TORTURED

TORTURED

(a.k.a. SEX SLAVE)

TORTURED opens with two tough-talking fugitives, Quaid (Nick Stoppani) and Kurk (Rami Hilmi) finding a suitable spot in the country to bury their latest hostage.

Wrapped in bin bags, the female hostage has been killed after having been raped by Quaid - much to Kurk's chagrin.

The men prepare to dig a grave for their hostage, but first sit to bicker among each other while Quaid lights up a cigarette. Their banter is curtailed when they spy a man staggering towards them.

Kurk races up to the man, eager to wipe him out. Alas, it transpires that the man is in fact a zombie, and he takes a large bite out of Kurk's neck. Meanwhile, Quaid falls into a mud pit and cannot get to his feet in time to save himself from the re-animated hostage, who tears her way first through the bin bags and then his stomach.

If we're in any doubt as to whether Quaid and Kurk deserved such violent demises, the film then takes us back to "1 Day Earlier" to reveal just what bastards they really were.

We follow three strands of storyline for a while: cops Doug (Kemal Yildirim) and Charles (director Jason Impey), who are keen to catch the convicts after watching a snuff video made by the pair; Quaid and Kurk, who argue and trade insults in-between determining that they need a hostage to help them stay one step ahead of the law; and Carmel (Michelle Young), a local slut who thinks "all men are wankers" thanks to having recently walked in on her boyfriend's bondage session with someone else.

TORTURED flits from scenes of Carmel with various girl friends, berating men and - in one instance - getting it on with a mate in a pub toilet, and the two hoodlums generally being abusive to anyone they meet � and each other.

It's inevitable that the ghastly pair are eventually going to see, stalk and abduct Carmel as their hostage - and sure enough, this is precisely what happens (but not before we've watched in on her having a fiddle in the shower).

From then on, we get a graphic account of Carmel's last hours, in what is presumably Impey's ode to the likes of THE LAST HOUSE ON THE LEFT and I SPIT ON YOUR GRAVE.

TORTURED is the latest offering from the highly prolific young British filmmaker Impey (HOME MADE 2; NAKED NAZI), and certainly shows a growing in style. This is much more cinematic than anything he's produced so far, with nice exterior compositions and a far better understanding of editing and storytelling.

The acting is pretty ropey, but that's what you get with such low-budget fare. It's best instead to concentrate on the violence, sleaze and gore - all of which Impey delivers in equal measures.

Some may be surprised by the sex in the film, which is not far from being hardcore at times. And while the gore FX are primitive, they are undeniably effective in their own, downmarket fashion.

It would seem to me that Impey is knocking out these films and shorts (TORTURED is his most accomplished, and one of the longest so far at 61 minutes), intent on paying homage to every different sub-genre within modern horror.

To this end, the film actually begins with a pre-credits GRINDHOUSE-style trailer for a film called WOMEN PRISONERS OF SS CAMP FROM HELL. It may well be a mock trailer for a film that doesn't exist � I hope not, as it looks like being a lot of fun.

Back to TORTURED, I'd recommend it to anyone who doesn't mind copious amounts of swearing (so much so that the dialogue becomes pretty hilarious), bad acting, DV camerawork and miniscule budget trappings. There's a lot of energy and spirit on offer here.

The screener disc presented the film uncut in a nice, clean 1.78:1 transfer that was not 16x9 enhanced. The English 2.0 audio was incredibly loud, and clear.

For more information, check out www.torturedthemovie.co.uk.


 
Released by Jason Impey Productions
Region 2 - PAL
Rated 18
Extras :
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