Savaged

People rating this movie at a 1-3 have obviously never seen a bad movie. This one is at the very least average. I give a 7 as far as revenge movies go. Could have been better but still very entertaining.

This low-budget supernatural action horror film is proof that you don't need a billion dollars to make a good, enjoyable, and high-end movie - worth watching on the big screen...

I've watched the movie during the "Screamfest" horror film festival in LA, 2013, and although I had no expectations, I was surprised by the quality of the film...

Director Michael S. Ojeda has done beautiful work - with a wonderful little tale of revenge that turns epic, artistic shots and mise-en- scene, which fit perfectly in the slasher-genre, great actor-directing, fluent and precise editing, and excellent special effects...

In my opinion, having done most of the pre-production and post- production work on his own - definitely entitles Ojeda as being a new generation "Auteur-Director"...

The cast was awesome, each and everyone of them, and the producers have done great work - utilizing whatever budget they managed to scrape into making this slasher a great movie...

I usually try not to compare one movie to another in a review. After having seen so many movies it becomes too easy and every review would be a comparison to one or more other movies. With that said, I have to compare this movie to "I Spit On Your Grave" due to the overwhelming similarity. If you've seen "I Spit On Your Grave" then you've seen a much better version of "Avenged." "Avenged" stars Amanda Adrienne playing Zoe, a deaf young lady crossing the country to live with her fiancée. On the road to her final destination she was brutally attacked by a group of raging racists. They thought she was dead until they were facing her wrath.

Who doesn't love a good tale of revenge? There's little better than seeing an oppressed person having the last laugh. We got to see that here but not without some flaws. Where this movie fell short was with making the antagonists so extremely bigoted and ignorant that they attacked and killed with total disregard and not the least bit of fear of the law. I don't doubt that such people exist, but these inbred yokels actually saved souvenirs of their purging the Earth of "squaws" and "Apaches".

Of course I wanted them dead as much as the next guy, but what message is the movie really sending when their undoing comes at the hands of a wronged white woman? Not one of the many Native Indians assailed by this band of bigots could have exacted revenge? Were their deaths not worthy of a merciless vengeance?

To further emphasize or garner more sympathy for Zoe's plight, she was deaf and she was engaged to a Black man. So, we witnessed a troop of trash viciously assault a pretty, young, white woman that was also handicapped. How evil must you be? And her engagement to a man of color allowed us to hear the visceral hate they had towards Blacks as they maliciously called her beloved the "N" word. As if to convey: if you didn't think they were insanely racist before when they were killing Native Indians, listen to how much they hate Black people.

Even with these exaggerations I enjoyed the movie. Amanda Adrienne did an excellent job. She played a deaf person so well I had to look her up to find out if she really was deaf. Even the method in which she spoke when she tried to speak was that of a deaf person. I can appreciate a movie being bold enough to star a deaf character. It's rare, it's risky and it worked.

Story wise you're not going to get anything too exceptional, though the "touch" (or twist if you want to call it that), might be appealing to some. Other than that, you do have a lot of criticism, if you want to look at it that way, about America in general. Which is a bold move, considering that is the market this is supposed to make money in that country.

On the other hand, it's obvious that it tries to leave old thinking behind and is about tolerating. The whole "native" revenge thing is convoluted though, not that you'd expect a movie like this to make much sense anyway. The effects are pretty decent for a movie with a budget limitation as this one had.

Even ideas that were used and used can still make a small impact if executed correctly. Exactly the case with "Savaged" where you'll see some bad effects sometimes, or better say cheap ones, a plot that was used before a few number of times, but you will also see heart, a director that wanted to make a good movie, actors that were happy to play their role, all of these resulting into a good B horror.

It has some elements from "Contracted", some from "Freakdog" or maybe "The crow", anyway it was a fun ride, especially that they decided to limit the torture screen of the girl and show more of her vengeance. Maybe it lasted a tad bit more than it should have, but probably wanted to offer some deepness to it all.

So all in all, "Savaged" is an OK movie for many horror fans out there, not limited to one exact category, which is a good thing. So whoever you are and whatever your tastes are, you should give this one a try. Especially for those looking for a nice indie movie!