We recently brought you a new look at the upcoming movie The Retaliators and today we bring you our thoughts on the new movie which gets its worldwide release for one night only on the 14th of September.
Michael Lombardi (“Rescue Me”), Marc Menchaca (“Ozark”), and Joseph Gatt (“Game of Thrones”) headline the cast alongside Jacoby Shaddix, frontman of Papa Roach, making his acting debut. The Retaliators features cameos and music by Mötley Crüe’s Tommy Lee, Five Finger Death Punch, Papa Roach, The Hu, Ice Nine Kills, Escape The Fate and many more, anchored by an original score from Emmy-winning composers Kyle Dixon and Michael Stein (“Stranger Things”).
An upstanding pastor uncovers a dark and twisted underworld as he searches for answers surrounding his daughter’s brutal murder. A high-octane original soundtrack and cameos from some of the biggest names in rock music set the tone as this horror-thriller reveals a game of revenge played using a new set of rules.
After seeing the trailer and the latest clip of The Retaliators I was looking forward to checking out the movie, so last night I finally got the chance to check out the preview of the movie and I have to say it wasn’t what I was first expecting, but the opening scene set me up for something that would eventually lead to some series gruesomeness and brutality!
After the “they’re not zombies” scene, the movie moves at a rather steady pace as we are introduced to the paster Bishop (Michael Lombardi) and his daughters as they are making their way to buy a Christmas tree but they are soon in a confrontation with an obnoxious guy, played by Brian O’Halloran (Clerks), who takes the tree from them. This shows us that the Pastor is a calm man and doesn’t like confrontation, that is all about to change!
After a church meeting, the pastor’s eldest daughter comes across Ram Kady (Joseph Gatt, Z Nation) at a gas station and is soon chased down in her car before being murdered by him, the fuse is now lit for Bishop to find out what happened to his daughter, things take a turn for the worse when Jed (Marc Menchaca) a cop that has been through a similar situation to Bishop introduces him to a way to take away the pain.
The slow build really speeds up after Jed shows Bishop his way of taking away the pain and that its something that Bishop really isn’t comfortable with, but things start to go wrong and all hell breaks loose with some gruesome blood-splattering moments that certainly take The Retaliators into the horror genre.
I have to admit that I did find myself laughing out rather loudly at the later part of the movie, there is a moment when Bishop is fighting for his life in the woods and I just couldn’t help but think of Ash (Bruce Campbell) in the Evil Dead when Sam Raimi got him falling about and being slapped about, there are even some moments that have those Evil Dead style shots that I absolutely loved and for me, this last 35-40 minutes of the film really got me enjoying it so much more than the first half of the movie.
The movie looks good as well, there are some great shots that are framed up nicely, look out for a shot from within the woods looking onto the road with some twigs in front of the camera it frames up very nicely, the colouring is also nicely done with night and day shot, the practical effects look nice and bloody.
The soundtrack is really good as well, we have brought you news about that last month, it’s well worth checking out if you are a fan of Nine Inch Nails and Papa Roach, the tracks certainly add to the scenes that they are used in.
The Retaliators made its world premiere at Arrow Video FrightFest in London to packed audiences, earning rave reviews. The Hollywood News advised “If you like your films dirty, demented, and dangerous then you should definitely take this one for a spin. A brutal and vivid punch to the gut, The Retaliators is a rock song birthed onto screen and is sure to be a hit with fans of music and horror alike.” Backseat Mafia promised “The Retaliators grows to be a blunt, bloody and brutally bombastic slice of genre cinema which is a guaranteed crowd-pleaser.” Horror Fuel called The Retaliators a treat for fans of blood and guts, saying “Power plays, power tools, and power chords abound in this gore-fueled exploitation shocker that serves up a fair amount of surprises.”
The Retaliators will be released worldwide for one night only on the 14th of September including Cineworld.
Bloody and Brutal!
Movie title: The Retaliators (2021)
Movie description: An upstanding pastor uncovers a dark and twisted underworld as he searches for answers surrounding his daughter's brutal murder.
Date published: September 13, 2022
Country: UK
Duration: 1h 35m
Director(s): Samuel Gonzalez Jr., Michael Lombardi, Bridget Smith
Actor(s): Michael Lombardi, Marc Menchaca, Joseph Gatt
Genre: Horror, Thriller
Karen Woodham is the founder and owner of the Blazing Minds. She is also a Cinema reviewer and works with RealD 3D reviewing the latest 3D releases and IMAX, she has also had several articles published in various publications including the first edition of SFW Magazine. In 2015 she became an Award Winning Blogger and also has her website listed as one of the UK’s Top 10 Film Blogs.
