Apr 2014 *
A man named Vigil is driving across the American desert, on his way to a long deserved holiday. He stops to pick up a young and pretty hitchhiker, who says she's been travelling from Chicago to meet up with her grandfather, a man she's never met. Our young little hitchhiker is named Rosalie. She's a teen who comes across as quite simple minded. Not only that, but strange as well. Little Rosalie claims she knows where her granddad lives because she saw it in a dream. Virgil pays no mind to this nonsense and humours her. And being the good Samaritan that he is, goes out of his way to drop off this peculiar stranger to her grandfather's shack, way out in the middle of no where.
Now I know what you're thinking, Virgil might not be such a good Samaritan after all. We all know that tale. It is fortunate that Virgil's intentions happen to be pure in this instance, all he wants to do is make his flight to his holiday destination. Rosalie however, has other plans that aren't so pure. Virgil won't be making that flight of his. He won't be leaving that shack ever again.
Sound familiar? I have to say, there is something about crazy chicks keeping males as captive, that I find so interesting. Usually, it's the other way around, guys keeping girls captive, so it's a nice change. Still, this story has been told a few times before. A few years ago, we had The loved Ones, a brutal display of torture and hilarity. Before that, Misery, which I feel Stephen King may have used this for inspiration. Misery had a crazy antagonist that succeeded in being a proper villain to the story. But here we have something far more interesting. I can't say for certain that Rosalie is actually the villain of this story.
Naturally Rosalie isn't a good character, but it's hard to call her a bad character as well. Bonnie Bedelia plays Rosalie and she does such a fantastic job. At times she comes across as batsh!t crazy, at other times, she is sympathetic, and at other times still, she's beyond annoying and vindictive. Many of her actions come across as calculated, as if she is toying with her victim, promising a doctor, a car pump, and never delivering etc. But Rosalie isn't a malicious character. She isn't out for revenge like Lola, she isn't obsessed with authors, like Annie, she just wants to love someone. Something I imagine we can all relate to. Sure Rosalie's actions are far beyond reprehensible, but at the heart of it, she's just a lonely girl desperately wanting to love someone, and be loved back. It's hard to hate her character, but at the same time, it's hard to completely sympathise as well. Rosalie might just be one of the most complicated characters I have ever seen.
Then we have Virgil, our victim. When Rosalie asserts her dominance and breaks one of Vigils legs (with the back of an axe...cough...Misery...cough), his reaction isn't pleading for mercy to be let free. No, his reaction is to yell at her and belittle her like a child. Rosalie has an axe, but that won't stop Virgil being "mean" to her. Most of their dialogue is Virgil calling her names and belittling her time and time again. Now Virgil might have some right to be pissed off, since she's keeping him captive and what not, but I started getting confused whether I should have been feeling sorry for him, or finding him to be an arsehole, in the same way I wasn't sure if I was siding with Rosalie or not. Ken Howard does a great job at being our helpless and nasty protagonist.
We have one more character in the mixes here, by the name of Fry. If there is a villain in the movie, that would probably be Fry, who doesn't have any shred of sympathy from the audience. He is the pure bad guy that'll hurt both Rosalie and Virgil to get what he wants, which is gold that Rosalie supposedly has hidden away. I like how the dynamic between Rosalie and Virgil always changes whenever Fry is onscreen. I found that quite interesting.
This movie runs for almost 2 hours, and those three characters are the only actors in the movie. You'd think that would make things boring, but it doesn't. I was actually captivated the whole way through. The way the dialogue changed constantly between Rosalie and Virgil made them a very entertaining pair. Set in the desert, this movie feels isolated, lonely and cut off from life. It creates such an atmosphere to this movie, which I feel is helped more with its incredibly low budget look. This movie was hypnotic to watch.
The ending is bound to divide audiences. I can see people hating the movie or loving it. I'm in the latter camp. To me, the actions of certain characters don't seem out of place, it makes this movie all the more memorable. I say this loosely, cos I am not sure just how well known this movie is. I certainly had never heard of it till Tromafreak gave me the heads up. But it is a movie that deserves more recognition. More people should see this film.
If you enjoyed Misery, you'd love this flick too. But where Misery is an effective horror tale, this is an intense drama piece. There is no blood or gore, just fascinating dialogue and imagery. Characters that feel real, who are equally good and bad. All in all, this is just fantastic story telling. A must watch for all.
9/10.
Watch it here.
Thankyou for reading. Cheers.
