South Of Heaven (2008/Synapse Films DVD)

 

Picture: C     Sound: C-     Extras: D     Feature: C

 

 

All that Roy Cool wanted was to come home to see his brother and write a best seller novel, but that all gets burned up (including him) when his comes home to find his brother missing, turns out his brother Dale has gotten hooked up with a villain: Mad Dog Mantee.  Mad Dog has ransomed a rich mafia's daughter, and he wants her back. Roy is mistaken for Dale and ends up losing most of his fingers and set on fire...  Unfortunately, Roy survives and it's time for revenge in Jonathan Vara’s South Of Heaven (2008).

 

After leaving the Navy, naive Roy thought things can only get better, but the first thing he does is run into two well dressed men who mistaken him for his brother.  They torture him regardless of how he tries to explain, not only once but they come back different three times (!), each time taking more from him.  After being used, left for dead Roy Cool is dead and Nobody is born.  Now, Nobody wants his brother back and some answers. 

 

This was an all out macabre film, just to see the shear violence and sex.  While the characters all acted cool as if things were normal it mainly just set things up for more violence in the aftermath.  It was mainly seeing a bunch of sadistic bastards getting their just-deserts; it was a lot like Darkman, except with worse plot and costuming.  This is a very amateur-looking and sounding production for the most part and below what we usually get from Synapse.  Extras include audio and critic commentary.

 

 

-   Ricky Chiang