Director: Sonny Laguna, Tommy Wiklund
Writer: Sonny Laguna, David Liljeblad, Tommy Wiklund (Screenplay)
Starring: Hanna Oldenburg, Ralf Beck, Torbjorn Andersson, Niki Nordenskjord, Cheryl Murphy
Plot: Emma is kidnapped and imprisoned by a trio of psychopaths.
Runtime: 1 Hour 18 Minutes
There may be spoilers in the rest of the review
Verdict: Rape Revenge 101
Story: Animalistic starts as ambassador Emma (Oldenburg) is finalizing a deal with a major oil company, in a country she doesn’t know, she picks up a taxi driven by Shirley (Nordenskjord), this is the beginning of her nightmare. Abducted by Jim (Beck) and Pete (Andersson), Emma will learn her fate if she doesn’t follow the rules.
Here she is raped, beaten and humiliated by her captors as she learns who is in control, waiting for her chance to escape her ordeal, taking her own vengeance on her captors.
Thoughts on Animalistic
Characters – Emma is a businesswoman from Australia, she has just completed a big deal and heading off to a press conference, the deal isn’t the most popular and then she is abducted by three psychopaths. she is raped, beaten but she won’t go down without a fight. Jim is the ring leader, he wants these women for himself and lets the other have them when he is done with them, he does seem to have a normal life away from this world too which means he would have something to lose if they got caught. Pete is the man working with Jim, he is mentally challenge which leads to Jim taking advantage of him, making him an easy target for Emma while she escapes. Shirley is the one that brings the victims to Jim, she gets her taste as her taxi seems like the one that would help a stranded young woman.
Performances – When it comes to the rape revenge genre it is always down to just how much the victim character goes through, the leading lady in these must be a strong actress and she is for the most part, it can always be difficult to do more than scream at times. Ralf Beck does hit the psychotic side to his character at times. Torbjorn and Niki don’t get as much screen time that gets the job done without struggling.
Story – The story here follows a young woman that is abducted, raped and beaten by her captors before finding a way to escape to get her revenge, we know how this story unfolds and the only thing we wait for, is to see how the victim gets their revenge. The big aspect of the story is that we could have added in a twist about the abductors being involved in the protest against her deal, but we missed a trick with this one. If you do like the ‘I Spit on your Grave’ films, you will go on to get what you want out of the film’s story.
Horror – The horror from the film comes from just what Emma must go through at the hands of her attacks.
Settings – The film stays in one location, the cabin where Emma is taken too, it creates the isolation away from anyone visiting and the fact she is a businesswoman visiting the country, she doesn’t know where to go.
Special Effects – The effects in the film are great uses of practical effects when it comes to the attacks with shocking moments throughout.
Scene of the Movie – Wood chipper.
That Moment That Annoyed Me – Not much we haven’t seen before.
Final Thoughts – When it comes with to the rape revenge genre it is always going to be difficult to do something original because it is formulaic, it does check the lists for the fans and that is all we can ask for.
Overall: Simple Rape Revenge Movie.
Rating