A man named Vigil is driving across the American desert, on his way to a long deserved holiday. He stops to pick up a young and pretty hitchhiker, who says she's been travelling from Chicago to meet up with her grandfather, a man she's never met. Our young little hitchhiker is named Rosalie. She's a teen who comes across as quite simple minded. Not only that, but strange as well. Little Rosalie claims she knows where her granddad lives because she saw it in a dream. Virgil pays no mind to this nonsense and humours her. And being the good Samaritan that he is, goes out of his way to drop off this peculiar stranger to her grandfather's shack, way out in the middle of no where. Now I know what you're thinking, Virgil might not be such a good Samaritan after all. We all know that tale. It is fortunate that Virgil's intentions happen to be pure in this instance, all he wants to do is make his flight to his holiday destination. Rosalie however, has other plans that aren't so pure. Virgil won't be making that flight of his. He won't be leaving that shack ever again.
Sound familiar? I have to say, there is something about crazy chicks keeping males as captive, that I find so interesting. Usually, it's the other way around, guys keeping girls captive, so it's a nice change. Still, this story has been told a few times before. A few years ago, we had The loved Ones, a brutal display of torture and hilarity. Before that, Misery, which I feel Stephen King may have used this for inspiration. Misery had a crazy antagonist that succeeded in being a proper villain to the story. But here we have something far more interesting. I can't say for certain that Rosalie is actually the villain of this story.
Naturally Rosalie isn't a good character, but it's hard to call her a bad character as well. Bonnie Bedelia plays Rosalie and she does such a fantastic job. At times she comes across as batsh!t crazy, at other times, she is sympathetic, and at other times still, she's beyond annoying and vindictive. Many of her actions come across as calculated, as if she is toying with her victim, promising a doctor, a car pump, and never delivering etc. But Rosalie isn't a malicious character. She isn't out for revenge like Lola, she isn't obsessed with authors, like Annie, she just wants to love someone. Something I imagine we can all relate to. Sure Rosalie's actions are far beyond reprehensible, but at the heart of it, she's just a lonely girl desperately wanting to love someone, and be loved back. It's hard to hate her character, but at the same time, it's hard to completely sympathise as well. Rosalie might just be one of the most complicated characters I have ever seen.
Then we have Virgil, our victim. When Rosalie asserts her dominance and breaks one of Vigils legs (with the back of an axe...cough...Misery...cough), his reaction isn't pleading for mercy to be let free. No, his reaction is to yell at her and belittle her like a child. Rosalie has an axe, but that won't stop Virgil being "mean" to her. Most of their dialogue is Virgil calling her names and belittling her time and time again. Now Virgil might have some right to be pissed off, since she's keeping him captive and what not, but I started getting confused whether I should have been feeling sorry for him, or finding him to be an arsehole, in the same way I wasn't sure if I was siding with Rosalie or not. Ken Howard does a great job at being our helpless and nasty protagonist.
We have one more character in the mixes here, by the name of Fry. If there is a villain in the movie, that would probably be Fry, who doesn't have any shred of sympathy from the audience. He is the pure bad guy that'll hurt both Rosalie and Virgil to get what he wants, which is gold that Rosalie supposedly has hidden away. I like how the dynamic between Rosalie and Virgil always changes whenever Fry is onscreen. I found that quite interesting.
This movie runs for almost 2 hours, and those three characters are the only actors in the movie. You'd think that would make things boring, but it doesn't. I was actually captivated the whole way through. The way the dialogue changed constantly between Rosalie and Virgil made them a very entertaining pair. Set in the desert, this movie feels isolated, lonely and cut off from life. It creates such an atmosphere to this movie, which I feel is helped more with its incredibly low budget look. This movie was hypnotic to watch.
The ending is bound to divide audiences. I can see people hating the movie or loving it. I'm in the latter camp. To me, the actions of certain characters don't seem out of place, it makes this movie all the more memorable. I say this loosely, cos I am not sure just how well known this movie is. I certainly had never heard of it till Tromafreak gave me the heads up. But it is a movie that deserves more recognition. More people should see this film.
If you enjoyed Misery, you'd love this flick too. But where Misery is an effective horror tale, this is an intense drama piece. There is no blood or gore, just fascinating dialogue and imagery. Characters that feel real, who are equally good and bad. All in all, this is just fantastic story telling. A must watch for all.
9/10.
Watch it here.
Thankyou for reading. Cheers.
Some of what you said about this movie reminds me of another movie called Woman in the Dunes. The plot is a bit different from this movie's plot, though the main male character is also being held prisoner. There's more than three people in the whole movie too. For most of the movie though, it's just him and a woman, and as you said about The Strange Vengeance of Rosalie, you'd think it would be boring, but it's really not.
I guess it's just something about a situation like that, in The Strange Vengeance of Rosalie, Misery, Woman in the Dunes, etc. Something about it is just somehow interesting enough by itself for a whole movie. Maybe because it's not as predictable as something like a slasher or a zombie movie. Virgil does sound like kind of a douche in The Strange Vengeance of Rosalie, but at the same time, I can't help wondering what his fate might be at the end of the movie. Will he live? Will he die? Will he escape? Will he stay and return Rosalie's love? So many ways it could go.