TL;DR – It plays with some interesting concepts and an ocean of blood but does not quite stick the landing.

Post-Credit Scene – There is no post-credit scene.

Disclosure – I was sent a screener of this film.

Warning – This film depicts scenes of abuse.

The Retaliators Review –

I remember seeing a trailer for this film last year and being intrigued by the concept. Is there a pressure point so severe that it would turn a peaceful person to use violence? I wondered when we would get it here in Australia, so I was intrigued when the screener arrived to see how it would explore that central issue.

So to set the scene, after hearing some musing on evil, we found ourselves near Hillsdale, New Jersey. When a tire bursts, two women are trying to take a shortcut near a local slaughterhouse stop to change it, not knowing the horror they found themselves in. We then encounter John Bishop (Michael Lombardi) and his family. John is a local pastor who does not believe in using violence to solve his problems. However, this will be tested when his daughter Sarah (Katie Kelly) accidentally stumbles across a crime and is chased down by Ram Kady (Joseph Gatt), a father’s worst nightmare.

Some aspects of this film will be a bit divisive and will probably land on personal taste as to whether they work or not. The main area of this is subtly, or in this case, the complete lack of them. There is not a lot of space for build-up here, so they go to these moments that feel disconnected from reality but set up the world they want to explore. From typical dinner to an abuse scene at the drop of a hat. The Over-the-top Christmas tree stealing scene perfectly depicting the main character’s philosophy to the one thing that might change that theological basis. It is all very convenient, but then they fit it all into a tight 90 minutes, so I am not complaining too much.

From a production perspective, this is an interesting film. We visually ocellate from grungy, overcast New Jersey to these heightened scenes that feel like they huffed some Mandy before starting. The violence is bloody and spontaneous, with a passion for showing teeth going everywhere. While it is quite comfortable depicting smaller conflicts, it struggles once it gets to a group setting, and a couple of visual effects still needed some work. Also, while it likes the darker, grungier setting, some more light would have helped in places. However, the soundtrack did take me back to my Creed era of the 2000s, so that was nice.    

The acting was generally fine, with Michael Lombardi doing a good job of holding it all together. From Fringe, I knew that Joseph Gatt could be a presence on the screen, but I didn’t think he could be genuinely menacing, but here he is. From a pacing perspective, the film doesn’t hit its stride until an hour in when [SPOILERS] it reveals its pseudo-zombies that will be the focus of the entire third act. However, this use of almost mindless fiends becomes my big issue with the film. At the start, we are presented with a theological and moral quandary about whether we could create a scenario where a reasonable man would choose violence. “no cameras, no witnesses, no consequences.” Giving us explorations on masculinity and what it means regarding violence, and while we get a tie with Evil Dead Rise for the best use of woodchipper. Watching him go ham on these people with no humanity left becomes a cop-out. They could have explored many interesting theological issues, but two verses just didn’t do it.

In the end, do we recommend The Retaliators? Well, look, this is a film made on a shoestring budget during the height of COVID, and they should be championed for what they got here. There are some interesting concepts that the film is playing with, but I am just not sure it sticks that landing thematically, though it hits its blood quota and more so. If you liked The Retaliators, we would recommend to you Ready or Not.   

By Brian MacNamara: You can follow Brian on Twitter Here, when he’s not chatting about Movies and TV, he’ll be talking about International Relations, or the Solar System.

Have you watched The Retaliators?, let us know what you thought in the comments below, feel free to share this review on any of the social medias and you can follow us Here. Check out all our past reviews and articles Here, and have a happy day. 

Credits – All images were created by the cast, crew, and production companies of The Retaliators
Directed by – Samuel Gonzalez Jr. & Bridget Smith
Screenplay by – Darren Geare & Jeff Allen Geare
Music by – Kyle Dixon & Michael Stein
Cinematography by – Joseph Hennigan
Edited by – Randy Bricker
Production/Distribution Companies – Better Noise Films & Lightbulb Film Distribution
Starring – Michael Lombardi, Marc Menchaca, Joseph Gatt, Jacoby Shaddix, Katie Kelly, Abbey Hafer, Ivan Moody, Zoltan Bathory, Chris Kael, Robert John Burke, Brian O’Halloran, Craig Mabbitt, Spencer Charnas with Tommy Lee & From Ashes to New
Rating –Around a Australia: MA15+