Charity Hurts

Directed by: Andrew Thatcher

Starring: Andrew Thatcher, John Tsoutis

Synopsis:

Jason Jones, a young guy living on his own, is besieged by wave after wave of Charity workers, banging on his door, literally demanding donations. Things start to get ugly when the charities won’t take “no” for an answer, and soon Jason unwittingly uncovers a conspiracy, revealing the mafia is behind over a hundred charity organisations operating in the city. Fed up with this thinly-veiled extortion, Jason wages a one-man war against mafia boss Scaglioni and his hordes of charity workers!

Review:

There are certain things you have to take into consideration when reviewing a low-low-budget movie. Acting is likely to be basic. Production values tend to be skimpy. So we look past these areas and concentrate on one thing – is the film entertaining, despite it’s budget constraints? In the case of Charity Hurts, yes. Yes it is.

The film kicks off with a young guy being harassed on the phone by a debt collection agency. Whilst some of the dialogue in this scene is a little off, there is a classy double-take joke by the guy’s dog, and the scene ends with a nice gruesome shot of the guy’s face all burnt to a crisp.

Jason Jones (Thatcher) is then introduced, being hassled by loads of different charity collectors, including a guy in a panda suit. Things start to take a menacing turn when one of them invites himself into Jason’s house, followed by two young girls who start beating him up when he starts being condescending.

A run-in with a police detective (with the worst hair in the world) fills in the exposition and points Andrew in the direction of John Scaglioni (Tsoutis), the mafia boss behind the Charity scams. The detective even helps our hero in a big shootout in one of the charity offices, which manages to be both funny and exciting to watch. The film utilises the same bullet-hole fx from the old Operation Wolf video games, and the sound fx during the fight scenes are eerily similar to the likes of Double Dragon. Jason and the cop even manage to have a great Buddy Cop/Sidekick bickering scene.

It’s after this scene that the story runs out of steam and we’re presented with Jason fighting wave after wave of opponents sent by Scaglioni to kill him. That’s not to say that this part of the film isn’t interesting – the fights are entertaining – but it is a bit over the top. Scriptwriting 101 dictates that the hero needs obstacles to overcome in the third act but this seems to have been taken literally, as Jason’s linear progression is impeded by opponent after opponent.

Although all the fight scenes are well-choreographed, there is a disparity in their quality, which boils down to the ability of each performer. Some fights (the first in particular) look like they are combo routines lifted straight from the dojo. Others wouldn’t look out of place in any other decent-budget martial arts movie, with a big range of techniques which cross many different martial arts styles. The camera-work is excellent throughout – Andrew isn’t a fan of the shaky-cam/fast edit approach, rather he lets his fight scenes flow. However sometimes this is to it’s detriment, as there are numerous occasions when it is very obvious that kicks/strikes aren’t connecting. As this is his first feature I can give it a pass but Andrew needs to work on camera angles for future projects.

Andrew’s character is portrayed as an everyday guy who just happens to know martial arts. He’s not your usual chiselled archetype but he’s pretty nimble and can handle the complex combinations and make them look believable. He also doesn’t go the Steven Seagal route, taking plenty of lumps along the way but always persevering long enough to turn the tables on his opponents.

Martial Arts movies tend to live and die on their Final Fight, and this is something that Andrew certainly appreciates. Scaglioni is seen throughout the film, practicing his katas, beating up henchmen who displease him and basically being a mean dude. During his early scenes, especially when he performs his kata, I was praying that this guy would be involved at the end. Well, my prayers were answered, and Tsoutis proves to be the perfect kung fu villain, delivering an excellent end fight, utilising unique kicking skills which are on a par with Cyril Raphaelli in Kiss of the Dragon and an absolute joy to watch.

Verdict

Writer/director/producer/star Andrew Thatcher is to be commended on not producing yet another “Secret Underground Tournament” movie and for eschewing the shaky-cam trend. Charity Hurts is a film that wears it's no-budget status on it's sleeve with pride, and why not. It's damn entertaining.

7 out of 10 (MikeOutWest)

To get a copy of the film you can contact Andrew here.

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