That line from Dead Man’s Shoes pretty well sums up the feelings on many of the lead characters in this weeks DVD viewing round-up.
Dead Man’s Shoes
Very violent yet intensely moral at its core, Shane Meadows film is as good an exploration of vigilante justice as you’ll probably ever see. It’s hard not to sympathise with Paddy Considine’s ex-soldier as he hunts down the people who victimised his brother (shades of Get Carter) but the film doesn’t make him out to be a hero. The twist towards the end won’t come as much of a surprise but this isn’t a film that relies on cinematic sleight of hand for its power.
Thriller: A Cruel Picture
A bit of Swedish sleaze as Christina Lindberg, after being hooked on drugs and forced into a life of prostitution, wreaks vengeance on the people responsible. The slow-motion violence isn’t exactly a Sam Peckinpah-style bullet fest, coming across as overly static and staged and the addition of hardcore footage adds nothing to the film, particularly as it isn’t even Lindberg in the inserted shots. The movies biggest claim to fame is that it was a big influence on Tarantino’s Kill Bill, and it’s the sort of film only QT could love.
