It’s 9:19 am
Ever walk around a video store,yard sale,library and catch a movie you know either nothing about or maybe read a paragraph on a website? One of my favorite horror films,”Decoys”,was discovered based the work an actress did on another movie.
So when I saw a used copy months later and saw the title,I took a chance and bought it. Who knew it would turn into one of my favorite films in my collection? Simply by random chance….
Vendetta is such a film. Now I know the history of this movie,it was produced by WWE Studios as a vehicle for Paul “Big Show” Wight. The WWE (World Wrestling Entertainment) has created films for its stars as a way to extend their brand and for the most part,they have done pretty well for themselves. Of course,some films have just died a horrible death as not every wrestler is not a actor….
WWE made a great choice in signing Jen and Sylvia Soska to direct several of their films. The Soska Sisters have made a name for themselves by not only directing good horror movies on small budgets but by also refusing to be pigeon holed by Hollywood standards. Their film,American Mary,is considered to be a new classic in horror and definitely have made them rock stars…
Vendetta is their first non-horror film and the second film they directed for WWE,the first being “See No Evil 2” which is blood soaked homage to 80’s horror.
Dean Cain ( Hit The Floor) stars as Mason Danvers,a good cop with a loving wife and a loyal partner who are hunting down the Abbott brothers,Victor (Wight) and Griffin.
After a shoot-out,Danvers and his partner,Joel,capture the brothers but because of a witness who goes “missing”,the Abbott brothers are allowed to walk.
Seeking revenge,the Abbott’s kill Danver’s pregnant wife. Danvers gets to his home too late to save his wife and is forced to arrest Victor despite wanting to kill him.
Mason Danvers wants his justice and he’ll do anything to get it….including getting himself in to the jail his wife’s killer is at.
I’ll be honest,I wasn’t expecting much from a worn out plot like this but I was pleasantly surprised at Justin Shady’s script. This is one of Dean Cain’s best acting roles I have seen him in,the Soska Sisters really helped him elevate his talent in what could have been by the numbers “cop in jail” movie.
Cain bravely embraces what Mason goes through after his losing his wife,he is no knight in shining armor,he is a broken man and he wants Victor Abbott to see just what he has unleashed.
Wight does a fine job as well,he has a good screen presence and I would love to see him do a comedy,I think he would really surprise a lot of people.
Not to say this is a perfect film,it isn’t and there is a major plot hole that in real life would have derailed this story right from the get-go.
Michael Ecklund plays a corrupt warden who has watched Gary Oldman in the “The Fifth Element” far too much,comes across as cheesy and corny instead of oozing the menace his role demands.
The Soska Sisters have produced a winner here and makes one eager to see what they could do with a major studio with a real budget. But as we wait for that,they are preparing to return to their horror roots by helming “Rabid 2” which will be their biggest challenge yet in following in the steps of David Cronenberg.
Rumor has it that a cheetah will be featured in this one…..
We give this one a huge thumbs/paws up.
Feel free to drop a comment below and if you are a film maker and would like to be considered for a review,email us at mp_sullivan02@yahoo.com.
Follow me at @Jinzo_2400 on Twitter.
The Inner Circle 
Sounds like a good flick – the kind I like anyway. Interesting that the movie can still be good even with a glaring plot hole.
The fun is actually seeing if other people can find the hole as well….thank you for dropping by!
That looks interesting and I’ve never seen Dean Cain in a serious role or look that bad lol
He did a film with Denzel Washington called “Out Of Time” where he played a good heavy. He has good range,just needs the scripts to showcase it.