The Violent Kind (2010) User Reviews (28)

NorCal bikers vs supernatural rockabillies from outer space.

[BA_Harrison · 6/10 · 18 January 2012]

The central characters in The Violent Kind sure don't conform to the 'ugly, burly, leather-clad, bandana-wearing thug with unkempt beard and long unwashed hair' biker stereotype: best friends Q and Cody (Cory Knauf), members of tough Northern Californian gang 'The Crew', look like aspiring Levi's models, sporting carefully tousled hair and designer stubble.

Q's hard living, heavy drinking and brawling clearly hasn't prevented him from maintaining a strict fitness regime at the local gym, giving him a chiselled physique that has helped him bag a model-standard girlfriend in the form of brunette hottie Shade (Taylor Cole). Most of the time, Q and his pals hang out in their nice suburban house, but when the guys like to party hearty, they do so at a cosy woodland retreat that belongs to Q's biker mum (not a bad property portfolio for a family with no visible means of support other than some petty drug-dealing).

While this easy-on-the-eye cast is obviously going to give The Violent Kind broader appeal than a bunch of fat men with walrus whiskers and some fugly biker chicks, I really wish that The Butcher Brothers, the guys behind this indie horror, hadn't succumbed to such a trite Hollywood-ism—in my opinion, the superficiality of the pretty boy bikers and their gorgeous girls robs the film of any credibility.

After lots of unconvincing guff that struggles but fails to prove to viewers just how ruthless and reckless Q and Cody can be despite their appearances (the guys get in a couple of scraps, Q has rough sex with Shade, and the guys attend a wild biker party), the film finally starts living up to the quotes on the box that claim it to be brutal, bloody and just a bit bonkers: Cody's slutty ex, Michelle (Tiffany Shepis), inexplicably becomes possessed, bringing her to the attention of some undead rockabillies from another dimension/outer space, who strip her naked for some kind of bizarre occult ritual—but only after a spot of torturing and killing.

While none of this really makes much sense, at least its a damn sight more entertaining than all that faux bad boy biker crap. 5.5 out of 10, rounded up to 6 for IMDb.

Let's throw stuff out there to see what sticks

[movieman_kev · 3/10 · 5 August 2012]

A group of bikers at a secluded farmhouse in the woods to celebrate a birthday are menaced by rockabilly demons.

What started of as a low(er) budgeted Evil Dead, which I was fine with, soon morphed into something else which wasn't as appealing, the acting wasn't nearly strong enough to pull it off and I quickly got bored with the film. Now I love a good horror b-movie as much, if not more so, than the next guy, but sadly this film was a bit of a hodgepodge mess, choosing to take a kitchen sink attitude (wherein the filmmakers throw stuff at you in the vain hope that something sticks) Alas nothing does. Sad, the Hamiltons was actually pretty good too so I had hopes for this one.

OK horror until it gets all weird

[SnoopyStyle · 4/10 · 26 November 2015]

Cody, Q, and Elroy are young bikers. They go to Cody's mother's birthday at her home with many other bikers. Q's girlfriend and Cody's cousin Shade joins them. There is Cody's ex Michelle with her sister Megan. As the party ends, the group is left at the house. Michelle becomes possessed and violent. As the situation deteriorates, a bright light flashes and a group seemingly from the 50s shows up taking everyone prisoner.

It's not the best acted or the best written. The first half is still a good solid reasonable bloodfest. I like the splatter horror in an isolated location. The second half becomes unintelligible. It stops making sense when the other group shows up. The audience is simply left with the blood splatter orgy with a weird light show.

Strange and bizarre yet totally captivating

[jennifer-25-965231 · 21 August 2011]

What a refreshing, fun yet gory film. I went into this thinking it was going to be your typical possession or slasher'ish type film and the beginning of the movie started to prove that I wasn't wrong. With its opening scene of loud rough sex inside and a bunch of bikers kicking the crap out of two guys outside I settled in for what I thought would be a mindless horror film that was entertaining but without much depths. I was wrong.

I can't get too much into the plot as the movie packs a surprising punch near the end but the ride to the twist was definitely a fun one. I can say that even though the movie started off as your typical horror film with its drunken party, slutty girls and drama when the party ends, that's when the fun begins.

