Sons of Vengeance
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I have to say I did not think much when I received the movie SONS OF VENGEANCE. Looking at the burned DVD-R screener that I received from Corporation-Unlimited, I was not impressed in the least. Of course this is only a screener after all, so I was not really expecting a diamond encrusted case or anything. Sad to say though that it took all my will to finally getting around to putting it into the player. I can honestly say though that after 2 seconds in I was kicking myself in the ass for not getting to this one sooner. While having its normal low budget problems, this movie surprised the hell out of me.

Vincent (Ryan Williams) is studying to become a priest, but has to put that on the back burner when his brother gets into some trouble. He owes a lot of money to a mob boss, and to save his brother Vincent must kill Oleg (Eric Montes), the leader of a gang. Vincent accepts but deals with all the doubt that a situation like this would entail. Not only would that be rough for a normal person, but a guy training to be a priest? That’s gotta be rough. I’d just have my brother add me to his will, and move on. Sorry bro!

While this is all going down a man named Cervantes also hires someone to kill Oleg. That Oleg has it tough. Instead of a weak wanna-be priest he hires Cameron (Daniel Lujan), a freaky devil worshipping hit man. Is this man only a hit man or supernaturally more?

Soon paths cross, Vincent gets deeper and deeper into this situation that his brother got him in (or did he?), truths are revealed about everyone and alliances are made against a greater evil. That pretty much sums up the picture the best I can without giving anything away. That’s one of the great things about this movie; the plot twists.

Honestly I had to rewind the movie a few times to get the grasp of what was going on. Not that this is MEMENTO or anything, but the characters are there and not in your face. In other words, everything is not laid out nice-like for you. Some characters blend in, and do not really stand out enough for me to remember their role in the film, so when a plot twist involves them I had even forgotten about those characters. Personally I loved this fact of the film. It gave it more of a realistic feel to it, instead of each character being a cartoon character outlandishly describing every move.

The acting is on point with special props to Daniel Lujan for his role as Cameron. My visiting mother-in-law had me turn the movie off when she walked in the room just because he licked a nun’s face. I think the poor woman had some serious nightmares that night.

SONS OF VENGEANCE also is made with a real flare. Eric Montes and David Medina did one hell of a job here. The intro credits alone took me into a time warp, where I could have been watching an updated version into THE GOOD, THE BAD, THE UGLY. For such a low budget, this was made more stylish than I would have expected. The only real issues that I had with this movie were some sound quality issues, and some loose ends. While I said that I liked how some characters blended into the film, some needed to stand out more. At times it was confusing with where the story was going and why. Other times the editing created some confusing scenes that did not work in the narrative. I also would have liked to see parts played out slightly more of a mystery instead of the twist taking place all in one scene. Another loose end was with the nun. Didn’t anyone care about the damn nun? I guess not.

Overall this is a movie that again surprised the hell out of me. SONS OF VENGEANCE is part CROW, EL MARIACHI, THE GOOD, THE BAD, AND THE UGLY and maybe even a bit of HAMLET thrown in for class. If you can find this film check it out. Consider the low budget as a classic record, as opposed to a CD. Some songs sound better on a record, and this movie works better on a low budget. Will there be a part two? It is set up for one, and I will be eagerly waiting to check that one out if it happens. Even with its few flaws and parts that had me confused SONS OF VENGEANCE is a movie that is gritty, stylish, and has a flavor all of its own and worthy of 3 ½ Cans.

Added:  Wednesday, April 12, 2006

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