Movies I've Seen (Recently) 1/27/11

Ratings based on a five blood drop scale.

SWEET KARMA
When Karma’s sister is found beaten to death, she infiltrates Canada’s underground sex trade to find her sibling’s killers.

Every rape/revenge flick released post I Spit on Your Grave (1978) affirms the feminist proclamation of that universally despised film. Rape is a brutal, disgusting act and if witnessed, would probably look something like what is depicted in ISOYG. The victim in that R/R classic spends the majority the film’s running time in a comatose state, bruised and bloodied and crawling through the dirt. Andrew Thomas Hunt, the director of Sweet Karma, is a little too infatuated with his “babes in the woods.” Karma (Playboy playmate Shera Bechard) is a beautiful girl; you need only look to the film’s seductive box art to see that. But she shouldn’t come off as appealing to viewers when being attacked. She goes through more undergarments in a single day than my new born son.

THE LOVED ONES
When Lola’s invitation to the school dance is dismissed by Brent, she and her father cook up a macabre plan for revenge.

This movie represents everything that is wrong with horror today. While more competently crafted than most films of its type, it is nonetheless torture porn. It spends about six minutes building character and sprinkles a few morbidly humorous antics throughout, but is fundamentally a depthless tale focused on exhibiting low-rent gore and relentless terror. Genre fans should demand more.

Added to which, there is nary a likable character in the bunch. Brent is no catch. Everyone is basically unattractive. In fact, the most physically appealing of the lot is the geek – Lola and she inflicts pain as punishment with true delight. Which raises the question, what would she have done had Brent accepted her invitation?

BURNING BRIGHT
Kelly and her autistic brother Tom are attacked by a ravenous tiger when their stepfather attempts to turn their home into a safari ranch.

An absurd premise designed to provide thrills and keep the audience cliff-hanging. It approaches this aim like so: Kelly and her brother retreat to a bedroom – the windows are boarded up as protection from the hurricane outside – Tom becomes disturbed by the change in his routine - the tiger claws his way into the room just as the protagonists escape into the hall. This happens over and over in the film, effectively destroying any attempt at suspense in subsequent scenes.