troywhigham The premise isn't anything new: warriors held in captivity and forced to fight for their lives with the victor promised freedom for victory. The Romans did this with their gladiators, and every gladiator movie since then has followed the same basic concept: fight or die.But what makes this movie different isn't that it takes place in an underground prison compound with the fights broadcast on closed-circuit TV for the enjoyment of wealthy elite, or that the women are all beautiful and capable fighters, or that the dungeon masters are cold, heartless, masochists with a twisted dream of empowerment. No, what sets this movie apart is that the characters forced to fight are relatable, meaning that you've known women just like this at some point in your life. You have known women who have: (a) been in an abusive relationship, (b) helped support her mother and father during tough times, (c) was a college athlete and started a small business in the fitness field, (d) was a single-parent mother who joined the military in a non-combat role just to support her daughter, (e) took classes at a gym and got into the lifestyle, (f) took a boring mainstream job to pay the bills and put her dreams on hold, and/or (g) suffered PTSD. You form an emotional bond with each girl thrown into the pit. You feel empathy for their situation. This isn't MMA with referees and time-outs. This is your sister, your cousin, your girlfriend forced into a brutal situation that tests her physically, psychologically, and emotionally. That horror is what sells this movie.Zoe Bell carries this movie in much the same way that Bruce Lee carried "Enter The Dragon". It is her character that becomes the focal point, even though the first female character to whom we're introduced and with whom we bond is simply used to clarify the conflict within the hero's psyche. This change-up will leave you reeling like a punch-drunk boxer, and the hits just keep coming after that. Every girl that fights has her own story, and you can't help but feel sorry for each one as they're forced to fight, even when they're mentally and physically broken. The casting was well done, and the actresses are credible in their roles, though I consider "Phoebe" to be the most poorly developed (and overly acted) of the group. Considering that most of the cast are relatively unknown (other than Bell and Soldana) the acting is impressive. How Bruce Thomas hasn't landed a role as Brian Cranston's brother is beyond me - he looks eerily similar and turns in a very credible performance.The ending is pretty definitive as to making this a stand-alone film, but that's not to rule out the potential of a sequel, and one that really needs to be done. Once you've watched the film and have recovered from the gut-punch, you'll want to watch it again. I'd love to see this story continued, but with a stronger social statement attached to lift it out of the "exploitation" stigma.
Clockwork-Avacado The subject matter of this prison/cage fighting movie is pure exploitation, and it is marketed as such rather adroitly. However, by the time the first fight scene has concluded, there is little in the way of cheap thrills to be had from this sort of thing, and instead, we're presented with the kind of gritty brutality that only comes along in indy, low-budget concept pieces like this, from Josh Waller, directing his feature film debut with a lot of grass-roots style and a panache that is all the more skillful in its' lack of show-off techniques. Instead, we're given a very raw, lean piece of work which focuses on violence, rather on well-crafted fight scenes, despite the presence of a well-choreographed team of stunt performers, fronted by one of the most physically talented stuntwomen in the business, Zoe Bell.There is little time devoted to navel-gazing, and yet the characterisation does sometimes feel a little on the clunky side, although it is doubtful that its' absence would provide us with anything better. Without it, there would be fight after fight, followed by scenes of painful silence, and the full horror of the situation. Whilst the teary eyed drama makes a precarious balance with the blood and guts of the fight scenes, perhaps the most impressive feature here is the sense of hopelessness which is created. Hopeful, this movie isn't, and in many ways, it's an adult, and female, version of "Lord of the Flies", only with a more artificially constructed set up. The idea here, is that by fighting, killing and surviving, the survivor of this ordeal will become somehow awakened, enlightened, and open themselves up to a wider world of awareness. That this idea is set up by a bunch of mad-eyed religious fanatics strains credibility, although the contrast between opulent upper class, and filthy stone-walled dungeons is nothing new, yet remains valid. The ending tells us, quite simply, that this is a load of rubbish, and, rather than being designed for this purpose, the idea of nobility through killing, of a "Napoleon" complex, is a myth, and that killing actually provides nothing but thrills for the rich, and that, for the survivor, no matter how tough she is, they will always be stronger. Contrived? Perhaps. But the drama is played out convincingly, and the power of the hellish fight scenes is arguably as anti-stereotypical as anything seen in films. There are not a series of carefully contrived, well-scripted and erotically filmed scenes of rolling around and grunting. This is brutal, survival of the fittest stuff, and the edginess of the movie's central dilemma – kill to save your loved ones, or do nothing and let them die – is well utilised. The tagline; "No man could handle this" is well put; This scenario with a male cast would scarcely feature the same level of horror, and uneasiness, and the reversion to savagery would be far less of a shock.Acting is generally nothing special, but then, the real drama of this situation comes not from the script, or the over-embellishment of certain of the actresses, but in the heat of the fight sequences, in the minute reactions, in the bursting of the welled up emotions and fears, and in sharing that feeling. It's a film not so much about the journey of its characters, or their own personal features, but rather, about seeing how you would react in this situation yourself; in short, it is a film which speaks directly to the audience, with a well-shaped hell of anti-humanity. Throughout the entire ninety minutes, the feeling of impending doom, of inner pain, and futile hopelessness, as relationships build feebly, only to be broken down again minutes later, or as they realise just how little they can actually do.Which is why, in the truest sense of the word, this is a horror film, about the horrors of being faced with that most primal of dramas. And be sure that this isn't just a bad excuse for trotting out some more niche genre fare; You will feel every punch, and every angry exhalation, and realise that fights are basically just someone pummelling bits of their body against bits of someone else's, in the hope that they'll break before you do, and that death isn't administered with a quick twist, or a carefully placed blow. It takes time, and it isn't exciting, or cool. It's actually the worst thing that you can imagine. Even the climactic fight scene, when Sabrina takes on the films supposed "villain" – i.e, the one who's enjoying it all – is deliberately restrained, rather than being played out for drama. Every kind of painful situation is played, and it is when the film is at its' most explicitly brutal, that it becomes the most emotionally painful. Hey, look. Someone has made violence in horror movies scary again. And all it took was a small, dedicated cast of women, and a director with a strong vision, and sense of purpose.