The film starts to get very strange when a gang of 50's era punks show up looking for one of the girls at the party. I loved that they added this and found it refreshing as its nothing I have ever seen before. The gang ends up having an odd sense of humour and uses it to amuse themselves with their hostages in a series of bizarre games and such.

Overall great flick, delivers on the gore, acting, storyline all topped off with quite an amazing twist. This movie would be great for most non-mainstream horror movie lovers.

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A little over ambitious, but a one of a kind picture

[TheHrunting · 6/10 · 6 July 2011]

This is a film that could almost be broken into three differently toned parts along the lines of a format similar to "A.I." and "Martyrs." Likewise, the first half seems conventional enough, the second half more dangerous and the third is about as bleak as they come--by the time it finishes, how it began will be a distant memory.

"The Violent Kind" starts out as a cool and sleazy afternoon in Oakland, CA with a posse of three young biker buddies belonging to "The Crew" who are without a care or concern except living up their own impulsive behavior from rough sex, fights to drinking beer. They go to Cody's mother's 50th birthday at an isolated house and instead of finding a bunch of well-behaved and mature adults, everybody celebrates with loud rock 'n' roll, more drinking and strippers. After almost everybody leaves, the real party just gets started, one where their livers aren't going to be the only things on the line.

Cody's ex girlfriend returns a bloodied mess and asks for help. She's brought inside and placed in a bed until the remaining people left over--three guys, two gals--can figure out why their vehicles won't work and their cell phones act glitchy to get help as they're in the middle of nowhere. All the while the audience is shown mysterious others that hang outside in the shadows. They visit the only neighbor around and cryptic symbols are shown written on the walls in blood to allude to something ominous on the horizon. Soon enough things start to get really weird, as the woman on the bed turns Linda Blair-like possessed and with her bare hands mutilates one of the guys trying to get frisky and feel her up.

Soon enough, the mysterious outsiders show up to the house to collect something they need. Though it's like they stepped into another era or some kind of paranormal realm as there are unexplained flashes of light and these new strangers appear to be ripped out of a time warp from the '50s with their distinct attire, tunes and lingo. They've got a dark and condescending sense humor that includes torturing their hostages while playing theme music on the record player and all the while laughing sardonically like they know a big secret their captives don't. They put on a sadistic show and fit their eccentric parts like a glove, though it's a rather pointless game except to show what kind of people they're dealing with: the violent kind.

The first phase is more fleshed out and some perspective is gained of the young gang with some internal conflicts, though it's a different type of knowing as being familiar with their disregard for restraint sets a new bar for comfortable living at the expense of others as well as themselves. Everything is so rebellious, carefree and in-the-moment that it's hard to care of their safety or even their demise because they might have already had it coming. The next phase is going for mystery and cheap thrills by keeping the audience in the dark with only snippets of light to what, how or why these people are there. The ending gave a feeling of hopelessness as it left the audience as well as the characters out to dry. However, they made it too powerful and far reaching without actually showing the big picture and how these select people tie in, even if they seem incidental. It would be like watching "Night of the Living Dead," except where the TV and word of mouth by others are missing, which would leave the focus in one area but not effectively set up for how it all pans out or ties in to a global matter. Otherwise it feels exaggerated to stretch its importance.

"The Violent Kind" isn't going to be for everybody but it's definitely a different type of film which travels over a wide arc of genres and steps on any morals or taboos it can in the process. One of its setbacks is it felt like a condensed mini-series that gives assorted tastes of a little bit of here and there, but not enough to really appreciate and savor everything you just seen. It's entertaining to a degree, and with the change-ups I can't say it was boring, even if everything doesn't line up or is what it is anticipated to be. It gives some homage to other films and had some hiccups though all and all it did seem one of a kind. (Also submitted on http://fromblacktoredfilmreviews.blogspot.com/)

Great movie if your not into mainstream.

