The Woman (2011) Horror

The Woman (2011) - THIS REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS ABOUT PLOT POINTS IN THE FILM!!! Evil is a word brandished about in the horror genre, to describe any number of things, devil cults, serial killers, demons, vengeful ghosts and Satan himself. Even though there are none of these supernatural elements in the film "The Woman" it is no doubt about evil. It is the evil that man does to his fellow being that is on display here. The evil he persecutes on his family and those you would think a man considered loved ones. The Woman is less about the Woman of the title and more about the man who comes to possess her. It is a film about a particularly evil man and how he imposes his will on those around him.
At he introduction of this man, Chris Cleek (Sean Bridgers) we see him as a mild mannered husband hanging out at a cookout with the neighbors. Still there are some signs that things are not quite what they seem. Director Lucky McKee makes a point to show him standing on a porch high enough that he can scan the yard. High enough to see his family, to know who they are interacting with. We also get a look into his families reaction to him. The teenaged daughter Peggy ( Lauren Ashley Carter) is caution in even seeming to talk to a boy who is showing interest. She looks over her shoulder knowing her father is watching. When he sees his son shooting free throws at a basketball hoop his interaction is not one of encouragement but more of pressuring the son to practice towards perfection. Later at home he is established as the controlling douche bag he is. So we think we have an idea of who he is but evil? That will be confirmed as this film continues.
   When we first see The Woman (Pollyanna McIntosh) she is wounded and stumbling to a stream to wash her wound. We see this montage like fever dream that may be letting us know her origin as a woman raised by wolves. She is definitely feral with what looks like the remains of a tent for clothing. It is a stylish introduction that is nonverbal but effective.  It may have been that she had a baby that was taken by wolves and that is why she kills one. It was a bit confusing but the ending leads to believing that there is a motherhood hole she needs to fill.
  A couple days after this she is spied by the hunting Chris Cleek as she washes herself in the stream. Her breasts exposed or at least in Chris's imagination they are he gets an idea that will change the world he has created. The music in this scene is a bit too on the nose as he watches her walk away. Still it forecasts the coming events.
 He captures the woman and takes her back to his root cellar where he strings her up a shackled captive. This does not make her helpless as he learns when he lets his hand get a bit too close to her. In a wonderfully performed scene we see that The Woman has some power in this relationship that has been forced upon her. It is a real stark reality for Chris to meet a woman he can't dominate. He has the upper hand, well at least most of it, but he will never truly control this woman.
There is a dynamic in this film that is perfectly structured. The women who are part of civilized society are dominated by the men. Chris over his wife and daughters, his taking advantage, financially of a neighbor who comes to him in business, the boys teasing a little girl at the cookout. We have society's nurture relationships of all showing the dominance of men over women. Chris is the front man in this, a misogynist prick who rules with an iron fist and only sees women as weaker beings to be used and abused as he sees fit. He represents the male perception of superiority in society. The Woman is nature, the wild woman, the being who without societies molds is as potent and powerful as any man. She represents what women are without the structures of society imposed on them.

 No one in his family will challenge him they are all too afraid. It is not just that he must have dominance there is also a sexual element to Chris that creeps into the way he looks at the woman. Like the imagining of her breasts as she washed in the stream. You can tell he is not really thinking about how to civilize this woman. He is a much sicker man than originally thought and every revelation makes the audience wonder how far can it go. Sure the proper foreshadowing of his deviance was in place early in the film but when we get to the middle of the film we realize he is a truly evil person. Lucky McKee does a fine job in presenting this family as well rounded but lets the audience see the cracks that run through its foundations. When he brings his entire family into the cellar and shows them the Woman he talks about how they owe it to her to civilize her. There is no questioning of him in this scene, no one says maybe they should call the cops. Everyone in the room who is old enough to understand knew he intention with the woman was to a a fuck toy and not to help her in any way. In fact in the privacy of the bedroom his mouse wife Belle, excellently played by Angela Bettis, asks the simple question "Should we really be doing this?" His response of hitting her hard across the face without a word is all you need to know about his absolute power in this family. This is such a complex set of circumstances for this character. Rewatching the scene where he is checking in with his older daughter is sooo much more creepy when you realize that he has imprgnated her. The way his wife hovers behind him obviously nervous for her.

