Victims in the Woods
Having met a couple of cops at a club Annie (Jennifer Blanc) and her friend Mary (Danielle Harris) head out on a double date with them to the woods where sex is at the top of everyone's agenda. But things take a turn for the worse whilst Mary is bent over a rock and Annie is forced to run for help which is how she ends up in the cabin in the woods where Kyle Limato (Michael Biehn) is leading a quiet life with his self help recordings. Unhappy to have his peace interrupted he listens to Annie's side of the story but when the two cops come calling Kyle covers for her but becomes suspicious when they say she is a fugitive wanted in connection with a murder.
So "The Victim" starts with Danielle Harris bent over a rock and being vigorously pumped by, as we learn, a cop who likes to do it rough. It is certainly an eye opening scene but in a movie which is reportedly inspired by Grindhouse it basically pulls back from going all the way. That is the trouble with "The Victim", which was written and directed by Michael Biehn, as every time it has an opportunity to go all the way to be slutty or violent it pulls back and leaves you under whelmed. In fact it is worse than that as some scenes end up just cheesy such as a flashback scene of Annie and Mary trying to be slutty and make out everything they say is an innuendo.
The only good thing is that all this pulling back not only distracts you with its disappointment but also means that when things do kick off during the final third of the movie it is a welcome relief. But it is too little to late as sadly whilst not a long movie the little it does offer at the end is not enough to salvage it. In many ways it is a shame as Michael Biehn who usually sails through this sort of movie splits himself too much with directing and so his performance isn't up to its usually enjoyable level.
What this all boils down to is "The Victim" needed someone else to direct it, someone who could bring the realism and the punch to it which Michael Biehn doesn't seem capable of. And it is a shame as the story could have made for a decent Grindhouse movie.
