[Film Review] For the Sake of Vicious (2020)

What could be scarier than coming home from work and seeing two strangers in your kitchen, one of them beaten and tied to a chair? Directors, Gabriel Carrer and Reese Eveneshen, offer an answer to that in their new bloody and intense feature film.

For the Sake of Vicious (2021) is exactly what its title entails and successfully lives up to the splatter horror of our dreams... or nightmares. Single mom and nurse Romina (Lora Burke) is an unsuspecting victim as she makes her way home on Halloween evening with the hope of taking her son trick-or-treating. Instead, Romina comes home to a threat: a vengeful man only known as Chris (Nick Smyth)has taken a man, Alan (Colin Paradine), hostage in her kitchen. Our characters share loose connections; Chris believes his daughter was molested by Alan, whilst Romina was the nurse that tended to his daughter after the incident, and it also happens that Alan is the property owner of Romina’s home. 

Romina decides to lend her hand in keeping Alan alive and tied up despite Chris’ lack of evidence against him. She sacrifices seeing her son and ultimately her safety to mediate the violence that Chris and Alan have brought into her home. Grounded by her maternal instinct, Romina often keeps Chris from beating Alan to death similar to keeping two children from fighting. When she suddenly realizes that Chris does not know what he is doing she frees Alan who makes a call to Gerald (James Fler), a quiet character who seems to be leading a band of mercenaries who give no second chances and Alan has just maxed out. 

Thinking he has called for help, Alan has unleashed a wave of violence that Chris and Romina must fight in order to survive the night. It is here that our attention is taken away from seeking the truth. A dark yet important topic regarding sexual crimes against children no longer seems to be relevant anymore, instead shifting the focus as Chris and Romina fight against masked mercenaries. 

From here we are given a volatile show of blood, guts, and gore to the absolute extreme. From the amount of blood, to the questionable sound effects of the kills, all the way to the gruesome visuals, we are thrown into the violence quickly and for a lengthy period of time. Successful in their fight against all the masked men, it is then, through Alan’s dying breaths that we learn the truth Chris has been seeking. 

The trio is successful in defeating everyone and against the grain, Romina is never a badass final girl, she has her moments but ultimately she is truly only the last person standing by default as Alan and Chris succumb to their injuries. This may be interpreted as a ‘revenge solves nothing’ message or it could be seen as satisfactory in the sense that everyone low-key deserved it. Either way, although this type of action can be entertaining and fun even, it is hard to ignore that the satisfaction and excitement of all the violence and blood have come at the cost of our story. 

Romina never really having anything at stake besides a home she rents makes it hard to feel fully satisfied with how the story ends. Carrer and Eveneshen have given us a feature with great potential, creative practical effects, and violence for the sake of it. If you enjoy a rowdy night full of blood and guts, then this is a rollercoaster of a film you have to see. If splatter horror isn’t your thing, it is advised you skip this one, but hey for the sake of ‘viciousness’ why not give it a try.

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