 When we see Chris go out in the night to use The Woman's strung up body, while is wife lays awake knowing where he is. While The Woman sheds a single tear during her rape. It is a horrible thing that Belle is letting her husband do what he wants to the woman. She also knows though that by doing so she is also protecting her family, if his abuse is focused on the stranger in the cellar than it is not focused on the family members. 
  Adding to the disturbing look at this fucked up family is how the father seems to be grooming his son Brian (Zach Rand) to be a misogynist as well. We see the boy who is acting out like his father and instead of a firm hand the father makes it clear in his belittling of the women in the family that a mans place is the dominant one and the boy will stand at his right hand in running the family. When Brian takes a turn at abusing the bound Woman and is caught things really come to a head in the family. With all the abused and craziness that Belle has been subject to the straw that gets her to stand up is that her son may become like his father. She confronts the boy and then his father saying that the behavior is sick. Finally confronting him does not really work out as she planned and as her unconscious body lays on the kitchen floor the doorbell rings. Peggy's Teacher, Genevieve Raton (Carlee Baker) arrives right at this moment to reveal her suspicions that Peggy is pregnant and offer her help.It is also an interesting choice to have the attractive possibly lesbian teacher be the only proactive woman in the society that we see.
  These final scenes where Chris goes over the edge and attacks the teacher are incredibly harsh. He obvious can't come back from this and as an audience member who cares if he does. The women in their desperation to help Raton finally get to fighting back. In the gory and violent ending we finally get to see the Woman respond to male aggression with arms free. We learn just want was meant when the word "anophthalmia" was bantered about earlier in the film. We see the oppressive male structure not be able to handle to wild nature of the Woman in what was a very satisfying ending. This was never intended to be a feel good movie so if you are looking for truly happy endings this is not the film for you. Nor is it the film for those who hate to see violence towards women. It does treat its characters honestly and they behave to the character traits they were given no matter how disturbing that is to the viewer. The acting is excellent from Pollyanna McIntosh, the Woman to Belle Cleek, Angela Bettis and the wonderfully evil Chris Cleek, Sean Bridgers. The music somewhat counter intuitive in its upbeat score during really horrific scenes was interesting although this seems to be a fad in horror. I am also not a big fan of music montage to move things along and there are a few in this film. It is not that they are poorly done, just a personal preference. Still the gurgles of gore where present and the mood was set throughout with a score that added and did not take away from what was happening on screen. The revelations we well drawn out in a script that revealed just enough to keep you thinking as you watched. I am not sure how much was added by the last revelation of the daughter with no eyes living with the dogs. Having worked in mental health many years ago I did know of one case where a child was made to sleep with the dogs in a pen. In fact I met some people who did equally horrible things to their families. So for this viewer at least Chris Cleek was just another sick bastard and I enjoyed his final scene. I just wish it had been longer and more painful. So with that let me say I strongly recommend this movie but with a bit of a warning.
This is an extremely disturbing film and it will not be for everyone. It is a story about a character who has a complete disdain for women and the scenes and revelations showing how poor a human being he is are disgusting and hard to watch. So if you do not think you are able to deal with it avoid the film. Otherwise have at it.
Rating (7.5) 5.0 and up are recommended, some just more recommended than others.

