Ultimate Revenge!
Hello and welcome to Cinema Wellman. I am your host, David, and today we’re going to delve into the darker side of humanity as we look at movie characters who are hell bent on revenge.
Sweet, sweet revenge! (A dish best served cold.)
Vengeance.
Retaliation.
Retribution.
Reprisal.
The dictionary tells us that revenge (n.) - a desire for vengeance or retribution, revenge (v.) - to avenge (oneself or another) usually by retaliating in kind or degree.
There used to be two “REVENGE” spaces on the old school “The Game of Life,” and now there are NONE!
Come on Milton Bradley! What’s life without a little revenge?
But, I’m NOT suggesting a board game featuring revenge like we’ll be talking about today.
Today’s movies are filled with characters with an axe to grind because of something that happened to them or a loved one.
These films will also show us that revenge comes in all shapes, sizes, and forms.
There’s a lot that goes into a quality revenge scheme, and you sometimes have to be ready to play the long game to get exactly what you want.
And sometimes when you do get your revenge, it doesn’t help you at all.
As good a time as any to issue a trigger warning since these films feature some extremely brutal situations including abduction, rape, violence toward animals, and child killers.
A few of these would go in my “heavy lifting” viewing category since some of the events stay with you for a while.
This episode was inspired by a screening of Francois Truffaut’s The Bride Wore Black in which Jeanne Moreau tracks down, charms, and kills five men who do not know her.
The five men were responsible for her fiancé’s death on their wedding day.
It was an excellent revenge film, which had me thinking of other great revenge films I had seen over the years, so (to no one’s surprise) I made that list!
I decided that we will not be covering the following movies I have seen featuring the word “revenge” in the title; The Invisible Man’s Revenge, A Nightmare on Elm Street Part 2: Freddy’s Revenge, Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, JAWS: the Revenge, OR Revenge.
Those movies feature “revenge,” of course, but it’s minor league compared to our big bowl of revenge being served up today.
We will also not discuss any of the following “Revenge of the…” movies including; Revenge of the Nerds, Revenge of the Nerds II: Nerds in Paradise, Revenge of the Pink Panther, Revenge of the Ninja, Revenge of the Creature, Revenge of the Sith, OR Revenge of the Cheerleaders for the same reason.
Our revenge films don’t need the word in their title to get their point across, and those Nerds never abducted someone and imprisoned them for 15 years.
There were some exceptional supernatural revenge movies including The Crow, Carrie, and High Plains Drifter that we may group together and cover in a future episode at some point.
But, for this episode, I wanted to weed out any revenge movies with supernatural elements to them.
The Count of Monte Cristo is a GREAT revenge movie; the problem is that there are so many of them, I couldn’t decide which to include, so it got cut.
Also getting cut from our “Ultimate Revenge Top 10,” but definitely worth a mention are; Coffy/Foxy Brown (TWO revenge films starring Pam Grier!), the Kill Bill movies, and (how about this trio…) Hard Candy, I Spit on Your Grave, and The Princess Bride.
For this project we came up with a scoresheet (another shocker!) while rescreening ALL of today’s films over the past few weeks.
Scoresheet Categories:
Avenger
Who are we avenging?
Bad Guys
Helper
Revenge Kill Count
And then I began to think that there’s no way to give you all of that information without spoiling important parts of these films, which is why one of our next episodes will be our 3rd “Spoiler Alert” episode in which I will SPOIL everything about all of our revenge movies.
This episode will give you an overall look at the movies without giving away anything you wouldn’t get from reading the IMDb synopsis or seeing the trailer.
The “Spoiler Alert” episode will spoil all of them (and I really can’t wait for that one because some of these movies feature some unbelievable revenge plots!)
Revenge movies are a genre of its own, but, as I mentioned, there are revenge movies of all types, and those out for vengeance come in all shapes and sizes.
We’ll begin with a genre that has been packed with revenge seekers for ¾ of a century!
The Western.
There’s dust and grime and saloons and outlaws and, in many cases, revenge!
Nevada Smith (1966)
AP/128 m/IMDb: 6.9/directed by Henry Hathaway
IMDb: “A half-Native American/half-Caucasian young man evolves into a hardened killer as he tracks down the men who murdered his parents.”
Steve McQueen plays Max Sand (a.k.a. Nevada Smith) in this classic western.
