In the history of pirates on the silver screen, only a handful of films have managed to capture piracy in such a manner as to transcend fact, transcend history, and cut straight to the heart of the matter. I speak of course of rum-sodden stupor. In this way, Treachery and a Dead Man’s Promise surpasses all other pirate movies as it rolls beneath the tavern bench, belching gunpowder and occasionally waking up just long enough to start a bar fight before passing out in the alley – PIRATE STYLE.

Let’s be clear, this is a fan film. 20 odd minutes of dubious acting filmed on location at renfaire, the beach, and the woods with questionable dialogue featuring pirate accents of varying skill and consistency. And ninjas, lots and lots of time-traveling ninjas. Oh, and a sea hag who I think gave the ninja sea herpes or something like that. SPOILER ALERT – that last sentence contained a spoiler.

Not only is this a film made by pirate fans, but it’s also most definitely a film FOR pirate fans. Reason being, the cast is a virtual who’s who of the southern California pirate scene. Aside from the primary roles filled by Oderless Eye and Captain Syn, supporting cast includes Michael Lampe (co-captain of No Quarter Given), Mad Eye Mitch (organizer of Pyrates Daze), Mad Davy Flynt (Silversmith to the Stars), and many others. And if you note that one of your favorite’s isn’t represented, you can always assume they’re disguised as one of the ninjas.

Some pirate films are better when you’re drunk, and others make you feel like you already are. Treachery and a Dead Man’s Promise has the distinction of being both. Check it out for an oddly piratey (and ninja-y) time.

Now, that last statement is bound to ruffle some, and I’m not saying On Stranger Tides was a bad movie exactly. It was just dull. Predictable, dull, and more of a cartoon than a live action adventure. It was only truely bad when considering the talent onhand, and comparing it to what this movie *could* have been.

Jack Sparrow has regressed over the years. Originally a quirky anti-hero with more than his fair share of luck, now he’s a superhuman who can virtually bend reality to suit his needs. Magically appearing and disappearing from beneath tables, bending palm trees in half (to use as a human slingshot no less), laying traps with chandeliers and hankys that would require preternatural foresight… there is indeed seemingly nothing he can’t do. In this latest adventure he’s again competing with his old nemesis Barbossa, who’s given up piracy to be a more genteel privateer – complete with a makeup beauty mark and wig. This might have been played up to greater comedic effect had Geoffrey Rush been given some leeway to ham it up (and maybe shave off that gangly beard), but instead it remains one of this films many underdeveloped commodities. The only other repeat cast are Gibbs, who remains doting Gibbs, and Keith Richards reprising his roll as Captain Teague for a brief, relatively pointless cameo.

New onstage are most notably Angelica and Blackbeard (and the Spaniards, of course, who offered great promise but were in the end little more than sinister stage props.) I was pretty much resigned that Angelica would be a lame addition ever since seeing the first still shots, and this proved sadly predictive. Angelica is a non-character (second only to the entirely uninspired preacher who fell in love with the mermaid.) We’re told time and again that she’s Jack Sparrow’s equal – that she’s wily, cunning, and dangerous. But as an audience we see none of this – we’re given only a doting fangirl with a junior-high crush on Jack. The chemistry between the two is nonexistent, and Penelope Cruz exudes about as much pirateyness as would a latin Elmo.

Conversely, I had hoped that Ian McShane as Blackbeard would be this film’s saving grace, and according to many pirate fans he was. But I just can’t get onboard with this either – his outfit was wearing him, and McShane’s lack of passion only offered a faint echo of Al Swearengen on an off day. Sure enough, Blackbeard said and did some very bad things, but there wasn’t the slightest hint of a devil fuming behind those eyes, thus reducing the most frightening pirate in history to the most forgettable villain of this franchise (oh yeah, the Spaniards.)

I could go on, and indeed, this is my third effort at writing this review. I have to keep starting over as I repeatedly drift toward anger – not that it’s such a lame movie, but that it should have been so much better. But the bigger crime is that it’s just plain lazy, asking the audience to love it simply for being part of a familiar franchise rather than making a real effort to give us reason love it anew. Inspired by the book On Stranger Tides, they had some killer – woefully underused (and worse, misused) – source material. While I hardly expected a loyal adaptation I’d certainly hoped for something better than this clunky mess of misplaced zombies, an inexplicably magical Blackbeard, clear pandering for 3D impact, a predictable finale, and Jack concluding the film by wiggling his fingers nonsensically and saying “booga booga.” I’d suggest that Pirates of the Caribbean may have finally jumped the shark, but any film that features webslinging vampire mermaids doesn’t really have to.

