Starring: Thomas Roach, David Tracy, Justan Wagner
Directed by: Sam Curtain
When a film implies what’s going to happen simply by the viewer paying attention to the title, then sitting through said production, there’s not much left to be desired in the inner workings of the movie itself. Today, we’re pulling back the body bag on director Sam Curtain’s gorier-than-gory assault of a display, BEATEN TO DEATH – and it’s safe to say that your eyes (and stomach) will feel the brunt of this ass-kicking, without a doubt.
Easier to follow than an ant trail leading to a discarded lollipop, the film focuses on human punching bag Jack (Roach) as he’s relentlessly whaled-upon by a rather large fellow (Wagner) in the movie’s opening. The immediate reasoning for the thrashing isn’t known, but it’s graphic, and Jack is only able to gain the upper hand with the assistance of a broken beer bottle (you can figure out what happens). As he stumbles around after the attack, he finds his wife (Nicole Tudor) unconscious in the next room, also inexplicably. Don’t worry, my mangy little mongrels – all will be explained in time, and not without a copious amount of crimson & vomit being splashed around in mass quantities. Just when it appears that Jack may be on the road to escape, someone else is right there to pick up the fisticuffs and dole them out at a flesh-ripping frenetic pace.
Don’t even think about looking for a slice of humor in this 90+ minute parade in exhibitive absurdity – this is plain old beatdown-material, and the only difference it’s the same poor S.O.B. who keeps capturing different beatdowns…some guys just can’t catch a break. The film’s scenes are shown out of sequence, but have no fear – everything comes into form rather nicely and all the loose ends are tied up without too much damage – the movie is a stellar output, atmospherically-speaking with multiple sweeping shots of the Australian countryside, which assists in the story’s progression and the seemingly helpless situation Jack has found himself in.
When BEATEN TO DEATH had concluded, I was neither relieved or heartbroken about the culmination – it’s just one of those films that sets the tone in the first 5 minutes, then rides a wave of sadism right to the shore – some will love it, others will shove it to the side, but any way you slice it, the images will probably stick in your gray matter for some time afterwards.