Max’s parents were tortured and killed for gold by some very bad men. We see the beginning of this ordeal, but not the final act, and that is something to keep track of in these revenge movies because seeing the act usually puts us even more on the side of the “hero” in these films.
Max is young (the source material has him at 16, McQueen was 35) and inexperienced, so he needs some help to hone his revenge skills, and he finds such a helper in Brian Keith who teaches him to shoot, etc.
Max/Nevada Smith is certainly in for the long game on his revenge as he goes to extreme lengths to carry out his retribution.
Be on the lookout for McQueen playing with props in scenes to keep eyes on him. He does it all the time, and it really pissed off Yul Brenner during the shooting of The Magnificent Seven.
And he did most of his own stunts, as usual, and almost got trampled in a cattle stampede that went wrong, was captured on film, and kept in the film!
McQueen was something else.
Hang ‘Em High (1968)
AP/114 m/IMDb: 7.0/directed by Ted Post
IMDb: “When an innocent man barely survives being lynched by a mob of vigilantes seeking justice for a rancher who was murdered, he returns as a lawman determined to bring the errant vigilantes to justice.”
Clint Eastwood plays Marshall Jed Cooper who is out avenging HIMSELF after he is hanged unjustly for cattle rustling and murder.
And when you hang Clint Eastwood in a western, I guess you better “Hang ‘Em High,” unless you want him to survive and come at you in a big way!
Eastwood wore the same gun belt in this film as he did in all three of his “Spaghetti Westerns,” and Two Mules for Sister Sara.
The posse that carries out this miscarriage of justice includes Bruce Dern, Ed Begley, L.Q. Jones, “Duffy” from “F-Troop,” the Skipper from “Gilligan’s Island,” and four other guys!
He has 9 guys to hunt down, which may take a while.
Pat Hingle is a judge in this film, and Pat Hingle is wonderful in every film in which he appears.
If you think you don’t know him, I’ll bet you do.
This was Clint Eastwood’s first starring role in a Hollywood film, at the age of 38.
Tune into our “Ultimate Revenge Spoilers!” episode to find out how Jed Cooper carries out his revenge!
Next up is our 3rd and final western on today’s list, and wow, it’s “revenge” heavy, and extremely well done.
Once Upon a Time in the West (1968: Italy)
PG-13/145 m/IMDb: 8.5/directed by Sergio Leone
IMDb: “A mysterious stranger with a harmonica teams up with a notorious desperado to protect a beautiful widow and her land from a ruthless assassin in the employ of a railroad tycoon.”
Charles Bronson plays a character known only as “Harmonica.”
Harmonica is definitely out for revenge, but director Sergio Leone saves that until 18 remain in the film, so I’m not going to tell you at all.
Just watch the “Ultimate Revenge Spoilers!” episode for all of the details.
The Bad Guys are amazing; Jack Elam, Woody Strode, Henry Fonda!
The opening scene of Once Upon a Time in the West heavily borrows from 1952’s High Noon, but so what?
It’s mesmerizing in so many ways.
Sergio Leone went scoreless for the open and used natural sounds to fill in for the music.
Jam was lightly applied to Jack Elam’s lips and face to attract that fly. Piss off, CGI!!!
This was the first “Spaghetti Western” to be shot in the United States.
Half of the film’s entire budget went to the salaries of the actors and it was written by Bernardo Bertolucci and Dario Argento!
The Finnish title literally translates to Harmonica Avenger!
Premiere Magazine (All Hail!) named it one of their “25 Most Dangerous Movies,” and I still need to find that list!
One of the things that makes this movie so dangerous is Henry Fonda as Frank. Frank is one of the most evil characters I have ever seen on film, and the Henry Fonda I knew playing Frank makes him even more terrifying.
His piercing blue eyes, which are usually comforting, are downright evil in this movie.
This is Henry Fonda, Jane’s dad!
Tom Joad from The Grapes of Wrath!
Lieutenant Roberts from Mister Roberts!
Juror 8 in 12 Angry Men!
AND Frank Beardsley in Yours, Mine, and Ours with Lucille Ball in which he played a widower with 10 children who falls for a widow with 8 children and Henry Fonda played THAT FRANK and THIS FRANK in the same damn year.
That alone makes him one of the best actors in film history.
Spoilers a plenty on our next episode, you’ll want to know what the bad guys did.
Switching gears from western to film noir.
