Ferocious (2013) Reviews

• Unbelievably Bad

  larrys32013-10-03

  I've seen many bad movies this year, and this one ranks right up there as one of, if not the worst yet. The wooden acting and dialog along with the incredible plot elements are so unbelievably bad that I found myself laughing and shaking my head in disbelief, most likely at parts that were not supposed to be funny. Amanda Crew stars as Leigh Parrish, a famous and successful TV star, with a very wholesome image, who is returning to her hometown with her manager Callum Beck (Dustin Milligan). She is trying to promote her "good girl" with small town roots image, starting with a local TV interview. Leigh mysteriously cancels a dinner with her parents, packs a large knife in her boot, and sets out from her hotel to a club called Shaker's, which is undergoing reconstruction and set to open soon. We soon find out that the owner of the club Maurice (Kim Coates) has been blackmailing Leigh, as he has possession of a porno tape that she made before she became famous. When Leigh offers him a final large payment to end the extortion he refuses. After things get dangerously nasty, a young woman named Tess (Katie Boland) emerges from the shadows and clobbers Maurice and kills him with a large blunt object to protect Leigh. You see Tess is a terribly devoted fan of Leigh's, and she had been at the club to apply for a job but then when she saw Leigh there followed her upstairs. However, Tess is also totally impulsive, unpredictable, and actually quite "crazy". Without revealing more, let's just say this will lead to a long, long series of events where bloody murder and mayhem will ensue. Other characters come into play as the plot continues. There's Eric (Michael Eklund) who's the manager of the club and not the "brightest bulb" on the block. He's also the former boyfriend of Leigh before she left him to pursue her career. The strangest and most diabolical character of all is Sal, the brother of the slain Maurice, who's also played by Kim Coates. I guess nobody noticed that Sal looks exactly like Maurice, and has the exact same speech and mannerisms. Maybe no one bothered to care. Overall, I felt this film was absolutely terrible with incredible plot machinations and completely non-believable decisions by its' characters. If it was meant as a "campy" joke let's just say I didn't get it.

• small, but very tense movie

  crisscross402013-10-09

  Whoo. Spicy. K Coates was born for this role. The other actors have a hard time keeping up, but do pretty well all in all. It's obvious this is a low buck arrangement (to my eyes, anyway), but the filmmaker seems to make the best of it. Dim lighting and sinister music don't hurt. But it's mighty creepy, just in a different way than the conjuring or other thriller/horror out there. This is like being caught in a room with the world's sleaziest man and having to sit on his lap. This is what we're seeing a lot of now, small movies, usually thrillers or horror, some do quite well, others disappear. Not sure what to say about this one. It's good, but it's slow pace may not be to everyone's liking. This is not Speed, nor is it Transporter. But that's not taking anything away from it.

• slippery characters

  mingleme19752013-10-10

  Ferocious is a thriller that takes place in a night club. Not while it's open, but closed. Amanda Crew is back in town (she plays the lead character) to get something back she forgot. Turns out, it's a video tape. Have I seen this before? Yes and no. Despite this having elements from previous films, it plays out in a unique enough way to have kept me interested. There are not a lot of actors in it. Everything is sparse. But that's probably how it should be. Michael Eklund is in it. He's an employee of the bar. He's good (last saw him in The Call). But the real stand out is Kim Coates from Son's of Anarchy. He's so slimy you slide off your chair just watching him. What a good actor. I'm glad they let him have fun with it rather than being just an everyday bad guy. He's fun to watch. I give the movie a 6.5. But since IMDb doesn't let me vote in half number increments, I'll give it a 6. No, a 7

• Seems like old times

  nogodnomasters2018-01-23

  Hollywood Star Leigh (Amanda Crew) returns to her small home town (of about 200,000 people) with her manager. In the films she plays "squeaky clean" roles. She oddly stays in a hotel, until we realize she has a checkered past, one that the owner of an adult entertainment establishment blackmails her over. She attempts to steal back the material and things go awry as Tess (Katie Boland) a fan, comes to her rescue. The bulk of the film takes place in the dark at a closed strip joint with people bonking and stabbing each other. It was rather boring as Amanda Crew doesn't soar above a "B" acting status. The plot goes no where in this Canadian thriller. Okay as a desperation rental. Parental Guidance: F-bomb. Blurred sex on TV. A grope scene. No nudity.

• Ferocious (Screening, March 7, New Westminster)

  inscape_c2013-03-08

  Kim Coates gives a two-for-one stellar performance in the film. Amanda Crew is terrific too, as is Michael Eklund. I found the screenplay well written and very well delivered, making for a relatively fast 93 minutes -- a fine fulfillment of the thriller's vision. Director Robert Cuffley's treatment of the story's monitor-and-mirror motif, definitely 'dark' in tone (much of the film is set in a dimly lit nightclub, after hours) becomes very big on the big screen; if we are paying attention, we recognize this 'monitor' as a mirror (and that any mirror can itself be a "mirage," as much as a monitor can). And to me an upclose- and-personal look at this reflection of archetypical truth, contextualized in clever and at times comical narrative, worth an evening's and a few dollars' investment.