Seriously, you’ve just seen the best part of the movie. I’d say don’t bother with the rest, but then you’d miss the lightsaber battle.

Being an independent film, Salt Lake understandably lacks the Hollywood polish. For the most part this isn’t a problem as it remains plenty slick on its own merits. It does have two moments of weakness, though – both of which regrettably occur within the first few minutes, and risk audiences prematurely dismissing the movie before it truly begins. The first incident is during a flashback from generations past in which a demonic pirate is seen – it’s relatively silly and reminiscent of a B slasher film. Not that B slasher films are all bad, but this movie is smarter than that. The second incident is when the protagonists, Kirk and Flint, find their first victims – a catamaran with two ladies and some muscle-bound dude. In a film full of great acting, these three extras are amongst the worst imaginable, and look entirely lost for what to do, save for when they look like they’re trying not to laugh. It’s sad because these two events lower the bar of the film, and some viewers may have difficulty recovering in time to get full enjoyment from all that follows.

For those that do recover, however, this film quickly begins to show its merits. Taking place in modern Salt Lake City, Kirk and Flint are pirates – two guys who just know that piracy is in their blood, and seek to live out the swashbuckling lives that fate has chosen for them. The challenges they face are many, including parents who don’t understand their chosen lifestyle, “victims” who are more entertained than scared, and a predominant lack of ship, crew, or prospects of any sort. All this changes, however, upon the discovery of a treasure map, and so the search for riches begins.

Along the way the viewer is treated to more than a few oddities – the sorts of surreal elements that can be perplexing if you think about them too hard. Ancient gypsies with laptop computers, an apparently angelic Indian narrator with a penchant for metaphor, and the wordless exchange of an eyepatch between kindred souls. Strange? Absolutely. But also a sort of quiet genius. The humor throughout is wry, dry, and poignant. Those of us immersed in a pirate lifestyle of our own will surely find much that’s humorously relatable, while our loved ones who’ve politely tolerated our odd obsession might cringe at how effectively Pirates of the Great Salt lake satirizes our situation.

Truly, this is first and foremost a movie written for the pirate enthusiast. But in this there is something that bothers me:  I enjoyed this movie, but not quite as much as I wish. Strangely, much of the humor seems funny in hindsight, but was merely amusing while actually watching it – something about surreal and outright goofy gags performed in such a matter-of-fact, dry manner proved difficult for me to process. I got the jokes, I smiled at the jokes, but I rarely laughed at them (although there were exceptions.) However, this same dry delivery, while perhaps impeding the humor a bit, also serves to add substance to scenes that might otherwise have simply been screwball. The narrator’s inspired monologue about persistence when digging for treasure, the imagery of two modern pirates riding a tandem bicycle to the song “Life Less Ordinary”, Kirk’s discussion with Flint about his wearing of an earring as though it were a performance review – these and countless other oddly touching moments stick with me long after the movie has ended, and it’s these scenes that make this movie iconic of our barely existing subculture.

It may be imperfect, but Pirates of the Great Salt Lake wears its pirate heart on its sleeve, and is a definite must-see for any and all fans of the pirate genre.

The story begins at the end, or near enough. We’re introduced to pirate Bully Hayes (Jones), as he attempts to complete an arms smuggling job with some incredibly bizarre island natives (namely white folk in afros wearing matching red and black outfits.) The deal sours, and we witness the deaths of most of the characters we’ve yet to be introduced to, capped off by the capture of Bully Hayes to be hanged for crimes against Spain. It’s in this manner that we’re soon to encounter the movie’s primary storyline – told through a series of flashbacks as Hayes recounts his adventures to a news reporter.

