the movie would have worked better.

Still, there is some merit to be found. The production values are really good - this is one shot-in-Canada movie that actually manages to make you think it was shot in the United States. And the last half hour of the movie is very good, tense and gripping. If you can't find a better movie, and have the patience to sit through a so-so first hour for a really good last half hour, then I would recommend this movie.

Robinson (Wes Bentley) and his wife Elizabeth (Emmanuelle Vaugier) are fellow school teachers. Elizabeth is horse riding in the desert and runs across human traffickers. The fans in the truck broke down killing some of the girls. Elizabeth witnesses gangster pimp Jimmy Dolan (Christian Slater) killing the drivers and one girl trying to escape. She rides away but loses her phone. The couple reports it to the police but he is uninterested in the illegals. They go home to find one of the dead girls in their bed and they go to the FBI. She's committed to testifying but is killed in a car bomb. Robinson falls into a deep depression and then aims to take revenge. Meanwhile Dolan is disagreeing on payment with the Snakeheads.

Christian Slater is chewing up the screen. He is a good bad guy. Wes Bentley has crazy eyes. He looks like he's permanently tense. It doesn't allow him to change his character's feelings and the character goes through a lot of changes. It's one of the big problems. The other problem is the general lack of production value. I assume it's due to a lower budget and won't fault the movie for it. It has the basis of a good psychological thriller but Wes is not able to deliver it completely.

A creepy tale of revenge belonging to a Stephen King's original short story from Nightmares and Dreamscapes, which was inspired by Edgar Allan Poe's The Cask of Amontillado. This better than average sinister movie to come from a King short novel centering around the hero's tenuous grip on reality . Dealing with Elizabeth (Emmanuelle Vaugier) who's happily married to loving husband Robinson (Wes Bentley) . While horse riding through the desert one evening, she witnesses the execution of two coyotes and an illegal immigrant by the human trafficker Jimmy Dolan (Christian Slater) and decides to report the incident to the police. She gets a promise of protection by police chief (Al Sapienza) if she testifies against him . Then she is targeted by Dolan for knowing too much. Robinson thinks Dolan is too powerful and well connected to be stopped , so he takes justice on his own hands. Later on , the young husband attempts to seek to avenge his wife's death after she is murdered by the Las Vegas mobster. For him and his mission to make him pay for what he has done in the most terrible way possible.

More a thriller than an all-out terror , this picture packs tension , suspense , violence , exploitation and amazing conclusion .Bases on a Stephen King's story , the horror writer extraordinaire , he's a prolific writer , here dealing with a short tale set in Las Vegas, in which school teachers Robinson and his wife Elizabeth are trying for a baby , but things go wrong when she's killed . King has a library load of books to his credit and a fan base of fanatic's eager to purchase any piece that pours from his platinum pen . Quite obviously many of his books have inspired movie adaptations, however surprisingly the transformation from page to cinema has not always been a successful one. Scanning a list of films based on King's work which features about 120 writing credits , there is a mixture of masterpieces and others mediocre , flops or stinkers . On the one hand we have horror classics like Carrie, The Shinning, Misery and The Mist . And on the other hand , B-movies , blowouts or failures films such as Thinner, Maximum Overdrive, The Tommyknockers, Dreamcatcher , Running Man and The Langoliers. And Hollywood keeps buying up the rights to more of Stephen King's stories other directors could take . Casting is frankly decent, originally schemed to be played by Sylvester Stallone , in ¨Dolan's Cadillac¨ stands out Christian Slater as a Vegas crime lord who deals in human trafficking. After a shipment of girls goes wrong, he ends up killing half his cargo in the desert. Slater's scoundrel Dolan is the essential centre of the film, equal parts spitting out provoking soliloquies in Shakespearian style as well as sharp suited sleaziness and easily as swear words . While Wes Bentley is acceptable as teacher Robinson who's driven by vengeance and desperate for retribution, as Robinson spirals into madness consumed by his hatred and Wes does a solid job creating a character both sympathetic and slightly insane at the same time. And Emmanuelle Vaugier is nice as the beautiful wife who is witness an unceremonious execution resulting in fateful consequences.

The motion picture was professionally shot by director Jeff Beesley, who learnt his trade making TV shows, spinning a stylish and sisnister yarn with a surprising climax .Jeff Beesley is one of Canada's most exciting young filmmakers. With his unique cinematic vision, Jeff has achieved International acclaim for his body of work. His productions have screened at some of the world's most prestigious festivals and have won dozens of awards. Rating : 6/10 . Chilling climax this film offers something different with a good cast and a solid script which will have you absorbed from start to finish.

The harmless school teacher Robinson (Bentley) seeks revenge on a cold and greedy crook (Slater) who had his wife killed. The plot is familiar, the details of the revenge rather ingenious.

This is actually a rather solid and effective chiller, based on Stephen King's memorable short story. Instead of adding countless new themes in an effort to show the audience that they are not "merely" making a horror flick, the filmmakers have added scenes that actually foreshadow and strengthen the ending.

This hardly classifies it as a classic, but I found surprisingly little to gripe about and actually one or two additions that I found impressive. Christian Slater seems to be enjoying his part without turning it into camp and Besley manages to convey some real human emotions without seeming to reach for the Oscars. In this sort of (short) movie, restraint is just as important as ideas, seeing as how countless thrillers just go overboard on a desperate quest for "impact".

The cinematography and sound engineering stand up to scrutiny and the minor parts are well executed. In short, this one works.