The Violent Kind (2010) – Film Review

Opening with a dilapidated shed and the harrowing repetition ‘you can’t make me do it’, The Violent Kind is a horror film with a difference. More impressive than some of the drivel that has recently been released, it weaves an intriguing story and does well with its obviously low budget.

We’re introduced to the principal characters through a brief display of sex, fighting and partying, the latter transporting the central characters to the secluded farmhouse where the horror of the film plays out. Focusing on a criminal group of bikers, the film draws the entire crew together to celebrate a 50th birthday. The predicament ushers in a predictable wave of jealousy and nostalgia for Cody (Corey Knauf) who has to endure seeing ex-girlfriend Michelle with a new partner. After the merriment and predictable mishaps subside the real entertainment begins…

The party’s stragglers remain in the farmhouse only to be unknowingly surrounded by strangers. There’s a sinister man who stands whistling in the trees whilst two apparently feral girls crawl around the shed we saw at the beginning of the movie. Enter a blood-soaked Michelle and the craziness unfurls. Attempting to eat Elroy after he touches her while asleep, Michelle, along with the evil that now resides in her, poses a mass of problems for the group.

Well-paced and packing an enjoyable soundtrack, The Violent Kind avoids most of the pitfalls many of its peers succumb to. Although many of its characters make the predictable rookie mistakes most horror movie characters do (don’t go in there, look behind you! etc), the twists and turns are well thought out and not always expected. The Butcher Brothers, writers and directors of the piece, do a valiant job with the resources available and have created an intriguing film that is well performed and well directed.

Little may be explained until the end of the film but it is the mysterious happenings that play in the film’s favour. The static each character discovers on their phone and their unresponsive cars add to the suspense whilst the reanimation of the dead and injured will have the audience throwing out wild guesses as to what is causing the strange affliction.

A rival gang appears in the second half of the film and add to the tension. We soon discover that they have something to do with the strange occurrences of the evening, much to the dismay of the surviving characters. The leader Vernon (Joe Elgender) is played with delicious insanity but his sidekicks are slightly wooden, with Jazz overplaying his crazed part. Promising that worse is on its way, is there any hope in store for the survivors? Although the final explanation is confusing and seems a little out of place The Violent Kind is nonetheless an interesting watch.