Hayes, it seems, had been recently commissioned to ferry an engaged couple to their new home in the south pacific, where Nate (the male half of the couple) was intending to serve as a new minister to the natives. Nate is as clean cut and naive as he is egotistical. His fiance, Sophie, is equally untarnished, although strangely fetching in her “Dreamhouse Barbie” sailor outfit. Long story short, following Bully Hayes’ departure, Nate and Sophie’s island wedding is interrupted by pirates. Many are killed and others are kidnapped, including Sophie. Nate, who’d been knocked out and left for dead, mistakenly believes Bully Hayes to be Sophie’s captor, and sets out on a one man rescue mission for which he’s entirely unqualified. Very soon he winds up shipwrecked on a barely-submerged sandbar (and thus appears to any passing ships as walking on water), and shortly thereafter is rescued by none other than Bully Hayes. After some aggressive banter it becomes clear to Nate that it wasn’t Hayes, but rather a rival pirate, Ben Pease, who’d framed Hayes in his eternal fight for vengeance ever since Hayes had turned him into a ball-less wonder (seriously – that’s the explanation.) This leads to Nate and Hayes joining forces to enact Sophie’s rescue, thus bringing them into conflict with Pease, cannibals, and even the German Empire.

The acting is give or take – Nate shows some definite weakness at times, but the remaining cast does a passable job. Tommy Lee Jones makes for a surprisingly decent, non-stereotypical pirate. The story is fun if not terribly original, save for one tidbit of brilliance that – while integral to the story – could have been moreso. Bully Hayes is a pirate after his time. Forget Jimmy Buffet’s “I am a pirate, two hundred years too late”, imagine the pain of being a pirate a mere generation too late. The south pacific of Nate and Hayes is one in which steel ships have begun to replace wood, and steam replace sails. As he waits for the gallows, it would seem that Hayes recognizes that it’s not only his own time that’s about to end, but that he’s the last of a long dead breed. This concept is highlighted in the films almost-final battle, when Hayes and crew must face off against a Civil War style armored ship – it’s a battle between old and new, and while we all know how history actually played out in the big picture, it’s fun to see the sailing vessel kick butt on the small screen.

Nate and Hayes is a fun romp, if not exactly a stellar movie. It has its awkward bits, strange humor, and bizarre costume choices at times. But these elements aside, it remains an enjoyable flick.

Originally airing in 1956, The Buccaneers begins in 1718 New Providence as Governor Woodes Rogers arrives to convert this pirate cesspool into a respectable British colony. To do so he must establish himself as “top dog” amongst a less than receptive populace – wooing the less hardened with pardons, and defeating the worst of the lot – Blackbeard included – in direct combat.

Rogers hits the ground running, although three episodes in he changes course by recruiting one of the pirate captains – Dan Tempest – to lead other reformed pirates in the life of honest merchant sailors. And from there Rogers – who to this point seemed to be the show’s star – quietly departs, leaving Lt. Beamish as his affable if somewhat naive representative of the crown. From here Tempest emerges as the show’s true protagonist, along with several of his more prominent cohorts, Armando, Taffy, and Gaff.

With Rogers’ arrival in New Providence and his passing of the torch to Beamish and Tempest, The Buccaneers starts strong. Recurring disputes with such notable pirates as Blackbeard and Calico Jack show real promise of building an over-riding story arc, as does the pirates’ continued struggle to balance the honest path they’re on with the more adventuresome – if illegal – path that’s in their hearts. But it’s not log at all before Tempest and company graduate from merchants to privateers, and thus find plenty of action to keep them from getting bored – pirate attacks, those pesky Spaniards, and even the plotting of some of their fellow British colonists generate no end of challenges for them to overcome. And for the first 25 episodes or so, it all goes swimmingly – good natured swashbuckling thrills from a time when entertainment was perhaps a bit simpler, but still lots of fun.

And then it slowly begins to erode. Tempest and his crew return to New Providence less and less, with final episodes having nothing to do with their colony at all. Where early episodes saw them fighting for a purpose, these late episodes take on more of an A-Team “we show up wherever there’s trouble” approach that is far less convincing. What’s more, Tempest begins to drop hints at the end of multiple episodes that he’s ready to settle down with whatever girl he happens to be talking to at the time – and then we never see her again. The plots get increasingly tedious, and then it occurs to the viewer that it’s been a dog’s age since we’ve heard from Blackbeard, Calico, Lt. Beamish, or any of the old ‘regulars’ of the series – we’ve been cast adrift from the original plot footholds and are now aimlessly wandering from one odd adventure to the next. And then it ends. No resolution, nothing to bring us back around to New Providence or any of the promise of the early episodes – just no more.

