September 15, 2018
Written by: Jeremy Saulnier
Starring: Anton Yelchin, Imogen Poots, Alia Shawkat
Budget: $5,000,000
Quote: "Now Gentlemen and Ladies. Whatever you saw or did... Is no longer my concern. But let's be clear... this won't end well."
Trivia: Patrick Stewart said in an interview that when he finished reading the script at his country home in England, it was so terrifying that he locked up his house, turned on the security system, and poured himself a Scotch. He then knew that he wanted to play the Darcy Banker role because a character that horrifying would be an incredible challenge, and make for a compelling film.
I grew up listening to punk rock so I was very excited when my friend Matt told me about this movie. The plot is simple: A punk rock band witnesses a murder after playing in what they find out is a white supremacists' club. The band is forced to lock themselves in the club's green room and find a way to fight their way out to save their lives. What follows is an extremely bloody and violent struggle for survival. The movie is much more violent than I had originally expected. I was wondering if it was one of those films that is vaguely a horror movie and more of a thriller? Hell no, this movie is straight splatter! Also, it is really well acted. In the band are Pat (Anton Yelchin who played Chekov in the new Stark Trek movies) and Sam (Alia Shakwak who played Maebe in Arrested Development) and the boss villain is played by Sir Patrick Stewart, Mr. Jean Luc-Picard himself who makes a terrifying white supremacist leader. More than just an interesting premise, this film really delivers some great disgusting moments.
The film begins with the band on the road travelling in a van to their next show. Unfortunately, they find out that the cops have closed down the club. Luckily, the show promoter's brother also runs shows... but he has some extreme right views. When the band gets to the club they immediately notice the swastika graffiti and confederate flags. So they decide to "do something stupid" and open the show with a cover of the Dead Kennedy's "Nazi Punks Fuck Off." Awesome! After the show they discover a woman dead with a knife stuck into her head and in a panic they call the police but hangup. For this offense they are locked into the green room with the dead girl, her friend, one of the nazi bouncers, and the other band (whose singer killed the girl). The offending band is let out and the band and the dead girl's friend Amber is are now held at gunpoint by the nazi bouncer. They eventually over power him and a series of mistakes and violent actions ensues.
The boss, Darcy (Patrick Stewart) comes by to clean up the mess hiring a group of red lace skinheads and a dog trainer. First they trick the band into giving up the gun slashing up the bassist's arm until it is shreds of flesh attached to broken bone (they later keep it together with duct tape). Then the club empties out and as they try to escape a dog comes in and tears apart the throat of the singer. The drummer escapes outside only to be stabbed by a dozen angry skinheads. Later, the guitarist is shot dead by the bartender who losses a wrestling match for his shotgun. This leaves only the bassist Chekov and Amber who discover a drug lab beneath the green room. After Darcy sends two more skinheads to kill them, they lure one of them into the drug lab while Amber slits the throat of the other with a box cutter. There is this great moment where we learn that he only has a three or four (I forget the actual number) of shotgun shots left. As he wastes the shots on distractions setup by Amber we get a sense of his imminent death. No shots left, he is able to over power Chekov, who has lost a ton of blood throughout the movie, but is shot execution style by Amber in the back of the head.
This is also where the film really gets great. Now, instead of a survival film, the film becomes a revenge film. The duo skip going to the police or a hospital and instead search for Darcy and the rest of the skinheads. Finding them and killing them all. I don't know what it is about revenge films but they really do give a dark sense of closure. There must be something in us that wants the bloody justice of revenge. Whatever it is, this film offers it.
The film has been critcized for its excessive violence, but the violence really is not gratuitous nor excessive. Instead, it is necessary to build on the survival theme and is a testament to the human spirit and instinct for survival. Also, the filmmakers took care to make sure that the first thirty minutes are spent with just the band doing every day stuff. This allows the characters to grow and become people that we, the viewers, care about. These are not just people stuck in one of Jigsaw's puzzles in the Saw movies, these are the lives of silly young people who reminded me a lot of myself in my early twenties. I remember playing shows for twenty bucks to split between four people or playing shows for beer. I played shows where white supremacists showed up. It was nothing like this, but if you have ever been to Downey in Southern California or Santee on the outskirts of my beloved San Diego, than you'll know what I mean. And if you have never been anywhere around punk rock you can still relate to the carefree attitude of the band.
I absolutely loved the film. It is terrifying and disgusting at moments like any good horror movie. It keeps the heart racing throughout the film as we worry about how will the characters survive. And it gives us a great revenge ending. This is truly one of the better survival films that I have seen in a long time. Great movie! Watch it now! I think it's streaming on Amazon Prime.
...what's your thoughts?
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