Point Blank (1967)
AP/92 m/IMDb: 7.2/directed by John Boorman
IMDb: “After being double-crossed and left for dead, a mysterious man named Walker single-mindedly tries to retrieve the money that was stolen from him.”
The mysterious man is known as Walker and is played by Lee Marvin (buried in Arlington National Cemetery right next to boxer Joe Louis!), and all Walker wants is his 93 grand. Nothing more, nothing less.
He’s going up against a syndicate known as “The Corporation,” a great name for a crime syndicate, don’t you think?
Among the bad guys are John “Dean Wormer” Vernon, Keenan Wynn, and Carol “Archie Bunker” O’Connor, and all three are tremendous.
Walker’s helper in Point Blank went on to play Pepper Anderson on NBC’s “Police Woman.
That’s not a true spoiler, but I’ll let you know who she is during the “Spoiler Alert” episode.
I’ll also let you know how many members of “The Corporation” Walker wipes out.
Point Blank features an “Introducing” credit for both John Vernon AND Sharon Acker!
One of my favorite scenes in Point Blank is of Walker walking down a hallway, and the sound of his shoes on that floor is front and center, and it goes on for a while.
We here at Cinema Wellman love when natural sound in a film is used as an effect and becomes almost musical.
Next we have a vigilante killer on the loose in New York City!
Death Wish (1974)
R/93 m/IMDb: 6.9/directed by Michael Winner
IMDb: “A New York City architect becomes a one-man vigilante squad after his wife and daughter are brutally attacked by street punks. In self-defense, the vengeful man kills muggers on the mean streets after dark.”
Our avenging architect, Paul Kersey, is played by Charles Bronson (2nd time on today’s list!)
One of the punks that carries out the attack on Kersey’s family is played by Jeff Goldblum in his film debut.
This is a bleak, filthy, crime-ridden New York City and after this attack, Paul Kersey gets himself a gun and starts cleaning things up in his own way.
Death Wish is said to have inspired copycat vigilantes including the 1984 NYC subway shootings of four youths by Bernhard Goetz.
Vincent Gardenia is awesome in this film, as usual, as the lead detective on the case.
Our next vigilante is our first female vigilante.
I told you revenge comes in many forms.
Ms. 45 (1981)
R/80 m/IMDb: 6.8/directed by Abel Ferrara
IMDb: “After being attacked and raped twice in one day, a timid, mute seamstress goes insane, takes to the streets of New York City after dark, and randomly shoots men with a .45 caliber pistol.”
From that synopsis alone, you can tell this is going to be a brutal film about a young woman pushed beyond the brink by back to back vicious attacks.
“Ms. 45” is played by 17 year old Zoe Tamerlis (also known as Zoe Lund).
Hers is a sad story.
Lund was a staunch advocate of heroin use and candidly discussed her use of the drug.
Sadly, she died of drug related heart failure at the age of 37.
Ms. 45 is a tough watch, and director Abel Ferrara pulls no punches.
Our “Ultimate Revenge Spoilers!” episode will provide you with Ms. 45’s Halloween costume of choice along with her Revenge Kill Count.
Next up is a dad out for revenge.
The Limey (1999)
R/89 m/IMDb: 6.9/directed by Steven Soderbergh
IMDb: “An extremely volatile and dangerous Englishman goes to Los Angeles to find the man he considers responsible for his daughter’s death.”
Wilson is the name of our “extremely volatile and dangerous Englishman,” and he’s played by the great Terrence Stamp.
Director Soderbergh uses footage from an early Stamp film as part of his backstory/character development, and I love that idea. Practical effects, in a way!
The man Wilson considers responsible for his daughter’s death is Terry Valentine, played by Peter Fonda.
Fondas in two bad guy roles on this list!
If you have never seen Terrence Stamp in a film, I suggest you do so. If not The Limey, then The Hit, Young Guns, The Adventures of Priscilla - Queen of the Desert, and don’t forget his General Zod in Superman II.
Brilliant!
Tune into our “Ultimate Revenge Spoilers!” episode to find out how many people Wilson kills, and if one of them is Terry Valentine.
John Wick (2014)
R/101 m/IMDb: 7.5/directed by Chad Stahelski
IMDb: “John Wick is a former hitman grieving the loss of his true love. When his home is broken into, robbed, and his dog killed, he is forced to return to action to exact revenge.”