At its best, The Buccaneers is light-hearted, a little silly, and plenty of fun. It well encompasses all you would expect of a 1950′s era television swashbuckler. Early episodes alone are well worth the price of the set. Middle episodes begin to show some loss of steam but are still enjoyable. And the last few? Well, they just get weird. But if you love pirates, you’ll watch them anyways. And believe me, there’s far worse things you could be watching.

Made up of brief segments that seem to be leading to a joke that never quite arrives, it’s much like watching the antics of a pirate-themed late night horror movie host – the kind of host you only tolerate so that you can get back to the movie. But in this case, there is no movie – just more pointless antics. And then, when you’re at the end of your strength and think the segment will go on and on forever, the punchline finally arrives. And guess what? It’s not at all funny. But then another story starts and the cycle continues.

Pirate Scurvy Dog’s Pieces of Eight is hell. And not the exciting hell of Constantine or Spawn, either. This is the hell of being stuck in line at the DMV between two very fat, sweaty people who don’t understand personal space issues. If you spend money on this DVD, you are a sap.

PS – I spent money on this DVD

www.piratesxxx.com

Following its release in 2006, Pirates: A Joone Film made movie history. Not only was it the highest budgeted adult film ever, but it was also the first to cross over into mainstream cinema. By cutting the bulk of the sex scenes to establish an R rating, the remaining film was still highly enjoyable – a feature in stark contrast to the adult film stereotype, and certainly a commendable achievement.

Like its presumed inspiration, Pirates of the Caribbean: Curse of the Black Pearl, Pirates: A Joone Film was a daunting undertaking that was successfully achieved thanks to the “outside of the box” thinking of the production crew, writers, and direction. And also like the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise, Pirates: A Joone Film’s sequel, Pirates 2: Stagnetti’s Revenge managed to fall into a common trap – namely production value over plot.

Now, before I delve, you may find yourself instinctively defending Pirates 2 on the basis that it’s an adult film and therefore the plot is secondary. To this I would offer that director Joone, by so successfully creating a “real” movie with his previous pirate film, has transcended the mere stag film genre, and it’s therefore appropriate to evaluate Pirates 2 accordingly, for better or worse.

First let’s address the good. Pirates 2 LOOKS great, no doubt. The ships and ship battles are decent, as are the two monsters – one a giant worm-like thing, and the other a long-necked, tentacled sea monster of some kind. The towns up close look good, but from a distance – as when we see a shot from the sea – they look absolutely astounding. The effects guys really did a bang up job, and that’s even before we see a single animated skeleton (of which we’re treated to towards the end.) The costumes are also of a high quality – hardly reenactor approved, mind you, but still fine work. And general film quality – a necessary factor to mention when dealing with adult films – is again first rate. Lighting and audio are excellent, and it’s easy at times to forget you’re not watching a mainstream B movie.

So what’s not so good? Regrettably, much what was so perfect in the first film fell flat in the second. Where the characters in Pirates 1 were fresh and witty, in 2 they’ve fallen victim to their own stereotypes. Captain Reynolds does have some fun moments of vanity (such as when he insists the Governor share the name of his tailor, or when he recounts his original defeat of Stagnetti, complete with dramatic swishes of his own hair), but all too often he’s mired in the same insecurities from the first film which by this point have gotten tedious. His naivete has also gotten repetitious; while his innocent misinterpretation of First Mate Jules’ sexual exploits in the first film as being “bible study” was endearingly funny, his making the same mistake with passenger Ai Chow – this time assuming massage therapy – feels entirely dippy and “been there, done that.” Ai Chow, for that matter, is cute as a button – until she opens her mouth and speaks with the sort of annoyingly stereotypical Chinese accent (I rove you rong time) that hasn’t been in comedic vogue in decades.

The story itself is more convoluted than was the first. In an effort to gain a King’s pardon for the estranged Serena – the heartachingly gorgeous piratess from the first film – Reynolds and Jules agree to retreave a special pearl that has been stolen by the Chinese pirate lady Xifeng. Accompanying them is Serena’s cousin, Olivia, who attempts to recreate Serena’s tough-as-nails persona. But instead her smug attitude and condescending eyes just come across as bitchy. Xifeng, however, is a breath of exotic air. Dark, sinister, and evil, she would really make for a fine villain in any pirate flick – adult or otherwise. That she can deliver a spoken line without making you cringe (a quality not entirely shared by the other female leads of this film) only adds to her appeal.

