2008 86 Mins. Kim Basinger, Lukas Haas and Craig Scheffer star. Written and Directed by Susan Montford Rated R for strong language, violence, gore and sexuality.
This is a weird movie. I like it and revisit it every now and then especially around the holidays but theres a lit of things that just don't work but yet enough stuff that does which makes for solid escapism. Kim Basinger (Batman) stars as a upper middle class housewife with an abusive husband whom goes to the mall for some last minute xmas shopping which is a strike against her being that I work in retail). When there she struggles finding a parking spot and bitches to a security officer that its ridiculous (2nd strike) and he directs her to park further away. Eventually she finds a spot and while walking up sees a car double parked. While shopping Basinger does a solid job of establishing the kind of woman she's playing. Someone unhappy and insecure but with a playful side. Upon returning to her car, the car that was double parked pulls up behind her and four of the most unbelievable punks ever start shit with her. She isn't afraid to fight back and than before she knows it a security guard is shot and shes on the run with the kids close behind. She ends up crashing and grabs her toolbox out of the trunk and runs into the woods with the delinquents on her heels and looking to kill and possibly rape her. She of course begins fighting back but at first it feels as almost reactions and than she embraces it but not fully.
That's the confusing part. I get that they want to keep her layered but it's hard to believe a woman doing such damage that's reached her patience with bullshit doesn't change. It culminates in a strange scene where she tries to seduce an odd Haas and that's being kind. The last shot is pretty bad ass and the movie is fun especially when it's boiled down to the simplistic but the dramatic girth they do try for is only half successfull and although Basinger is great she's kind of in the wrong. But as a survival horror thriller theres definitely a fare amount of fun that it offers.
RATING=7 KILLER SANTAS OUT OF 10
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