The Victim, 2011.
Directed by Michael Biehn.
Starring Michael Biehn, Jennifer Blanc, Danielle Harris, Ryan Honey and Denny Kirkwood.
SYNOPSIS:
When her friend is killed by Sheriff’s Deputies, a young woman finds herself in a life and death situation and flees into the woods, where she stumbles upon a mysterious recluse…
80s icon Michael Biehn wrote himself into cinematic history with such memorable turns in cult classics like Aliens and The Terminator. The 90s weren’t quite so kind, with Biehn relegated to forgettable films, before the turn of the millennium consigned the man, largely, to straight to video parts. That said, one thing has remained consistent, and it is Biehn’s unwavering reliability in almost every role he takes in whatever budget range of film. Now Biehn has made the move behind the camera as writer and director (and star) of The Victim, his sophomore directorial gig (though first in total control).
When Annie (Jennifer Blanc) witnesses her friend Mary (Danielle Harris) being killed by a dirty cop, she escapes into the woods. She stumbles upon the home of recluse Kyle (Biehn). Biehn needs convincing whilst the pursuing rogue cops are wary of Kyle. Annie persuades Kyle to help find Mary’s body – the only evidence that will help give her a case against the dirty cops, whose unblemished records mean their word is gold. All the while, Annie is unsure of Kyle and vice versa.
This is a pretty standard thriller. It’s a little grindhouse, with a psychological look at its main characters. It’s caught in a middle ground of not being grindhouse enough to provide exploitative entertainment consistently, nor well scripted enough to really engage as a character piece. It takes itself a bit too seriously, while the plot’s structure tends to drift aimlessly too often. Something more akin to the tone of Planet Terror may have been better, with plenty of tongue in cheek, over the top, crass thrills. This, however, descends into dull too often.
The cast are not too bad. Danielle Harris (The Last Boy Scout, Daylight) is a recognisable face who appears mostly in (largely pointless) flashbacks. Jennifer Blanc is okay, and Ryan Honey as the once exemplary cop whose morality slips further and further out of his reach is adequate. Biehn, despite having to concentrate on aspects behind the camera, still manages to deliver the best and most interesting performance. He’s really good here in a role that has some complexity, at least in comparison to the rest. You could argue that given he wrote and directed this, it’s something of an ego stroking film but Biehn’s never struck me as such an actor. Still, he’s the best part of the film, while his direction adds enough energy to keep things moving nicely.
All in all The Victim is fairly entertaining but lacking anything that sets it apart from other films in the genre. Being a bit badder, with some added unintentional laughs could have actually helped this. More intentional humour most definitely could have, but instead it just misses the mark in many aspects. However, its brief runtime means The Victim never gets boring.
Flickering Myth Rating – Film: ★ / Movie: ★ ★
Tom Jolliffe
Originally published September 24, 2012. Updated April 11, 2018.
