Incredible Violence is a nightmare that will put you through a hell of a ride as its storyline unfolds. The film follows G. Patrick Condon (played by Stephen Oates of Frontier) a filmmaker who begins panicking after spending $250,000 of shady investor dollars that were earmarked to make a movie. Trying to figure out how he can avoid an untimely death, Condon decides to cut out all the expenses of a traditional movie, using himself, fax machines, surveillance cameras, and relying on the real terror he is imposing on an unsuspecting group of struggling actors. Meanwhile, Grace (played by M.J. Kehler of Act 7) and Foster (Micheal Worthman of Supernatural), two of the actors, slowly realize that this shoot is not an ordinary low budget horror film.
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Incredible Violence delivers a brutal story that capitalizes on the breakdown of the human condition in a savage environment. What makes this delivery effective is that it uses well worn concepts but avoids being cheesy or predictable. Specifically, meta experiences and the idea of an omnipotent puppet master running the show. In terms of the meta experiences, the film pokes fun at the genre discussing and breaking down horror tropes (IE: the jump scare and women forced to be naked on camera).
In terms of the jump scare, there is only one and it is used to talk about the ridiculous nature of jump scares. Also, the omnipotent puppet master is, well, incompetent. While the puppet master is first thought of as a desperate filmmaker who is willing to do anything, he sucks at using violence against the actors, which results in several hilarious moments. In one scene, he attempts to kill off an actor by strangulation and hilariously underestimates how long this takes and ends up gasping for breath as he is straining to finish the job. Incredible Violence also directly talks to the viewer via a fictional television show that airs randomly between the scenes. It is unclear as to why this is happening at first, but after the final twist, all the pieces fall into place.
The characters in Incredible Violence are compelling and relatable as the viewer watches their separate breakdowns. The film makes a point about famous sociological experiments in the past and you can see their influence. Without much prompting, characters become animalistic, savage, and forget their ties to society or humanity, all in a matter of days. After the first big twist of the film, it becomes less funny and its brutality is almost hard to watch.
While I do praise Incredible Violence it does leave more to be desired. When the truth about the entire film and experience is discovered, there is not any more divulgence into the motivations behind the chaos. Maybe this was meant to be mysterious, but some more disclosure would have made this aspect more interesting and would not have left viewers in the dark, trying to put the pieces together.
Overall, I highly recommend Incredible Violence as the film is a fun, terror filled ride that will satisfy your need for graphic, brutal violence in a petrifying way.
WICKED RATING: 7/10
Director: G. Patrick Condon
Written by: G. Patrick Condon
Stars: M.J. Kehler, Stephen Oates, Michael Worthman
Release Date: Available now on VOD and Digital HD
Genres: Comedy, Horror
Length: 92 Minutes
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