Title: Bound to Vengeance
Director: Jose Manuel Cravioto
Writer: Rock Shaink Jnr., Keith Kjornes
Stars: Tina Ivlev, Richard Tyson
Release Date: 17 February 2016 (DVD/Blu Ray)
Review by Dave Griffiths
The revenge or vengeance genre has given us many must-see movies over the years. From smaller films like The Winter’s Bone, which launched the career of a young Jennifer Lawrence, through to big blockbusters like the Liam Neeson Taken, these are films that normally consist of a good storyline, room for character development, suspense and let’s be honest, what we all want to see…bloody vengeance.
Well now comes a new film that fits into the genre nicely and once again reveals a young star who it seems is going to go a long way in Hollywood. Bound to Vengeance sees kidnapped victim Eve (Tina Ivlev – Death Clique) work out a way to escape from the dungeon where the evil Phil (Richard Tyson – Black Hawk Down) has kept her as a sex-slave. Upon escaping though she realizes that she is not the only girl that Phil is keeping captive. She decides to take him hostage and literally drag him around the city as she tries to uncover all of his lairs… but each one uncovers something more and more sinister each time.
In the hands of the wrong filmmaker Bound to Vengeance could have become a pretty boring and repetitive film. Luckily though director Jose Manuel Cravioto is up to the task and instead makes this a high class revenge flick with enough blood and gore to keep even the hardened horror fans happy. Aided by a strong script Cravioto manages to up the suspense throughout the film on a number of levels.
Of course you are always waiting for the moment that Phil will try to fight back, then there is the fact that you never really know what Eve will uncover at each destination (especially after the first victim rescue goes horribly wrong) It then becomes very clear that Phil is not in this alone, meaning you never really know who is going to come after Eve next. Yes, this is sit-on-the-edge-of-your-seat stuff all the way.
Cravioto also brings the best out of his cast. Richard Tyson who most cinema fans would remember from comedy classics like Kindergarten Cop and There’s Something About Mary shows his true acting range as he menacingly plays a hardened sex predator who has no regards for human life at all. Tyson is well matched in the acting stakes by the much less experienced Tina Ivlev, whose strong acting performance lifts the tension in every head-to-head scene she shares with Tyson. All the people that have likened her performance to the one of Jennifer Lawrence’s in Winter’s Bone are spot on. Ivlev is certainly a future star in the making.
Bound to Vengeance is one of those revenge films that hardcore film buffs are going to love. It’s smart and suspenseful but at the same time delivers a gore fest that is going to more than please the HEAVY cinema lovers out there.
