Macabre…ish Horror Review: Prevenge
Prevenge, 2016/ 1 hr 28 min
After her partner, Matt (Marc Bessant) dies in a climbing accident, he was cut loose to save the rest of the group of six climbers, Ruth (Alice Lowe), who is pregnant and mourning, is struggling to cope. In fact, she does so by going on a killing spree, starting with a creepy pet shop operator, Mr. Zabek (Dan Renton Skinner). Under the guise of looking for a birthday gift for an imaginary 8 year old son.
Back in her room she hears a voice, presumably the voice of her unborn child.
During her prenatal appointment, her midwife (Jo Hartley) oddly tries and fails to connect with Ruth. But tells her the baby will tell her what to do and Ruth agrees, it already does.
The next evening, Ruth dresses up and goes out on the hunt for her next victim. She gets another creep, DJ Dan (Tom Davis) and they dance until late and then take a vomit filled taxi ride to his and his Mom’s place. Ruth puts a damper on the evening, he gets rude and then his Mom (Leila Hoffman) comes out.
When he finally tries to have sex with her, he feels her stomach and she swipes a blade at his private parts. Dan’s mother comes out again and Ruth is kind to her and promises to start the wash before she goes. The lady is in mental decline, she barely knows what’s happening. All while Dan lies bleeding out on the floor.
As Ruth goes on with her evening and over the next few days, she hears that voice more and more, guiding her. She next goes on a job interview under an assumed name and as expected, she doesn’t get the job. Before she leaves, Ruth hears the voice again and then she gets personal with the interviewer, Ella (Kate Dickie), who entertains the conversation before Ruth walks over and brutally attacks her.
Ruth is becoming more bold and more unhinged. And that voice is speaking up more often and ‘guiding’ her.
Next, she shows up for rock wall climbing lesson at a gym. But she’s denied because she’s pregnant. On her way out, she start cramping badly. Punishment for not killing the instructor she thinks. She yells out, “I’m trying. You F-king do it!”
Ruth’s goes back in for an exam and is alarmed when the woman mentions contacting social services. She’s terrified her child will be taken away.
Later that night she wanders the streets again, listening to the voice rant. The voice of her fetus is getting louder and more demanding.
The next day she arrives as Claire, at a flat with a man, Josh (Mike Wozniak), who’s looking for an additional flat mate. The man is kind and funny. Then the voice starts again, it wants her to kill. The other flatmate, Zac (Tom Meeten), comes in and she goes after him immediately. Then she attacks Josh who witnesses the slaughter.
Ruth doesn’t just kill, she journals and keeps a record of them. There are a lot more victims, including Len (Gemma Whelan) who fights back and calls the cops. That time she is nearly caught.
During her next prenatal appointment, Ruth, finally talks about having conversations with the baby and that she feels like a vehicle that’s being driven and not a mother but the information is not really received at all. And now Ruth thinks she’s betrayed her fetus and is in danger. So while in active labor she goes to a Halloween Party that the climbing instructor, Thomas (Kayvan Novak) will be at to try to kill him.
All of her seemingly random victims are connected and after the baby is born, Ruth’s head clears. And that clarity gives her no peace.
This British slasher is written, directed by the lead actor, Alice Lowe. This movie has a lot of dark humor in it and it is not PC. The physical effects are good, the random flashes of black and white film clips make this movie feel more deranged. It is graphic and gory and there is vomit. The humor is not the kind that makes this easier to watch, it makes it sadder and sometimes weird. I really enjoyed this movie, it is very well done!