[iamwidowmaker · 8/10 · 29 May 2011]

The Violent Kind. After I watched this film I read some of the reviews. It was pretty appalling to see what some people had to say about this movie. Right after I saw it I wanted to purchase it. I felt like it was reviewed pretty harshly. I will say it's definitely not mainstream. If you are bored with the same old plots and twists than give this movie a shot. Personally,I had high expectations for this movie...and it surely delivered! I'm not going to ruin anything by giving a detailed review. I will say that it has bikers, vintage cars, violence,throwbacks to the 1950's and a touch of Lovecraftian twist. The actors and actresses do a very good job here. The effects are better than some you see in the mainstream trash they put out now. The plot itself keeps you guessing at what's going to happen next, which I can't say for most horror movies. Great movie and can't wait for more.

Shockingly brutal movie about a group of people going after what they want. Very gory, but entertaining. I surprisingly say B

[cosmo_tiger · 7/10 · 10 May 2011]

How far will you go for what you want? After a party a girl named Michelle shows up bloody and dying, after being cared for strange things begin to happen. When a group shows up for something she has things get worse. This is a very strange movie that I found myself really liking. Not much to this movie but sex, beating people up, and a lot of blood. There are a lot of similar scenes to a variety of different movies in this, too many to name but you will recognize most of them when you watch. This is not a movie for people who are against violence (but from the title it weeds most of them out), but it is actually a very entertaining movie that kept me interested the entire time. This is not the kind of movie I usually like, but this was an exception. Very gory and shocking in some parts, but overall not a bad rental. I surprisingly give it a B.

Would I watch again? - I might, but not really a definite re-watcher.

An almost Perfect Low budget Horror Gem that hopefully will NOT go unnoticed!

[Indifferent_Observer · 8/10 · 9 May 2011]

I have to say after more and more mainstream crap Horror like Scream 4(Sorry Wes Craven, but Scream 3 and 4 were just monotonous and overbudgeted) and the flood of remakes, its very refreshing to see something new and semi-original come from the independent film industry. I know that the mainstream crowd will probably rate this horribly or say it has plot holes(What everyone says when they don't understand something), but don't buy what they're selling unless your in their category.

Premise: The movie starts off telling the violent story of a notorious biker gang that is into drugs, violence, and crime getting together for a party. Headlines of the gangs exploits are splashed across the screen in the form of newspaper articles of recent arrests. The party quickly comes and goes then some real weird things start to happen after everyone leaves the party house.

This movie definitely is a send up in the spirit of Evil Dead and the Exorcist thrown in with a few other genre Slasher flicks. The movie definitely stands out as a smashmouth, grindhouse Independent, supernatural slasher with a very decent twist at the end that is like the icing on the cake. I can already hear the argument that the film tries to be too much, but trust me, the movie handles everything, including the twist right down to the last minute. It kept me glued to the screen. Then again I love supernatural elements which this movie has a lot of.

I gave it a 9 because its already off to a bad start. It deserves a "solid" 7 rating. Acting is top notch, gore is above par, tense moments are everywhere, and an "I really didn't see it coming", twist. What can I say? I loved this movie and I highly recommend it to the REAL die-hard genre fans who can appreciate good REAL independent horror in the tradition of Evil Dead and The Exorcist.

Bravo!

Really better than it should've been

[kannibalcorpsegrinder · 7/10 · 30 January 2014]

After gathering together for a party, a group of bikers realize something's wrong with one of their members when they start behaving erratically, but that's only the start of their troubles when Satanic demons arrive at the party looking for one of their own.

This was a really interesting effort that gets some really enjoyable moments about it. Ironically, this is mostly due to the fact that it doesn't decide what it wants to be works in its favor remarkably well. Initially starting off as a biker film for the first half, complete with the trials and tribulations of the crew and their business dealings before getting to the party. Once there, it turns into a rather fun and enjoyable enough possession film about one turning into a demonic creature which is where this one really gets fun in not only using the house as a fun stalking ground but also with the possession allowing for plenty of tense encounters with the constant yelling, graphic attacks and restraint attempts that are brought on against the possessed which makes for quite a fun time overall. This signals another part here with it turning into a plot by Satanic demons in '50s hipster outfits that stalls this one somewhat with a really banal knife-fight as well as the fine birthing sequence itself which comes off the best of these scenes in here. These here make for a nice series of twists which makes for quite an interesting and jarring look that it works in making it enjoyable by weaving these seemingly different elements together. As well, with the fine gore and nudity there's enough which holds this up alongside the few small flaws. The biggest factor here with this one comes from the final half, where this one tends to get lowered slightly by the appearance of the villains as their retro-greaser look might not be as scary as it could've been since they look pretty laughable while the slang and taunts eventually grow thin since these scenes eventually add up to untold amounts of time doing nothing, which is only afterward in thinking about it so it's not so bad. As well, there's nothing about the true intentions or relationship here as it turns into their lame attempts at taunting the group rather than simply letting loose with their plan from their start, compounded from the start here as they themselves mention the need to toy with them while it plays the course so there's little need for them to show up when they did if the process was never really that close to being finished anyway. Still, it works well and is definitely fun enough.

