Review of Bound to Vengeance (2015) by Crim — 02 Aug 2015

Revenge is a **** Like Blue Ruin, but even more so due to this being a horror/exploitation movie, revenge can go horribly wrong, and not just revenge, rescue too. What seems a straight-up escape and revenge becomes a sprawling quest to rescue other women, rescue many, many other women, kill men, get unexpected company, and chase the specter of a possibly shady ex. From house to house, guided only by a manipulative psychopath she can't ditch without abandoning her quest, until she gets to the last house. She is gonna love the last house. Excellent buildup of tension at the climax, and that shot of the closed door, then her exiting the house while he panics and can't start the car - the reversal of roles in horror tropes. But the movie doesn't end there, with her at the peak of what she thought she wanted.

There are many rape revenge movies. This one has 2 things going for it. First, it starts without the torture porn. Secondly, it inserts various flashbacks that serve more of a purpose than showing the happy life she lost. It's not exactly a subtle exploration of revenge and survivor guilt, but I liked it. Thirdly, while I found the last flashback obvious to the point of partial redundancy, as a lead-up to the very final shot, it was good.

"It's more painful if you leave him like that.