Avenging Angels: Bound To Vengeance (2015)

In our first female vengeance review, we take on 2015's Bound To Vengeance.




Refn would love this lighting scheme. 
Taking hard edged cues from the sexually exploitive revenge films of the '70s and '80s, Bound To Vengeance is a bull nosed piece of indie cinema that's bold and bloody. 

Starting out much differently than many other entries in the genre, audiences aren't dragged through the degradation of our main character, but are instead thrown right into her personal vendetta against the men that have done her wrong. With sheer brutality and modernized themes, Bound To Vengeance drags us through the murky waters of perverse sexual innuendo, darkened corridors of doom, and feverish bone crushing violence that feels like it's stripped right from our harsh reality. Despite some cavernous plot holes and its basic structure of story, this is one of the better vengeance tales as of late with only a few minor flaws. 

Bound To Vengeance never forces us to watch scenes of rape or many of the sickening acts that lead up to where the film opens. Unlike many of these types of films, much is left to the imagination while we're forced and pulled through grimy locations and treated to scuzzy men that deserve what they've got coming. Through a constant string of flashbacks, the backbone of the story is told while our main character engages in a seek and destroy mission against the men that kidnapped and harmed her. Adding a small taste of the original I Spit On Your Grave mixed with a helping of the Death Wish gunplay vibe, this Vengeance is a sweet but mildly miscalculated endeavor that hits and misses in many areas. 

If I turn this light on, you can see how
cute I am before I get all bloody. 
Actress Tina Ivlev is excellent in her portrayal as Eve, the main protagonist. She slips right into the shoes of the vengeful man hunter while old school character actor Richard Tyson throws everything he's got at the screen. He's manipulative, hardcore creepy, and a stone's throw away from doing his best work ever. Through a series of brutal beatings and toe curling acts of body defilement, Tyson maintains his cool, always staying perfectly in character.  Sadly. some of the support players here lack the same spark that makes the relationship between the two leads so impressive. As one of her first feature film roles, Ivlev serves up a steady dose of emotive screen moments that represent how talented she really is. Like most great actresses, she speaks with her eyes and captivating facial expressions. 

Bound To Vengeance never victimizes the main character, Eve. Instead, it gives her all the power in the world as she physically assaults, beats the living hell out of, and puts countless bullets in the male demographic of the film. Amazingly, the story moves at a good pace, allows us to experience her journey to salvation, and makes a strong statement about how easily women can fall into the underworld of sex slavery and human trafficking. No, this isn't the best movie ever made and the errors are apparent in many areas. But overall, this is one of the better female empowerment flicks that blends horror with a realistic story about a woman killing her aggressors. 



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Score

-CG