Hey_Sweden Review of Retribution

Retribution (1987)

You get your money's worth with this effective B picture.

[8/10 · 4 August 2012]

Co-writer / director Guy Magar offers up a sufficient amount of razzle-dazzle in this low budget revenge saga. It's got plenty of atmosphere and special effects, plus an always grim feel to its story. It also gives a rare starring role to Dennis Lipscomb, a veteran of supporting and character parts (in movies like "WarGames", "A Soldier's Story", "Crossroads", and "Under Siege") who'd previously headlined the independent productions "Union City" and "Eyes of Fire". While his performance might not be to all tastes, it can't be argued that he truly gives his all to the role. He plays George Miller, a wimpy, depressed painter who survives a suicidal jump off a building only to find out that there's a scary reason that he survived. Somebody else who perished at the same time (on Halloween night, no less) is determined to get back at those that messed him up, using George's body as his instrument of revenge. Magar makes this a visually arresting experience at all times. For one thing, staging the opening sequence on Halloween night is great because it's a weird image to see a bunch of Halloween masks taking in the spectacle in front of them. Some strong violence is suggested without being shown in any great detail, which could understandably frustrate and disappoint some genre fans, especially as there's a little bit of invention here: one victim is shoved inside an animal carcass and sawed up. The score by John Carpenter associate Alan Howarth is very nicely done. Overall, the story is still reasonably entertaining no matter how familiar its theme may be. Better performances than usual for this sort of thing help, with Leslie Wing as a caring psychiatrist, Suzanne Snyder as your friendly neighbourhood hooker-with-a-heart-of-gold, and singer / actor Hoyt Axton as an investigating detective. (However, if you're an Axton fan, be advised that he doesn't get to do all that much and doesn't even show up until over an hour into the movie.) You may also recognize George Murdock ('Barney Miller') and Harry Caesar ("The Longest Yard" '74) among the supporting cast. At an hour and 49 minutes, this does go on longer than your typical horror movie, but it's nice that Magar actually cares about his characters, making them more than one-dimensional and focusing on adult protagonists and antagonists instead of teenagers. This is a true horror movie, and a fairly intense one, and deserves another look from devotees of the genre. Eight out of 10.