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Botched
Directed by: Kit Ryan Starring: Stephen Dorf, Sean Pertwee, Alan Smyth, Jamie Foreman, Russell Smith Synopsis: Richie Donovan (Dorf) is having a run of bad luck. After a perfect jewel heist in the south of France, he loses the merchandise in a freak car accident. Having to go back to his boss, Mr Groznyi (Pertwee) empty handed, he’s given a new job in order to redeem himself – go to Moscow and steal a golden cross from a penthouse apartment. He’s given two new partners – the introverted Yuri and his psychotic brother, Peter. Naturally, things don’t go as planned, and they find themselves taking an elevator full of hostages to the deserted 13th floor...
Review: This movie caught my attention thanks to a large pair of scissors that lurch out of a darkened elevator and decapitates one of the hostages. This turns out to be just one of many great setpieces in a little gem of a movie.
Stephen Dorf is best known to me as Deacon Frost, the enigmatic, forward thinking vampire from the first of the Blade movies. However whereas in that movie he didn't look like he could fight his way out of a paper bag, here he comes across as a much harder character, a seasoned criminal out of luck and in debt to his “uncle”. Sean Pertwee only has two scenes which effectively top and tail the movie. Sean plays Groznyi as a sinister gangster, loads of bling and designer sunglasses, a typically ostentatious Russian crimelord. Dorf is definitely the straight-man in the movie, surrounded by very surreal characters, both his partners-in-crime and their hostages. And lets not forget the people at the other end of the walkie-talkie... There are many strange characters in this movie, starting with Yuri and Peter, the bumbling brothers assigned to help Ritchie. Peter unfortunately goes all Vic Vega on the situation, losing control at the worst possible moment. His reaction to some of the bizarre things that occur are priceless. Also in the elevator are a security guard who asserts that he used to be Spetznaz, the Russian special forces, a trio of religious fanatic women and an attractive businesswoman called Anya.
I put this movie in the same arena as Dog Soldiers – it’s low budget (there’s lots of chasing up and down corridors to help eat up the running time) but manages to transcend that with some effective fx work (except for the rats – they look like hand-puppets) and it mixes black humour with a lot of gore, such as the scene where Richie and Peter try to lie to the hostages about the fate of the one they “let go”.
Verdict: There is a hell of a lot of fun to be had with this movie – yes it’s daft and over the top, which makes it perfect for that late night movie experience. Director Kit Ryan has made good use of his budget, but it's a shame about the rat. 6 out of 10 (MikeOutWest)
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