Rated R: Graphic Violence, Graphic Language, Full Nudity and several sex scenes.

Done in the right spirit and has some good ideas but fails

[TdSmth5 · 4/10 · 30 December 2011]

Cody was born into a northern California motorcycle gang. His best friend is involved with his sister. His ex left him after he spent some time in jail and he also may have let the gang down. On the evening of his mother's 50th birthday they all drive up to her place to party. There he also runs into the ex's sister who's had a crush on him since her early teens.

After the party is over things start getting strange. Cars don't run, lights flicker, there's only static on phones. The ex returns half dead, beaten and bloodied. When one of Cody's friends wants to take advantage of her, she actually enjoys it, and then chews his face off. She becomes possessed. While Cody and his best friend try to figure out what to do they instead decide to beat each other up. At some point we see images of a cabin with girls pretending to be dogs. There are also some guys in suits standing near the house.

Eventually a bunch of 50s creeps show up and terrorize the group. They are looking for the possessed girl because she will be the host to something great. While the ceremony takes place in which the ex channels some light/energy to the creeps, some from the gang escape. The creeps let them escape announcing that what will happen next is far worse.

This movie is part biker gang movie, but without the bikes. It's part demonic possession movie, part home invasion psycho-torture porn. Then there's some supernatural aspects as well. And it doesn't make sense. To make a movie that doesn't make sense is just lazy. Why not work it out somehow and give the audience something that pays off. This just doesn't. The biker story doesn't really work because the cast looks like a bunch of skinny dopey surfer dudes. The possession part is neat but is ruined by the moronic behavior and actions of the characters. The invasion/psycho torture part is annoying and lame. We get the typical overacted creep circus which even within the movie is pointless. And the main creep saying so doesn't make it any less pointless. The supernatural aspect of the movie near the end and the end itself is very neat and interesting. This movie sure is unique but then few would embark on a production with a script that makes no sense. There is plenty of gore, violence, and a bit of nudity. Acting doesn't convince, except for Taylor Cole and Tiffany Shepis. The lousy script could have been used and reworked for two good movies. One straightforward slasher flick and one supernatural/possession movie.

weird flick but a lot of the red stuff and gory

[trashgang · 6/10 · 8 June 2011]

Mitchell Altieri and Phil Flores did know their job, they already did a few horrors like for example The Hamiltons. Another name that was a regular for me was Tiffany Shepis. I have seen her so many times in flicks and always she goes naked. Well, Kleenex fans, here she goes full naked with a camera pan over her body from knees to head revealing it all. Of course that's not the most important thing, or is it, to watch it. Some faces will be recognized like Joe Egender ( from The Hamiltons and other horrors) and Taylor Cole (Surrogates or The Green Hornet). And due the acting it really works but it is still a weird movie. Some parts were a bit too long with for example the rockabilly's showing up. But it do deliver on the gore. It starts of with what you think another biker movie with a lot of roughness and nudity but after 22 minutes out of the blue someone gets possessed. The story surrounding that possession is as I said a bit weird but once all is explained you surely will see the nudity and the red stuff and some gory parts. Some is done by real effects and other by CGI but it worked out fine. Not a flick for everyone but if you can take a bit of horror and science fiction than you can watch it.