Their pursuit of the stolen pearl leads Reynolds and Jules to a pirate island which mainly serves as an opportunity for several sex scenes and the reintroduction of Marco – the whiny, clingy dude from the first film who we last saw curled up in the fetal position sobbing like an infant. Marco’s role is larger in this film – and somewhat less whiny. Although it’s also largely unnecessary, and siphons precious time from a story that’s already overly compacted to make room for the many, many sex scenes.

(I suppose it’s only fair to remember that this film walks a fine line. By achieving “mainstream” status, it’s indeed fair to judge it on plot, acting, scenery, etc. But lest we forget, it is still an adult film, and will therefore have a primary audience expecting plenty of skin and moaning – even if it’s at the expence of the film’s other potential merits.)

The island visit is concluded with Jules turning evil (due to hypnosis, more or less), and Reynolds nearly being devoured by a giant cave worm before it’s artfully dispatched by Olivia. Reynolds and Olivia then join up with Maria, being Serena’s sister (it seems we’re slowly accumulating Serena’s entire family – the female half at least) who again shares some of Serena’s fine qualities (this time it’s the eyes and the dreadlocks) but still comes up short in the believable-tough-chick department.

The crew sails off to find Xifeng, who’s busy resurrecting Stagenetti. Stagnetti’s appearance seems rather late-game for a movie that boasts his own name in the title – he has just enough time to get “reacquainted” with Xifeng (and with the help of Jules, mind you) before they’re caught up with by our heroes. There’s a battle, there are skeletons, there’s a pretty cool sea monster that’s all too easily eliminated – actually, there’s a whole lot of neat stuff that happens, albeit all of it very very quickly (gotta save time for the sex, mind you.)

Upon the adventure’s conclusion – which sets itself up for another sequel – Reynolds has a mind to return to Port Royal to claim Serena’s pardon. Fortunately he’s dissuaded from doing so just yet by Olivia and Maria. I say fortunately not only because of the manner by which they convince him, but because he seems to have forgotten that Serena’s pardon was predicated on the retrieval of the missing pearl. You forgot about that part, didn’t you? Well, apparently so did Reynolds. And the writers. It’s this sort of major plot inconsistency that makes me sad; all the talent and tools are here for a really fun, fantastic pirate film – if only the plot hadn’t been left in the wake.

All told, Pirates 2: Stagnetti’s Revenge, for all its glory and spectacle, falls short of its predecessor. It still runs circles around your average feature porn (not that I would know about such things), but it seems bogged down by a script split three ways. First is the many, many sex scenes which seem driven by quantity over quality, most of them edited down to the point of being awkward and jerky to watch. The second is the introduction of new and interesting material such as Xifeng, underwater ruins, and sea monsters – each of which is regrettably under-utilized, and gone before being put to full effect. And the third being the rehashing of material that worked in the first film (repeated jokes, revisiting characters simply for the sake of doing so, and multiple references to Serena, who no matter how may siblings you introduce simply can’t be replaced, so it would be better to move on to new original characters.)

Measured simply as an adult film, Pirates 2 – like Pirates 1 – is a marvel in production value. On paper it has all the right stuff to follow in Pirates 1′s path to bridge the gab between adult and mainstream cinema. But sadly it fails to entirely live up to its own potential, and remains on the high-end adult film side of the spectrum without successfully achieving the standards for a sexually-charged B movie.

BUT, that doesn’t mean this show was great, exactly. It would have been great – had it been broadcast in 1985. Crusoe’s gadgetry seems straight out of MacGuyver or the A-Team, especially when Crusoe and Friday start prepping for an upcoming invasion – I could hear the A-Team soundtrack in my head the whole time.

Gadgetry is great and all, but I couldn’t get around the surprising complexity of things. For crossing a chasm, for example, Crusoe had constructed a giant hamster-wheel that suspended betweent two ropes. Why not a bridge? Why not a freaking bridge? Simple, effective, and certainly safer than some bizarro contraption. But this is Crusoe, mind you – the man who, when most would construct a simple fort and watchtower, instead built an entire Ewok village in the treetops. It bodes far more of fantasy than historical action-adventure, but perhaps the AT-ATs will strike in a future episode.

