Review of The Victim (2011) by The Reluctant G — 19 Sep 2012

Emerging from some of the most pivotal science fiction films to have graced the screens, veteran Michael Biehn (The Terminator, Aliens, The Abyss) makes his directorial debut in the 'grindhouse' labelled film The Victim.

After a good start with some nice camera work that is reminiscent of slasher classics like Friday the 13th and visual effects similar to those in the original Texas Chainsaw Massacre, The Victim doesn't quite deliver the bloodbath you would expect from the setup. The camera work does remain true to the genre throughout and we get some nice flashbacks explaining the backstory, which includes a little bit of titillation. The sex scene between Biehn and wife Blanc is shot very tastefully to the point that it could have come from any number of commercial flicks. Any violent scenes that appear are very much under the covers with no trace of blood or injury. Grindhouse fans are treated to one over the top killing involving a very unrealistic rubber doll and squelchy bone crunching sound effects, but again it is under the cover of darkness and void of the usual splatter expected from an exploitation film.

It was nice to see that The Victim didn't succumb to the temptation of overlaying the scratches and grime present in a lot of current neo-grindhouse flicks. Nor does it resemble the genre reinvigorated by the likes of Quentin Tarantino and Robert Rodriguez, a big surprise given that Biehn is very open in acknowledging the influence of Robert Rodriguez, even going so far as to dedicate the film to him in the end credits. Instead The Victim takes the natural feel of classics such as Halloween and I Spit on Your Grave and re-awakens them with a rather nice script that may even be seen as being a bit too good for grindhouse.

The Victim is not a bad film and you may have fun watching it, providing you have a penchant for 70s slasher suspense. The plot is pretty well conceived and there's some nice acting on the part of Biehn. However, if you are expecting a grindhouse furore of sex, violence and stereotyped characters present in classics the likes of Ilsa - She Wolf of the SS or Last House on the Left, you may be disappointed. Grindhouse cinema is characterised by restricted content designed to shock and thrill the audience. What we have with The Victim is a 15 rated psychological thriller that contains tamed infusions of traditional slasher and shocksploitation.