Absolute masterpiece

[bjornrhein · 10/10 · 1 December 2023]

I dont give 10 so much , and I dont give 10 to manipulate the ratingsystem , but this movie just just have it all so its a 10

The acting is great, production is fantastic, the story is fabolous - and I have absolute nothing to complain about, this is such a good example how to make a movie with no budget, just write something good and get a couple of great acters , I have seen this movie plenty of times and loved it every time

But of course people dont understand this movie, and I think its sad not to see the greatness in this, instead think its strange and weird, its not strange and weird , they just put alot of different things in the same movie but all parts work toghetter, Like I said , I dont give 10 often , but this is a giant 10.

It would need a lesbian sex scene just to be tolerable

[MBunge · 3/10 · 7 March 2012]

It's one thing to be the sort of crappy filmmakers who can't come up with enough story to fill up a feature length project so they just kill time with a bunch of pointless nonsense. It's another thing to be the sort of crappy filmmakers who can't come up with enough story to fill up a feature length project so they just kill time with a bunch of pointless nonsense…and then have the balls to acknowledge to the audience that's exactly what they did. If you admire that sort of proud defiance, maybe you could get into The Violent Kind. I prefer that when filmmakers suck and they know they suck, they should at least have the humility to try and cover it up.

And before I get into the actual movie, let me clear something up. If you take a look at the DVD cover for this thing or the other promotional imagery, you may be fooled into thinking this is some sort of "Sons of Anarchy" knockoff with more graphic violence and actual nudity. Well, there is nudity. The violence, however, is honestly a bit tamer and less well done than you'll see on that FX show about biker Hamlet. Fundamentally, though, The Violent Kind isn't a biker flick at all. It's a low budget, sci-fi, end of the world horror film with just a hint of Lovecraft that uses bikers instead of teenagers as the victims de jour. The advertising for this name drops "Halloween" and "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre", but it bears as much resemblance to those movies as Arnold Schwarzenegger does to Laurence Olivier. Having watched it, I fully understand why they felt it necessary to try and deceive people as to the nature of this motion picture. I would have preferred if they had just taken the footage and chucked it in the trash.

The plot her is kind of insulting, so I'll leave that for last. What's best about The Violent Kind is the greasy nakedness of Tiffany Shepis and that Taylor Cole and Christian Prousalis, while remaining clothed, are both hot as hell and talented actresses. Granted, it's hard to judge given the material they have to work with, but they give the best performances in this thing by far. What's good here is Bret Roberts, who would have been great in an actual biker flick full of boobs, bullets and blood. Stuck in this exercise in genre cross-dressing, he really only highlights how little everything else works. What's okay in this mess is Cory Knauf as the hero and Joe Egender as the main villain. Every so often they give you a hint they might excel at these sort of roles, but Knauf can't rise above the sullen moroseness of his character and Egender is trapped within the forced and phony extremes of his.

As for the bad? The Violent Kind looks cheap. Competent, but cheap. The most elaborate special effect in the whole shebang is a girl clinging to the ceiling, which is something most ambitious high school filmmakers could pull off nowadays. The make up effects barely pass muster and the camera work largely defines "no frills" in both execution and imagination. The dialog starts out banal and never gets any better. And as for the plot…oh, mercy me.

Here's what you need to know about the plot. There's a long party scene at the beginning and a long torture scene at the end that are entirely superfluous and in between there's a fistfight that, hand on the Bible, is one of the dumbest scenes I've ever witnessed. Horror movie characters are renowned for doing idiotic stuff, but decapitated turkeys aren't as stupid as the two people here who decide to beat the snot out of each other in the middle of a supernatural crisis. The villains' plan to destroy the world is completely bizarre, but not in a "blow your mind" way. This kind of bizarre is more in the "the people who made this don't know what the hell they're doing" way. And to the extent there's any sort of subplot of personal conflict that plays out against the backdrop of the end of the world, it's manifested solely through the characters spouting expository sentences at each other.

And if you want to know, The Violent Kind is about 3 bikers and 3 girls at a house in the woods who are set upon by aliens that are inhabiting the bodies of people who went missing in the 1950s. Why? Because the aliens have some time to waste before destroying humanity and decided that pretending to be a rockabilly tribute band at the end of a month long meth bender sounded like a great idea.

So, to recap, The Violent Kind is being falsely marketed and it stinks. Even if Taylor Cole and Christina Prousalis had gotten naked, it still wouldn't have been worth watching. If they got naked and made out for 5 minutes? Eh, maybe.

