Director – Ryan Nicholson (Gutterballs, Famine)
Starring – Michelle Boback (Hell Hath No Fury, Destination: Infestation), Tamara Pender (Darkest Hour, Human Nature), and Daniel Lomas (Latchkey’s Lament)
Release Date – 2004
Rating – 2/5
Blu Release – 3.5/5
Over the last year or so Unearthed Films has been releasing the late Ryan Nicholson’s films on blu. Ryan was an amazing effects artist that directed several underground hits throughout his career. I had one of his film’s prior to his death but once Unearthed Films started releasing them I got them in for review.
I was really impressed with Gutterballs and Famine but Live Feed was not for me. Torched is one that several friends of mine told me to check out so when Unearthed sent it over for review I couldn’t wait to dig in. Thanks Unearthed and MVD for sending this one over.
**Spoiler Alert** The film follows Deanna (Boback) who is a nurse who finds herself becoming the center of several men. After she is raped and take advantage of by several men she soon turns to revenge using various tools that she has at her disposal. **Spoiler Alert**
Torched is one of the many movies I’ve owned for several years but never actually took the time to watch. Hell, I actually own three different copies of this one. For those of you that don’t know, Torched is part of the anthology film Hell Hath No Fury. I purchased that DVD many years ago and over the years I found a copy of Torched in the wild and snagged it. I’ve always been curious about this release but I never really take the time to watch movies for fun anymore. I usually spend all my time watching movies sent over for review so this way I’m glad Unearthed released it. I didn’t really care for it but there was a few things I liked.
The acting in this one is pretty good. Boback was great as Deanna. She is beautiful and very talented in front of the camera. She gives the viewer a wide range of emotions and all of them felt genuine. The supporting cast is rather hit or miss but the overall acting was very well done. I liked the cast and the characters made the scenes a little easier to swallow.
The story for this one is simple and straight forward. However, even at 40 some odd minutes I found myself becoming bored with it. It’s essentially a loose remake of I Spit on Your Grave with better kills and lacking the build up and tension. I liked the kills scenes and how Nicholson approached them but all the other scenes were dull and did very little to make the story fun.
Finally, it wouldn’t be a Nicholson film without some memorable kills. This was at the beginning of his career so it’s not as perfect as you would expect but they were very impressive. It’s not the goriest film I’ve seen but the kills will be something that stays with you. Overall, Torched was one I could barely finish. If it wasn’t for the death scenes I would have turned it off. The acting is solid and the torture scenes are surprisingly fun but the overall film is pretty dull. Collectors will want this release to show support for a pivotal filmmaker from horror’s underground but this movie of his is the weakest. The blu does look better than the DVD’s I have. I took them out to compare the video and audio and this release is leagues better than both.
Special Features:
Commentary with Ryan Nicholson
Alternate 4:3 original version of the film
Torched Extended Version
Out takes
Unearthed Trailers
Behind the Scenes
Fifteen-minute making-of featurette titled Behind the Burn: The Making of Torched.
