Vile

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).

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.

Vile is what indie horror should be. With that said, this is not an amazing movie, but it does the genre right. Indie horror should have an interesting premise, solid gore, passable acting and avoid obvious stupidity. And with the bar set low, Vile easily sails over the bar.

Shockingly, the movie starts with a group of teens getting kidnapped. However the twist is they then finding themselves in a locked house with another group of people who discover they must torture themselves to extract a drug from their brain before they can leave. Interesting premise – check.

The horror is both physical and psychological. Could you torture yourself via burning iron, finger nail pulling etc? What would you do? All good questions, and often the characters come to the same conclusions (eventually) as I may have. When the audience does see gore, it is very tactfully done, looking real, but not over blown. This is not a torture porn movie. Solid gore – check.

The actors are solid, characters are interesting enough, and create some marginally engaging dynamics. Characters have a good balance of screen time, and enough personality to create some realistic group tension. The directing is also solid, although some of the sub plots might have been expanded on more clearly. Acting – check.

The obvious stupidity is questionable. The premise is good, but as the cliché goes, there are enough plot holes to drive a truck through. These lead into an ending that predictably is a letdown. I could not think of an ending that would be much better. The movie just kind of locks itself in. This is common with indie horror, so I mostly gave it a pass. Enjoy the build up, not the pay off.

So there you have it, a solid indie horror movie with lots going for it, but some obvious pit falls that are hard to avoid. Sometimes as a director, to get characters into situations you want them in, you just have to hope an audience overlooks some obvious trucks.

The concept and execution are good, so fans of torture-style movies will be partially satisfied.

Picking up a suspicious-looking stranger at a remote gas station in the middle of the night is not a smart move.

The plot is interesting and more characters means more blood and gore.

People torture and brutalize each other to survive. They even seem to enjoy it.

Instead of finding a way to get out of the house, they prefer to attack each other immediately. The acting is partly convincing. It moves a bit slowly and the overly long dramatic speeches in between drag the pace down. Except for the pregnant one, you don't care much about the others. It is obvious that one of them is involved.

I must say there are some disturbing scenes. The ending is not descriptive and not enough. It should have been better.

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.