Brutal

(2007) Brutal HORROR

Co-produced, written and directed by Ethan Wiley directing another conventional straight-to-rental serial killer film occurring on a very small town that holds two deputies on it's district, and the murders which has something to do with flowers being planted on it's victims with their hearts taken out. When at the same time Jeffrey Combs as Sheriff Jimmy tries to make attempts to devoid the situation altogether, since he's trying to elect himself to a bigger and better position as D. A.!

Low budget and unique with obvious acting and budget problems, but it's nice to see well known baddie and bald actor, Michael Berryman, who stands out the most of the lunatic characters in Wes Craven's original of "The Hills Have Eyes" playing a good guy role "once" in awhile as he plays Leroy whose autistic, and who manages dogs for missing people!

This movie is promoted on the DVD cover as "Hostel Meets The Silence of The Lambs"....all I can say is.... that is a stretch of proportionate means, however, it holds your interest due to its campiness. It would've been better had the movies taglines matched its content. The female deputy detects clues that a elementary school kid could've figured out.

Alfred Hitchcock once said a viewer must develop empathy with the characters to care about what happens to them. When watching this movie, you know who's next and you really don't care.

But, while the movie leaves a lot to be desired, I think the makers must've realized, one hopes, the lemon that they were handed and attempted to turn it into lemonade, but without the sugar. Think campy when/if you watch and its like watching Fargo over and over again. At first you're horrified, then all you can do is laugh. Don't expect it to be clever and you won't be so disappointed.

This is a real stinker.

For some reason I thought this was actually going to be a real movie. It was within the top 30 pre-leases on Amazon for the week it came out AND it starred one of my all time favorite actors- Jeffrey Coombs.

I had hopes. Hopes that were dashed against a stone within the first five minutes. Jeffrey and the villain had marginally believable characters, but just about everyone else made Denise Richards look like Laurence Oliver. They were just horrible. And not very pretty either. It wasn't like they sacrificed acting ability for looks. I've seen a LOT of bad acting- community theater, Troma movies, high school productions. This ranks below just about all of it.

Like the other reviewer stated, this is definitely an F movie.

The story is a joke as well, although you're so busy being amazed by how bad the acting is, it's hard to scrutinize the plot that closely.

On a happier note, this movie helped me to realize how good most of the stuff I watch is. After this, I'm much more appreciative of actors and their craft. Most actors, that is. Definitely not these.

As far as my fondness for Jeffrey Coombs goes... it's still pretty far up there, but not quite as high as it was.

I cant say that this movie is "good". its not. But i have a good moment watching it, its fast paced and a good no-brainier horror thriller. So it deserves a 6/10. The concept of suspension of disbelief its taking to a new level here, almost everything the characters made is ridiculous. The acting is not bad, the lead chick is hot, not in a bimbo kind of way, more in a "i want to marry her" way... and you have Berryman and Jeffrey Combs for the same price. This would be much better with more blood, gore and nudity, its too "PG 13" for a DTDVD flick, this could be a minor classic if done by ittembach or Timo Rose, but its not that bad for a Saturday afternoon.. Ultra-tippergore ranking 6/10 (generous)

"Brutal" is actually a prequel for "Blackwater Valley Exorcism",which I haven't seen.It tells the story of several attractive and usually whorish young women,kidnapped and messily killed with various tools and implements including hedge clippers.This trashy and unmemorable horror flick has Jeffrey Combs as the sheriff and Michael Berryman as the autistic dog breeder.The film is pretty gory,but the killings are not really shocking and the victims are incredibly annoying.The killer is bland and comes across as wimp.The climax isn't half bad,however I'm still not very satisfied by the whole proceeding.Fibonacci sequences as a plot device is a strange choice.Overall,if you are a fan of Combs or Berryman give "Brutal" a look.