Sudden Fury

Big shot Hollywood producers take a pencil and a notebook, because this ultra-cheap and sadly obscure 70s exploitation thriller succeeds - almost effortlessly - where practically 99% of all nowadays attempts fail miserably. I'm talking about sheer and genuine tension from start to finish, a simple but original and compelling plot, unpredictable and shocking story twists, being horrific without the use of a single special effect, etc. "Sudden Fury" honestly deserves to be wider known, or is at least entitled to an immortal cult status, as it truly was one of the most engaging viewing experiences I've had in the past couple of years.

Never heard about writer/director Brian Damude before, but he surely deserves utmost respect and credit for his screenplay that continuously sets you on the wrong foot. At the very beginning of the film, you automatically sympathize with lead character Fred, because he finds out that his wife Janet is unfaithful and lying to his face. Shortly after, when the two of them are driving along the godforsaken roads of rural Ontario, it becomes abundantly clear that Fred is a naive dreamer, an entrepreneurial failure, and an ill-tempered brute! When they get into a car accident that seriously injures Janet, Fred thinks up a series of diabolical schemes that even turn him into a genuine psychopath! One of the sliest and most loathsome psychopaths ever, in fact! I really don't want to reveal everything that happens next, but rest assured Brian Damude still has many nasty, courageous and startling surprises in store. Also, the ending may feel unnatural and unsatisfying at first, but it's actually quite brilliant.

Of course, one could righteously state that films like "Sudden Fury" have badly dated. These days everybody has mobile phones and reliable GPS-systems (although they probably wouldn't find a signal on these backwoods roads), but seen in its mid-70s frame, it's a nightmarish thriller. The film makes excellent use of the awesome remote filming locations, and there's a good old-fashioned moody country-soundtrack. The performances are terrific all around, but I simply must put Dominic Hogan in the spotlights for his role as Fred. Unfortunately, he died shortly after the release of "Sudden Fury", and Brian Damude incomprehensibly also never made another movie after this hidden treasure.

This is a perfect example on how well a movie can be made with few characters and limited amount of budget at hand! It's really how amazing that they have had an estimated production budget of just CA$115000 and came up with this beautiful Canadian baby.

Right off the bat the director establishes the dynamics between our main leads(Fred and Janet) and tension starts to build slowly while they were on their way to a friend's house. On their way, while Janet was asleep Fred decides take a different route via a small countryside where people live apart at least 10-20 miles from each other. When Fred brings up the discussion on his future business plans, Janet disagrees with his request which leads an angry Fred while trying to get to his wife Janet, gets out of his car and steps in front of another fast moving one (driven by our third main lead named Al) having a near death experience. Later how these 3 characters meet under dire circumstances and what happens to them along the way constitutes the basic premise of this movie.

Talking about the visual imagery, this movie has got some great natural background settings which helps with our mood and our brain coming to terms with the fact that if anything were to happen to our main leads there's no one around to know on what exactly happened. And coming to one of our main leads Fred, his character is designed in such a way that he's really sharp and quick about his thoughts and actions. At times his actions seem to be dumb and we get the feeling that "Why did he have to do that!?" but trust me, he's miles ahead when compared to us when put in those situations that he's in. Though I was not rooting for him, I was really eager to find out what his next steps are going to be and how he's going to escape from those situations.

And here comes the best part of the movie, THE ENDING!! I mean, based on how the movie progressed you'll expect what the ending is going to be, but NO!, the director surprises us by having an ending which is close to reality and it looked so satisfying for me when compared to all the possible ordinary endings that I had in my mind during my watch. God! 70s period is like the rebirth of cinema, where people were so brave and not afraid to experiment.

Gay Rowan was a very good actress, I liked her in the TV show, The Starlost, with Keir Dullea. She seems to have stopped acting around 1984. Ms. Rowan gives a stellar performance in this film as the mistreated wife. This film is suspenseful all the way, and never gets boring. The farmers wife, played by Hollis Mclaren is an absolute hottie. Big on action, paranoia, and diabolical lunacy. Well made for a low budget film from the mid 1970's. The husband played by Dominic Hogan is a complete nut job. The costumes in the film are so 1970's they need to make a comeback. Hogans three piece suit is great. Though not a masterpiece, I give this an 8 out of 10.

Brian Damude wrote and directed this highly entertaining low-budget thriller shot on a very slender budget and using a number of personnel from Ontario's Ryerson University. Dominic Hogan,Gay Rowan,Dan Hennessey, Hollis McLaren and David Yorston star in this tale of a married couple whose weekend drive in the country takes a serious detour into bloody madness and murder.Very suspenseful and skilfully directed exploitation gem with several suspenseful scenes set in Canadian wilderness.The soundtrack is excellent and the acting is very good.A must-see,if you liked "Trapped","Death Weekend","Shoot" or "Wolf Lake".8 out of 10.

This is a very well made movie with the exception of there being too many improbabilities to be believable. The tension is remarkable but a little over done which can cause the movie to drag in places. The introduction of the characters is very well done and the evolution of the antagonist is totally believable. At first the protagonist is thought to be the wife of the antagonist but that switches as the movie develops. This is when the improbabilities start to pile up and continue to do so until it becomes a little too hard to believe. It is the main reason the ending of the movies is so unsatisfying and leaves one hoping that there is a Part Two as another reviewer mentioned. Over all I would recommend this movie but not if you are looking for an escape from a tough life, this is not a good choice in that case.