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Overall Rating : 6.5/10
Directed By : Tammi Sutton
Andrew Prine (They're Playing with Fire)
Jason London (Dazed and Confused)
Carlos Lauchu
Allison Lange (Alone in the Dark II)
Supplied By : MTI Home Video
Film Reviewed By : Rick L. Blalock
Date Reviewed : July. 29, 2010
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| PLOT A group of longtime friends converge on a fatal course with destiny when they cross paths with Alexander Tatum, a mercenary surgeon. He is a hunter with the keen skill of one who has also been hunted. Prey turned predator. The victims quickly realize that Alexander is just the beginning of their problems, as they find themselves enmeshed in a fight for survival against a sociopath business man and his demonic staff, who will stop at nothing to prevail in the sale of Black Market Body Parts. | ||||
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| THE REVIEW In the film SUTURES, young Med-Student Sienna and 5 of her fellow Med-Students decide to get away for awhile as they all pack up and head to 's Grandfather's old hunting lodge(which more resembles a castle than anything else). At first, they encounter nothing but peaceful fun do the group of longtime friends. But things start to go wrong when one starts to go missing, and the others are met with some strange occurrences. Sooner or later they're all drugged and in the hands of Alexander Tatum, a mysterious man that had obviously been trailing their vehicle the entire trip. Skilled in the art of killing, Tatum and a few assailants deliver the group of friends to an undisclosed location, where each of them endure many forms of torture, much to the delight of a skilled surgeon named Hopkins, who along with Alexander, hopes to score big with the students' organs, by selling them on the underground Black Market. Judging by the film's cover art and then further reading the plot and seeing that has to do with the selling of Human organs on the Black Market, initially I couldn't help but to think of two films, HOSTEL, and more Prominently TOURISTAS. Now this is not what i'd call a good initial reaction as today's current Horror market is flooded with such films, films that rely on torture alone as a selling point. And with these films, since torture is the main vice, the main draw if you will, plots for these films, especially for independents, go by the wayside, so to speak, because the mentality is that as long as theses much gore and nudity, who needs a great story to hold a film together. This was my assumption when I first put in SUTURES to check it out, I figured that what i'd end up getting was just another run-of-the mill torture romp, and since I am one who doesn't rely on gore and guts for a good time, I assumed that i'd go away from yet another film, unsatisfied. Well, to tell you the truth, for about the first half hour, the film was pretty much what I expected as it was slow paced and heading down that same, familiar road that I have been down before many times. But it's not until the film finally reaches it's core that many layers are pulled back revealing a story that is actually well structured, and by this point it's clear that writers Moom and Lauchu have been paying attention to those other films as well, because not only do they tread familiar waters with their script, they also add to it forging their own, new ideas. The story within SUTURES ism quite multi-layered as I kind of hinted at, yes these Pre-Med friends do get kidnapped and taken into a dark unknown place, a place that is the headquarters for a surgeons dark and wicked operation. But adding to that are some pretty interesting things and ideas, one being that the surgeon not only uses thid place to disect and dismember for parts, he also uses it as a training ground for doctors. He tests these doctors via various tests, in which he would injure a victim and it's up to the rookie to keep their "patient" alive. I for one, just had to recognize how brilliant this idea was, not only does it keep the film from becoming stale over time, it is also something different from all of the things that I have seen in a film of this type. There is of course also the subplot of Dr. Hopkins' assistant, the towering man known as Alexander Tatum. Tatum obviously a product of a trouble past, is as skilled when it comes to precision as is Hopkins, he truly is a man, with a lot of story to tell, we do learn more though out the film, but for the most part he is a walking mystery that serves as master henchman to Hopkins. During the film, we get the sense that Hopkins and crew have been at this Black Market game for a long time, and that this new batch of victims, is just that, the latest crop. Saying to much about what goes on in SUTURES would be a bit of an injustice, because the story at hand unfolds very nicely, with a nice twists and turns you won't likely see coming, if in fact you don't know about them. So with that said, you might find further clues in other reviews somewhere out there, but as for my review, I choose not to reveal all the details, in hopes of keeping the fun intact. The film hosts a great cast, who all give very dedicated performances. The great Andrew Prine and the film's own Producer/Writer Carlos Lauchu, are Dr. Hopkins and Alexander Tatum respectfully, and serve as the head of the evil operation. Prine, who has portrayed a number of roles(my favorite film of his is the cult favorite, THEY'RE PLAYING WITH FIRE), but here as the important Dr. Hopkins, he does a really convincing job, yet he doesn't even have to try hard. He doesn't poor on the bad guy attitude, but instead approaches the role very naturally and calmly, which is way more menacing than any over-the-top villain could ever be. Lauchu, a man of many credentials(former Pre-Med, a black belt in Judo, Tae Kwon Do, as well as Jujitsu, and not to mention that he is also a Science Teacher) also proves that he has acting chops as well, creating a character that is among, if not the most interesting Character in the film. Although born in Panama, Lauchu sort of a Native American look to him, which immediately made his character stand out on screen. With this being his first sort of starring role, after seeing him in this, I hope to see him in more roles in the future - of course that's if he care find the time to do so between his many other endeavors. Some whom I guess you'd label the star of the film is Allison Lange in the role of Sienna. Before seeing this film, and although with my prejudged assumptions, one thing that had me a little excited is that Allison was in this. Believe it or not, I am a huge Allison Lange fan, and ever since I first saw her act in a little underrated Horror film called CHRISTINA'S HOUSE, I have been trying my best to follow her career. Although she has had a few roles in the last couple of years, they have been few and far between, thus, I had lost touch in what shew has done. But SUTURES was a great project to get me reacquainted with Miss Lange, as she puts up another phenomenal performance, one that really keeps you into the film, at the moments when you need to be paying the most attention. In my opinion, Allison Lange is a (sadly) underrated actress, and truly deserves more, something that I hope the future brings to her as well. Also among the cast are some notable smaller roles, by the likes of Jason London, TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE III/PUMPKINHEAD II Director Jeff Burr, snd even Chad Ferrin film regular, Timothy Muskatell. Overall, I have to admit that I really liked SUTURES. Those of you, who like me, go into this film expecting just another torture fest, be sure to give this a shot, because once you get into it, it's a film that has a little bit more to offer than the average indie Horror film. |
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| GORE
METER 5/10 There's blood splatter, severed limbs, impalements, and even a scene in which a bloody breast implant is removed. | ||||
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| MUSICAL
SCORE 5.5/10 Like the plot, the score is also multi-layered, ranging from atmospheric, to upbeat pop/rock to tracks utilizing samples from the film. I was so glad to notice that the film didn't have yet another score that I would just deem as being "generic". |
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| OVERALL
IMPRESSION OF THE FILM A good thing is that a lot of films that I have seen lately, which were some that I swore to myself that i'd dislike, have actually been films that I have quite enjoyed. Yes, SUTURES starts off as just your average indie Horror, which slow pace and all, but once it gets to where it intends, to go it does take an interesting turn for the better, most prominently towards the end of the film, in which it builds itself up to s very satisfying payoff. Again, I enjoyed it, and if you like independent Horror, then this is one film that i'd definitely recommend! | ||||
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