The story is told two-fold, using frequent flashbacks in the traditon of Lost. Crusoe’s past is revealed piecemeal, with segments from his childhood and adult life alike – but nothing that yet paints a complete picture. Again like Lost, it’s quite clear that there isn’t enough story to truly flesh out an ongoing storyline, so NBC instead gives us tiny crumbs in an effort to milk things out as long as possible while distracting us with smaller, less meaningful mini-plots for the current episode. But unlike Lost, I didn’t find myself much caring what the “big picture” was, and found these flashbacks distracting. Unlikely gadgetry and cliche acting aside, the present mini-adventure was far more entertaining.

Speaking of which, I guess I should talk about what actually happens in this episode – in a word, PIRATES. Call it a classic, call it an over-used dud, but nothing is more piratey than randomly showing up on an island (in a longboat, mind you – calling to question whether this remote island is actually remote at all) with a treasure map. Initially the pirates are pretty obnoxious, but the worst of them are killed off fairly early on, and the remainder throughout the episode. This gives us more time to appreciate the two decent pirates, Captain Lynch and Judy, being the spunky lady pirate of the bunch. Lynch is actually some kind of all right – the quiet, deadpan delivery of his lines requires close attention, but he has his amusing bouts of irony, and even seems aware when he strikes a cliche moment, thereby twisting it into something a tad more interesting. Judy is also not too bad – I first came to like her when she hit Crusoe. Hard. Dirty, crass, and not remotely lady-like, she bore herself as a pirate lass should while remaining a decent catch at the same time – not always the easiest balance to achieve.

As always, I won’t overly reveal the plot. The story continues, Crusoe fights for his freedom from pirate capture, and then goes on to develop his love of gadgetry to such a degree as to defy physics itself – first by heating a ramrod to red-hot in only a few moments over a simple cooking fire, and then by firing said ramrod from his musket as though it were a speargun – with perfect accuracy, mind you. It’s these such moments that make me worry the show is about 20 years too late. Or worse yet, perhaps it’s 40 years too late, because it’s difficult to imagine how this show will continue forth with new adventures and characters each week without the audience wondering how our heroes can exist at the apparent Union Station of the island world without ever mustering passage home.

Aye, the Gilligan’s Island comparisons are sure to strike. So I’ll go first – Robinson Crusoe is the engineering genius that can’t build a raft (the Professor). Friday, being the skinny yet competent sidekick is an unholy merger of the Skipper and Gilligan (we’ll watch to see if he starts smacking himself with his own hat.) Judy could serve as Ginger, while Robinson Crusoe’s wife – only revealed in flashbacks and so bland I didn’t bother to mention her in this review – will serve nicely as Mary Ann.

The basic deal is this – the famous buccaneer l’Ollonais apparently didn’t die as most historical accounts state (being torn apart alive and eaten by native cannibals), but rather he founded his own society of pirates. His children, grand-children, and great grand-children have continued to raid passing ships by means of acquiring the necessities of life. They honor their past, follow a code, and basically live the “good life”, with the tiny exception that their limited gene pool has begun to bottom out. But never fear – these crafty pirates have learned the key to their salvation. Rather than simply stealing booty, it’s time to start stealing children as well. See? Problem solved.

Actually, not entirely, as all these disappearing ships haven’t gone unnoticed – something about cult theories involving a “Bermuda Triangle”, which prods reporter Blair Maynard to investigate, bringing his song Justin along in tow. But it’s not long before they too are captured, and the pirates – learning of Blair and Justin’s surname, deduce that they much be decedents of the noble Lt. Maynard, defeater of Blackbeard. As such, Justin is taken away to be brainwashed in the hopes he may become heir to the pirate throne, while Blair, being too old for assimilation, is merely kept alive long enough to make a contribution to the fading gene pool (read between the lines, mates.)

Enough of the story – I don’t want to give too much away. Suffice to say, the tale is a good one, and the execution is even better. The methods and temperaments of the pirates seem quite feasible, considering the circumstances. In their raids they use tactics that were common in the days of sail, while still modifying them for modern times – in so far as they understand modern times, anyways. This is because, while having stolen increasingly modern plunder, most of modern society is lost on them. Pirate anachronisms, content to live as they’ve always done, raid as they’ve always raided.

This film does have some gore, and the brutality isn’t watered down. But by and large, this is a drama, although you’re far more likely to find it in the horror section of your video store – if you can find it at all. But should you find it, grab it and hold on like grim death – this one’s a treasure, me lads!