Too many ideas stuck together with crazy glue

[Mikelikesnotlikes · 5/10 · 1 May 2017]

I got the impression that the writer was diagnosed with a fatal illness so he quickly slammed all his best ideas together into one last film. And by best, I mean other people's best ideas.

The only original thing about this film is the way it tries to fit together a story involving bikers, zombies, demons and 50's obsessed aliens. The slathering of gore held some of it together but the tacked on torture porn aspect didn't do much for me. There was a lot of box-ticking going on. Sex scenes; tick, nudity; tick, fight scene; tick, let's split up and look for the thing killing us; tick, you get the picture. None of the story-lines were concluded either. What the hell were those hints about polio for?

The director was so focused on each set that most scenes were too long and sometimes became painful to watch. I think the trick of shooting lots of footage and only keeping the best pieces was lost on this guy. Lots of duplicates as filler e.g. Shade screams non-stop for minutes, made me think the budget just didn't stretch to more than a few sets. (Sounds like she lost her voice during the shoot too.)

It was so irritating but I do have to give it marks for making me watch to the end. After all, that's the producers job in a nutshell. As for the rest of it, nice try.

Rabid Biker Barbarity

[jlthornb51 · 9/10 · 1 May 2015]

Mitchel Altieri directs this violent expose of the savage California biker culture with insight and skill. From the terrible opening sequences to the shattering climax, this is a film that grabs the audience by the throat and doesn't let go for a second. Not a minute of of this motion picture is wasted as the mindset of motorcycle thugs is ripped bare in all its bloodthirsty ugliness. The raw sexuality and violent nature of the characters is shocking yet mesmerizing in equal amounts and we are both repelled and attracted to these monsters on two wheels. The cast is superb in its characterizations of the Harley riding savages and their helpless prey, victims who can only save themselves by becoming savages themselves. A powerful film that is stark in its imagery and unrelenting in its depiction of biker barbarity. A difficult film to watch as it rips events from the headlines and exposes the unique breakdown of society that ensues as Northern California communities are terrorized by highway hooligans and the female citizens are ensnared in exhaust filled webs of wanton carnality. While told through the brilliant use of metaphor, the truth is all too real and much too familiar to small town residents of the Golden State.

Cult Classic

[nogodnomasters · 10/10 · 17 September 2018]

One of the first things I noticed is the frequent change in the genre of music. First it is gangsta rap, then punk rock, then heavy blues, then finally your metal track. It was not your classic grindhouse soundtrack as the Butcher Brothers sought to do things their own way. There is a 50th birthday party for the Mom of the biker gang "The Crew." They get her a couple of female strippers, very thoughtful. Cody's ex-girlfriend Michelle is there with her new bf which she kisses on in front of Cody, a real "B" word. She leaves and returns covered in blood. While laying in bed, passed out, one of the bikers decides to "get her while she is still warm." Michelle awakens while getting felt up and wants more. She turns into a demon/zombie and bites off a hunk of flesh. The screams attract the rest of the gang. One guy pulls Michelle off the biker and holds her down on the bed, then Michelle's sister Megan comes in and attempts to pull the guy off the monster Michelle.

The events are confusing and the movie waits too long explain what is happening.

Pluses: The bad guy had his own music as he whistled in an off key "Pop Goes the Weasel" although it wasn't used again. The zombie/demon Michelle possessed (pun intended) that certain "Evil Dead" quality. Dead people have a sense of humor. Home invaders are from the "1950's."

Negatives: Not a movie for those who take their films seriously.

Sex, nudity, F-bomb

A great, twisting ride of a movie

[unclebusu · 10/10 · 30 April 2010]

I got to see a cut of The Violent Kind at the San Francisco International Film Festival and it was amazing. Not at all what I expected. It is billed as a horror film, but dives into science fiction and so much more. I have to say, I had a hard time figuring the film out which is pretty unusual for me. It takes about 5 left turns and where you end up is pretty far away from where you started. The entire movie was shot in Sonoma County California, and features some great local talent and locations. In fact, they basically get the entire town of Penngrove in one camera move! Not a difficult task really, no offense Penngrove! If you like X-Files, or Outer Limits, you should really dig this. If you just like blood and gore, it is there, but not in copious amounts. Overall, I highly recommend it

Check out my full review here: http://drivein77.typepad.com/drivein77/2010/04/the-violent-kind.html

Gory and weird

[krachtm · 7/10 · 12 September 2013]

The plot: A group of petty drug dealers head to their remote cabin for a birthday celebration, but the real party begins when one of them becomes possessed by something beyond time and space.