Offspring (2009) Horror Cannibals

Offspring (2009) - How is it that Soresport Movies ends up with so many cannibal movies. You would think that in the thousands of films at our disposal that these would be few and far between. In this case it was all luck, picked up in a discount bin and filed away in giant books of DVDs Offspring was chosen completely by chance, a dice roll to be more specific. Sometimes when we just want to review something but do not know what to choose we just roll some 20 sided dice and let chance decide. So was Offspring a lucky choice, a movie of worth, well I guess that is what this review is all about.
Deep in the woods of Maine for more than 160 years there have been nomadic tribes of feral people just looking for a cave to sleep in and a bite to eat. Because we civilized humans have been encroaching on their habitat these feral nomads have taken the opportunity to get that bite to eat at our expense. Picking through our garbage like raccoons in the night? Ransacking our vacation homes for can goods? No, littering the countryside with our corpses as they kill and eat us. That is the premise and by golly this idea will be explored to the gore filled fullest.
To set it up we get the early kill we need to understand how vicious these people are. A drunk woman named Gloria (T.J. Graye) comes home, there is no way she should have been driving in her car with how much she staggered when she got out of it. A belligerent drunk Gloria yells for the babysitter when entering the wide open front door of her house. To her surprise the babysitter is in the kitchen, well it wasn't a surprise that she was in the kitchen really, it was a surprise that she was dead in the kitchen being eaten by cannibal children. Her alcohol fogged mind slowly comprehended what was going on and she turned to see another cannibal with the parts of her baby in a plastic bag. Yeah those cannibal children are a nasty ( hungry) bunch.
A quick introduction of the characters before we get into the bulk of the story. Computer game programmers Amy (Amy Hargreaves) and David Halbard (Andrew Elvis Miller) live and work in their home in the woods. They are a happy couple with a little baby named Melissa. They talk about being visited by their friend Claire (Ahna Tessler) and her son Luke (Tommy Nelson) who after being abandoned by her scumbag, financial manager husband need to get away from possibly being tracked down by the abusive lout. He also is a criminal like all those Wall St. types just in case being an abuser is not enough. They are coming for some quiet time in the woods and they will get part of that. Steven being a fucking thief he is also misogynist and all around asshole when he dies you are expected to feel good. Played with a spite filled gleam in his eye by Erick Kastel you do not even have to hate him for his implied financial crisis connection. You can hate him for just being a woman hating and abusing douche bag. Did I mention he was an alcoholic? Now that is just piling on.
He does serve a role though beyond being a driving force in bringing Luke and Claire to Maine. He is a counter evil to the cannibals. They are feral hunters who just happen to hunt humans. Predators who seek the easiest prey, most certainly dangerous but for reason outside of good or evil. Steven on the other hand shows how you don't have to be feral to be a predator. His personality was shown very well in a scene of him driving his Porsche to Maine to track down Claire. He stops to pick up this college girl who is hitching to Portland she is friendly and nice, but he is suggestive and cold. When she sees him drinking while driving she wants out. There is this dialog where he tries to convince her to be his guide in getting to hi upstate location even though she is not heading anywhere near there. He phrases it as an invitation with sexual possibilities but when she balks he plays it off as not that. She insists on getting out so without slowing down he tells her to get out of the car with a seriousness that is intimidating. Then he does what this kind of asswipe needs to do, to show control over the woman. He makes her throw her backpack out the window before he will stop. She is reluctant but sees it as the only way out so she lifts it with both hands to chuck it. As she does he takes a long firm feel of her breast. At least he only takes it that far but the girl is definitely feeling like she dodged a bullet when she got out of that car.
The remaining characters are the old retired cop George Chandler (Art Hindle) who was on the job the last time the feral tribe came through town years before. He is recruited by the local cops to help in tracking them down. Is expertise consists of not stopping them before they moved on the first time so it is surprising that he can be any help this time. Then there are the Cannibals lead by Woman (Pollyanna McIntosh) who no doubt got her role in the more acclaimed "The Woman" from her performance here. She brings a fire to the role of the woman in this film. I did not quite get why it was a matriarchal society since her male counterpart at least in age seemed more physically superior. It may be that they wanted a counter to the strong male roles already in the film. Whatever the reason she is menacing and able to lead. The kids are somewhat interchangeable as the tribe with the exception of the blond, maybe called First Stolen? Maybe Girl, I am not sure.
The plot is simple enough, this group of fine young cannibals attacks the home of David and Amy, there is killing and capture. Fleeing with baby Melissa are Claire and Luke. They hide in the wood in a tree house but when they see one of their friends being taken to the cannibal cave Claire heads out to save the day. At the same time Stephen arrives at the house and is run off by the crazy cannibal children. Drunk and belligerent he runs right into the police and George who are hot on the trail of the tribe. The rest plays out in a sluggish and standard survival movie way. Who will survive by fighting off the cannibals? Will Luke and the baby find help? Will the old cop still have what it takes to deal with the threat? Will a horror movie ever end without first setting up for a sequel?
Thoughts on this movie are these: It is a hard premise to sell. In a 160 years a group of survivors from a shipwreck went from being a civilized group to no more than cannibalistic cavemen? They mostly lost their language and apparently the ability to act human really? 160 years ago my could have been your great grandparents, so that would mean that living in the woods caused your grandparents to become cannibals, to not teach language to the next generation and thus your parents just have half words and grunts, they are possible eaten by their children because there was no obvious maternal caring in the tribe. No I just don't buy it, it is not a sound theory. Maybe the writer could explain it. What I did like about the movie were some of the characters and the wonderful gore. It was bloody and gruesome even though the film itself is just mediocre. Art Hindle was great a veteran actor in the horror genre with parts in some well known films like Black Christmas, the 1978 Invasion of the Body Snatchers, and The Brood. Actress Amy Hargreaves gets a Soresport point for appearing in the best Edward Furlong movie ever as Kimberley in Brainscan (1994).
So I am barely going to recommend this film but it is truly a borderline call. You may just hate it for its stupid premise and ridiculous cannibals, or like me really enjoy the blood and guts of it and appreciate the writing of the character Steven. I normally don't feel so much venom for a movie character as I do for him.
Rating (5.0) movies rated 5.0 up to 10 are recommended on this blog.