Ten Dead Men

Starring: Brendan Carr, Terry Stone, Pooja Shah, Kieth Eyles, Lee Latchford Evans, Doug Bradley (narration)

Synopsis:

Ryan, an ex-enforcer/hitman who used to work for crime-lord Hart (Stone) takes on one last job to repay an old debt, only for it to go badly wrong. Captured and tortured, Ryan is forced to watch the murder of his girlfriend Amy (Shah) before being shot and almost killed himself. Recovering from his injuries, Ryan wreaks a one-man-vengeance on the ten men responsible...



Review:A while ago, Wayfarer reviewed To Kako (Evil) , a low budget zombie movie from Greece which transcended it’s budgetary shortcomings with an intelligent script, good directing and editing. The British Independent action movie, Ten Dead Men, has a very similar feel. I’ve been aware of the work of independent film producers, “Modern Life?” over the past few years through Impact Magazine, which has often sung its praises. This is the first movie of theirs I’ve had the pleasure to watch.

Although Ten dead Men gets off to a rocky start, once we’re introduced to Harris (played by ex-Steps member, Lee Latchford Evans) things improve a lot – the direction becomes slicker, the editing helping to evoke a sense of style not dissimilar to Lock Stock. Also Brendan Carr as Ryan comes more to the fore and you start to believe he really is a cold-blooded killer.

There are a number of stand-out scenes: a fight in a nightclub toilet which is gritty, brutal and very realistic – working in a bar a few years back I bore witness to many such encounters (no one got shot though thankfully!). Although the ending is very strong and action-packed, it’s the fight at the midway point as Ryan intercepts Bruiser in a derelict house that for me is the movie’s best moment. Not only do the two characters go at each other hammer and tongs, but their use of the environment makes it a very exciting fight to watch. It is so far removed from the safe, PG-13 martial arts seen in Hollywood movies these days (take a look at Transporter 3 for a recent example). In fact, consider this an open letter to Jason Statham – this is how you should be fighting on-screen!

The makers of Ten Dead Men certainly know their movies and there are a number of knowing references, especially to Commando, Rambo, Pulp Fiction, John Woo’s The Killer and Rodriguez’ Desperado (the Desperado reference was particularly clever, I felt ).

Overall the acting is pretty decent. Brendan Carr may not be much of an actor but he carries the movie effectively. Looking a lot more comfortable in his combat scenes than the more domestic scenes with Eastenders star Pooja Shah, he reminds me in a (weird) way of Marko Zaror from Kiltro . Although their combat skills are completely different, they have a similar build and walk. Maybe it’s just me. Terry Stone has only two scenes but is brilliant as the head honcho, Hart. In the first, he hardly moves, just talks on the phone staring at something off-camera (his dead nephew, as it turns out) but he oozes menace. He leaves you with no doubt that you mess with him at your peril. J.C. Mac and Jason Lee Hyde pull off a difficult double act as Parker and Garrett, a gay gangster couple in the style of Mr Wint and Mr Kidd from Diamonds are Forever. Their bickering over Parker’s new car is very amusing and they do have the funniest moment in the film (when they discover Bruiser’s remains). Ten Dead Men's other cast member worthy of mention is Keith Eyles as The Project Manager, Hart’s right hand man. Although he’s dressed as a City trader he is pure, twisted evil. Eyles resists the urge to go for ham with the role, instead invoking a Hannibal Lecter-like stillness, as if drilling into someone’s kneecap was the most mundane chore. His final revelatory taunting of Ryan is truly nasty.

Ten Dead Men does have its faults, some of which can’t be blamed just on the low-budget. The over-use of Doug Bradley (Pinhead from the Hellraiser movies) is definitely the main sticking point and takes some getting used to. It’s used best when introducing the various henchmen Ryan is after – not so well when describing his emotional state, as it doesn’t quite marry up with Brendan Carr’s acting.

Verdict:

Yes, It’s low-budget, But Ten Dead Men makes no apologies and doesn’t let that fact hamper its sense of style nor hold back on the hard-hitting, bone-crunching action. This movie proves that the UK can produce proper action-genre film.

6 out of 10 (MikeOutWest)