Frightfest: Vile (2011)

It’s clear that an audience is sick of a particular genre when over half the audience leave before the movie begins, this is exactly what happened with the UK premier of Vile at the 2011 Frightfest.

The story follows a group of four twentysomethings out on a camping trip, who are lured into a trap where they join others as part of an experiment. The experiment is based on pain, and a fluid that is excreted into the brain, when you feel pain. One medical firm is using this as a drug, but has to result in diabolical means in order to extract the fluid. Each of the captives is fitted with a device that collects the fluid via a vile attached to the back of their necks. In order to achieve what is expected of them, they must inflict pain on one another in order to fill the requirement needed to secure their freedom, of course being civilized and working together is not something on everyone’s agenda

I’m sure it says quite a lot about me, when I state (probably against popular belief) I really quite enjoyed Vile. While it was indeed nothing knew, it did have some slightly different spins on the torture porn genre, helped along by some good performances, and a phenomenal musical score.

I do however see the flaws with the movie, the release of the pain fluids is caused by even the smallest amount of pain, but the group go to more and more brutal means to achieve the desired amount. For example, the pulling out of a fingernail gave them 3.5% of the 100% they need to get freedom, however a slap might just get them 1%. To me the logic would be to spank each other (no this is not a personal fetish), they have 27 hours to get the required amount, so its not like you don’t have the time. Instead they are stabbing people, breaking limbs, boiling hands, and ironing themselves.

The movie does a very good job of making you angry, one of the characters called Tara (Maya Hazen) is incredibly ruthless, while the others are hitting each other in order to achieve the required dosage, she is stabbing people and breaking limbs. She is an incredibly verbal character that you know is going to get her comeuppance, and when she did, the audience really cheered.

There is a lot of emotion in the movie, some of which is well executed, others not so well, but in the world of torture porn Vile certainly has a different feel.

The cast are great, Eric Jay Beck and April Matson specifically perform incredibly well, one hundred percent likeable, you really feel they are their characters. This is highlighted by the clever direction of first time helmer Taylor Sheridan a name you may recognise if you are a fan of Son’s Of Anarchy where he plays the character of David Hale.

But the biggest hat nod must go to Corey Wallace, for his phenomenal score, a touch of Tangerine Dream can be felt in their, it’s beautiful and haunting all at the same time, and is such a key factor to the movies overall feel, an inferior score could have severely damaged the film.