The biggest problem is that this film has too much filler. If this had been half as long, it would have been twice as good. The first 30 minutes consists of tedious character development, but once you get past that, things start getting pretty interesting. The setup seems to be going toward a stereotypical, derivative biker film, but it takes a series of progressively weirder left turns into possession film, home invasion, surreal torture porn, and finally a David Lynch-style ending that leaves you with plenty of questions and no answers. If you like David Lynch, David Cronenberg, and Takashi Miike, you'll probably like this film, but mainstream horror fans who resent endings that make no sense will probably want to stay away from this messy film.

There are definitely some interesting ideas, and the filmmakers tried to do something different and non-mainstream. However, it comes across as a mish-mash of postmodern concepts that are not fully realized. I would have preferred more focus and less filler, but this was actually a pretty good attempt. If you're patient, forgiving of low budget horror films, and like weird stories that make no sense, you should give The Violent Kind a try. It's worth a 6 or 7 -- not the 4 that it currently has.

Evil Dead meets Encounters of the Third Kind?

[siderite · 6/10 · 4 November 2013]

It's difficult to rate this film. First of all, it had a really nice vibe, in spite of the low budget and mediocre actors. In a world of movie recipes that result in the same regurgitated swill, this film rang original and true. However it is really hard to get past the boredom of the setup, which lasted for a third of the film and had no connection to the rest of the story, the lame rather than cheesy special effects and the bad acting.

Also, it was one of those films that don't feel interactive. None of the characters seemed to have any choice in what was happening to them and, while it was relatively easy to identify with the characters, you couldn't see any solution or recourse to their plight as a viewer, either. Things just happened, without any explanation, then the movie ended, leaving much to be finalized. Is that a hint of a longer story arch, something like the Phantasm films? It did feel a little like a Coscarelli movie to me.

The individual elements of the story were interesting enough, like the 50's angle, or the ending, or the motorcycle gang vibe, but I feel they were not put together right and it all fell short of what it could have been. The bottom line is that without the boring setup and with a little more work, this could have been a good Outer Limits episode. With better budget, this film could be redeemed by a well done sequel. Left alone, though, it might be a waste of time.

Super Model Biker Gang? Yeah, Whatever.

[redrobin62-321-207311 · 3/10 · 14 April 2016]

This film is actually worthy of two different ratings - the 3 I gave it and the 8 I wanted to give it.

The low rating is because the story basically made no sense. It reminds me of that episode of South Park where Eric Cartman is trying to find out where the writers of Family Guy get their story ideas from. Finally, Eric is shocked to learn that it's manatees who push disparate, unrelated ideas together and the Family Guy writers just run with that. The Violent Kind is one of those kinds of movies - throw in as many unrelated events as you possibly can into one film and hope the audience buys the ridiculousness.

To be fair, those contrasting elements is why I wanted to give the movie an 8 rating. If anything, it shows that the filmmakers did their homework as there were quite a few references to ideas that came before them. Just watching the film you will be reminded of Tarantino, James Dean, Pulp Fiction, The Wild Bunch, Close Encounters Of The Third Kind, Tarantino, The Exorcist, The Possession, Tarantino, Machine Girl, Carrie, Alien, The Silence of the Lambs, Tarantino, that episode of Twilight Zone where the space alien who looks human wears his white work cap over the third eye in his forehead, Tarantino, etc.

The over-the-top acting in some parts was downright annoying, like Jim Carrey on steroids. The incessant crying was also annoying. The fact that everyone looked like gorgeous super models is ridiculous. The fact that the phones have no signal is ultra-clichéd; maybe that's a routine element for horror these days, like a woman running through the woods who finally trips over a root or something.