This may be the most seen movie on today’s list since everyone loves Keanu Reeves.
I am a big fan of John Wick.
I love his back story, the ultra-stylized violence, Ian McShane at the Continental, it’s all good.
Unfortunately they made FOUR of these, and I hated the fourth, but let's just talk about the first one.
There won’t be much for me to spoil about John Wick on the “Spoiler Alert” episode since you know that his wife died, you know she sent him a puppy after she passed, you know the bad guys take his car and kill his puppy, and you know that John does not take that well.
At all.
“It’s not what you did, it’s who you did it to.”
We will finish today with a Korean trifecta of revenge that is next level retaliation, retribution, and reprisal!
Sympathy for Lady Vengeance (2005: South Korea)
R/105 m/IMDb: 7.5/directed by Park Chan-wook
IMDb: “After being wrongfully imprisoned for 13 years and having her child taken away from her, a woman seeks revenge through increasingly brutal means.”
I couldn’t find this streaming anywhere, so I bought the DVD after reading about it online.
It’s the only film on today’s list that I had not previously seen, and I’m glad I saw it since it certainly deserves a spot on this list.
I hadn’t planned on it, which is why we have 11 for you, which is very un-Cinema Wellman.
Also known as Lady Vengeance, this film was directed by Park Chan-wook who gave us Oldboy in 2003, and we’ll get to that in a bit.
Oldboy goes last on today’s list.
For a reason.
Our main character, Lee Geum-ja, pleads guilty to murdering a child and goes to prison for 13 years, even though she had nothing to do with the crime.
The real killer, Mr. Baek, was holding Lee Geum-ja’s infant child hostage and was going to kill the child if she didn’t take the blame for the crime that HE committed.
Lee Geum-ja has obviously been psychologically damaged from her ordeals which can help explain the revenge she seeks and how she seeks it.
She has troubling visions and nightmares including the child serial killer’s head on a dog’s body, which is something that has always given me the icks dating back to the 1978 remake of Invasion of the Body Snatchers.
Spoilers galore on our next episode, of course, but I’ll tease the ending by saying it may remind you of Freddy Krueger, and it has nothing to do with fire.
Next up is our second of three South Korean films about sweet, sweet revenge!
I Saw the Devil (2010: South Korea)
NR/144 m/IMDb: 7.8/directed by Kim Jee-woon
IMDb: “A secret agent exacts revenge on a serial killer through a series of captures and releases.”
Two films left on our Revenge Tour, and the bad guy in each film is played by the same actor; Choi Min-sik, and how he lives a normal life (if he does!) is beyond me after playing these two characters.
The secret agent in I Saw the Devil is named Soo-hyeon and he is seeking revenge against the man who tortured and murdered his pregnant girlfriend.
There’s really not much more I can tell you in this episode, since everything I say from here on will be teetering on the spoil.
Since it’s given away in the synopsis, I will mention that when Soo-hyeon figures out who the killer is and captures him only to beat and torture him and then LETS HIM GO made my eyes very wide even though I knew it was going to happen.
Soo-hyeon is NOT to be messed with.
One to go, and it is a pip!
Oldboy (2003: South Korea)
R/120 m/IMDb: 8.3/directed by Park Chan-wook
IMDb: “After being kidnapped and imprisoned for 15 years, Oh Dae-Su is released, only to find that he must track down his captor in five days.”
Oldboy is last on this list because of the twist at the end.
It’s an evil twist. A cruel twist.
A twist that makes Shyamalan’s twist in The Sixth Sense look like amateur hour. I had that figured out 20 minutes into the movie.
I had already seen Oldboy, but that didn’t make it any easier to watch a second time.
It actually made it more difficult to watch.
I’m going to save everything else for our spoiler episode, but I will tell you that if you’re squeamish about “teeth” stuff, there’s a scene in Oldboy you’ll want to skip.
Actually, two scenes.
Well, that is a wrap from here at Cinema Wellman as we took a look at 11 characters pushed over the edge for a variety of reasons.
Things did not turn out too well for those who came into contact with our protagonists.
We didn’t really tell you everything you needed to know about these films, so we hope you’re with us next time as we SPOIL EVERYTHING about EVERY MOVIE we just featured.
If you are interested in these movies, aren’t sure you actually want to see them, but still want to know all the details, THAT’S the episode for you!
Everything will be spoiled.
Until then, take care.
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