The Victim (2011)

Pretty Good

Fresh and Exciting

best movie i've ever seen.

All of these films share one commonality, that being a kind of emotional center that humanizes a cast of monsters.

Two women of low moral fiber Mary (Danielle Harris) and Annie (Jennifer Blanc-Biehn) go out on a date in the woods with two police officers Jim (Ryan Honey) and Cooger (Denny Kirkwood). Mary (Danielle Harris) is killed during sex by Jim (Ryan Honey) semi-accidentally. The cops decide to kill Annie, who has overheard the conversation and escapes to a cabin occupied by Kyle (Michael Biehn, her real life husband), a man who seemingly has deeper issues than the movie lets on.The production moves into the abduction phase and uses flashbacks to build the girl's character. The questionable aspect as to the identity of the main character i.e. being a possible serial killer is hinted at, but never fully developed to where the audience knows with certainty. We are left with doubt as is Annie.I liked the soundtrack and background music used in the film. They didn't go cheap. When two girls listen to music that sounds like Katy Perry, you know they put out. The character of Kyle was too underdeveloped or under utilized, perhaps Michael was wanting to give more of the story to his wife and not turn this into an ego fest.PARENTAL GUIDE: f-bomb, sex, nudity (Jennifer Blanc-Biehn, the blond from "The Divide").

Some couple is having sex in the woods. The guys gets rougher. When the bored girl says something, he snaps her neck.We meet some loner who lives in the woods. A screaming and crying girl named Annie knocks on his door for help. In flashbacks we learn that this girl and the dead girl are strippers/friends/roommates. They went out on a date with cops, a date in the woods, where things get heated. We also learn that a series of girls have disappeared in the area.She tells him the story. She went looking for her friend and found her dead body so she started to run with the cops chasing her. They eventually arrive at his cabin. While he doesn't want to have any trouble with the law, he still lies for her and claims to not have seen anything. He's had some trouble with the law in the past. Through research they discover that one of the cops is some corrupt but well-connected creep.Of course the cops are very motivated not to leave a living witness. When the guy and Annie go into the woods they eventually run into the cops of course. The guy will have to decide whether he's going to act or just try avoid trouble. But there's a cool twist near the end.The Victim is a fairly plain, short, and simple low-budget horror thriller. It benefits from the presence of the likable Michael Biehn and the occasional appearance of the lovely Danielle Harris. Direction and acting are sometimes off the mark. There's a bit of violence, gore, and nudity. But the movie is fairly raunchy. There's something to be said for ending on a strong note and The Victim delivers with the neat twist, that while not entirely surprising is well handled. The story in a way deserved a larger budget. Still, The Victim is a success for the Biehns.

I was looking forward to see The Victim. Have seen a lot of Biehn flicks I liked his performance in Bereavement (2010) and liked The Divide (2011) his second attempt as a director here I didn't like. Being sold as a grindhouse movie to pick in on the success of the genre I can't really say it was a grindhouse flick. Don't get me wrong, it wasn't bad on part of the directing but it didn't deliver gore or anything to call it a grindhouse.It's more flick with a lot of talking and a bit of action that you could see coming miles away. The end wasn't a surprise at all. Slowly you can see who the real killer is. It do has a steaming love scene between Biehn and his actual wife Jennifer Blanc who isn't afraid to show her body here. For the horror buffs you will see another famous face, that of Danielle Harris. She's not that often in this flick but when she does she really looks sexy and if that tattoo is for real, just have a look at it. She's walking around as a whore and do shows her body a few times in sexy underwear. On part of the horror itself there isn't any at all. We do have flashbacks explaining what went wrong but you could guess it all by just watching The Victim. You can only ask yourself, who is the real victim. The last 10 minutes has the only gore to see but by then it's too late to call it a horror. Just another mediocre flick with a fine cast but it doesn't deliver anything special to the genre. Only the hunters for celebrity nudity should watch this flick. Nevertheless, it's been promoted well being spotted in every horror magazine and released worldwide. Still, I missed something. You can see it with your kids, maybe that says enough. Gore 0,5/5 Nudity 1/5 Effects 2/5 Story 2,5/5 Comedy 0/5

I'm not a big fan of movies like this one, but it's pretty solid for what it represents. It is a surprise that Michael Biehn would do something like this, but he's open about this movie. It's not supposed to be taken seriously in any way. I get it that people were not pleased by it, but I'd hope some reviews wouldn't be so personal. I don't think Jennifer Blanc does a good job in this, but insulting her with foul language is really not a good way to express that.The movie itself is pretty predictable, has some sex, some violence in it and Michael Biehn does also play in his own movie. This was shot quick and as gritty as possible. It's not for film purists and it won't satisfy gore hounds either (most of them anyway). But while ill-advised flashbacks do not add anything to the story, you're wasting your time being angry at a movie, that never pretends to be anything else than it actually is. If this is the worst movie you've seen, you should call yourself lucky or watch more movies. In any way, this curiosity is worth a look, but don't bother watching more than 5-10 minutes, if you feel that it doesn't work for you.