For a bunch of smart motorcycle/car mechanics, they sure look stupid not being able to figure out a car won't start because it's, gasp!, out of gas! Yeah, I know. What 9th grader came up with that idea, right? Maybe the directors' children were involved in the creation of the scrip. It sure shows, probably who The Violent Kind was intended for anyway.

In the end, all the sudden twists and turns the movie makes from censored porn to biker drama to vampire-like horror to science fiction must have been made for kids with the attention span of fleas. In that case, the movie excels. For others, you've seen bits of this movie before. If rubbing all those different ideas together is your cup of tea, The Violent Kind won't disappoint.

The villains made this one

[BreakawayDaily · 4/10 · 13 May 2011]

After watching The Hamiltons the night before and finding out this new brain child of the Butcher Brothers was out, I was excited to give it a view! Another original premise for this movie: A biker gang and their girlfriends are tormented when one of the girls becomes savagely possessed and a gang of "Rockabillies" from the fifties descends upon them to collect what is growing inside her. I found the first hour of the movie, actually kind of boring. It was then the "Rockabiliies" emerged on screen that the true potential of the film was shown. They are what should have been expanded more on, their twisted and psychotic personalities made the film.

www.breakawayradio.ca/bigcinema

Good ... But then looses it

[boydwalters · 5/10 · 29 May 2011]

OK ... The first two thirds are a great white trash possession flick ... Then, although I admire them for trying new things, a load of really naff characters arrive and completely ruin the whole thing ... And the last third is just stupid ... The characters are juvenile and the concept is daft ... Its just sloppy So ... Its worth watching for the first two thirds ... Cory Knauf, Bret Robberts and Taylor Cole are excellent in their roles ... As well as having fun with them Direction and camera-work is good and doesn't look half as cheap and nasty as most of the hopeless indiehorror thats around at the moment Oh that the first two thirds had developed into something good instead of total rubbish ... But at least you get an hour of good : ) ... And these days even that is a rarity

A decent film that deserves distribution

[weasel-33 · 8/10 · 27 April 2010]

I saw this flick at the San Francisco international Film Festival. I'd heard a bad review (by someone who didn't even see the movie!) and was told that IMDb had some bad reviews as well. So I'm here to set the record straight.

1) The lead actor, Cory Knopf, has grown as an actor in all three movies I've seen him in. This is his strongest performance yet. He is One To Watch. 2) The same goes Tiffany Shepis. I have met this lady, and to her credit from the moment I saw her on screen I hated her character - which was the intent. 3) Things are not fully explained, but that's PART OF THE STORY. It's an end-of-the-world flick. You aren't going to understand what's going on when your world is destroyed, so deal with it. 4) Some of the dialogue did not work for me. It was either the way it was written or the delivery, but by the end I wasn't thinking about it. This is why I took off stars.

Go see this movie if you can. It deserves wider distribution.

Another Great Addition To The Butcher Brothers Filmography

[jjdosha · 8/10 · 5 January 2014]

The Butcher Brothers do it again with an off-beat, retro-inspired, out of this world bloodbath that leaves gore fans satisfied and movie-goers that indulge in obscure cinema recommending this gem over and over again. I am cautious who gets the recommendation for this film; only those who watch "underground" or "obscure" films will appreciate it for all that it is worth. If the film viewer is already familiar with The Butcher Brothers, bon appetit! Even the performers seemed passionate about what they were doing, and The Butcher Brothers are amazing at creating hybrid film genres that push the envelope every way possible. The film mixes in alien encounters, satanic worship, leather clad biker romps and murderous '50's hoodlums to create a film that is not only fundamentally different, but delivers on the special effects and coddles horror fans' expectations of blood spilling!

Decent acting, but too gory to even enjoy

[chriz_t0616 · 2/10 · 25 April 2012]

I will admit, the acting for this low-budget Rob Zombie film wasn't terrible. But that's about the only good thing about this movie. The beginning starts out kind of slow, and conversations seem to drag on just to take up time in the film. Then once things start to get interesting, blood and guts are everywhere you turn. During some parts of the movie I even had to close my eyes because it was making me sick to my stomach. Then, once most of the violence is over, things start not really making much sense. I got the gist of what the storyline was, but some parts were blurry and I think they could've done a much better job explaining certain parts more thoroughly.