"Retribution" is odd and unusual 80's horror, but it's often very scary and you got to admire how director Guy Magar breaks with all the dreadful clichés and stereotypes that marked the decade. The filming locations are hideous, the violence is raw & explicit and the characters are extremely anti-Hollywood. Especially our lead actor Dennis Lipscomb is someone who you'd normally NEVER see as the protagonist in a 80's horror slasher. His character George Miller is an introvert, unattractive and rather pathetic looking loner who lives in a sleazy hotel room and paints macabre stuff for a living. That's something else than the high school prom queen who's stalked by a ridiculously masked killer for being too popular, isn't it? The movie opens with George ready to take a dive from the hotel roof top to end his sad life with suicide. He survives the attempt because, at the exact same moment, his body becomes possessed by the furious spirit of a murdered gambler. When George returns home from the clinic, everyone is very caring and concerned (he even scores with a warm-hearted prostitute that's way out of his league!), yet the homicidal spirit homing inside him makes him commit repulsive murders when he sleeps. "Retribution" is a brave little horror movie, albeit slightly overlong and sometimes focusing too much on the human interest aspects. The special effects, however, are great and the murders are incredibly gory and sadistic! The ghost inside creepy George Miller is obviously VERY upset, as he crushes people's heads with elevators, processes bodies with frozen animal carcasses and slices stomachs. Quite a few sequences in this film definitely aren't for the squeamish! The flashback scene near the end, enlightening us about the gambler's death, is quite shocking and you immediately understand why he's so angry! If I were George, I would even have volunteered to complete the murder cycle! The music and camera-work are also very effective and there are excellent supportive roles for Hoyt Axton ("Gremlins"), Suzanne Snyder ("Killer Klowns from Outer Space") and Leslie Wing ("the Dungeonmaster"). Recommended to fans of solid B-horror.
Review of Retribution
