It has been a while since I got together with Terry and Dawn for a movie review. Life got in the way for a bit there and we haven't gotten together for one, but I did my best to get that changed for this month. Back when we first started picking movies to watch, it was around the same time that The Bad Man (2018) was doing a fundraiser. I made the suggestion that we each at least get the movie so we could watch it for our little group and everyone agreed to it. It took us an extra month to get around to it, but we have. We will also be doing the chat, which I will post at some point, with a couple of extra guests this time around, hopefully anyway.
After her grandmother has passed away, Mary (Ellie Church) and her husband PJ (Jason Crowe) are starting to settle in the house that her grandmother left to her. As they explore the house, which was running as a bed and breakfast, they hear a knock at the door. They find Lawrence (Arthur Cullipher) outside expecting to spend the night. Mary explains that the owner has passed away and Lawrence asks about where else he might be able to stay. With no other place even close, Mary eventually decides to let Lawrence spend the night and find somewhere else to stay tomorrow. While Lawrence seems like a nice guy and all, he has plans that Mary and PJ will not like at all. Lawrence's job is to make sex slaves and he has set his sight on Mary and PJ. Lawrence will do whatever it takes to break the two into submission. Will Mary and PJ find a way through this or will they give in and become a doll and dog?
The Bad Man was written and directed by Scott Schirmer. I have said before that I have become a fan of Scott Schirmer's films because he does something different with each film. Some themes remain the same in each film, but the stories are different each time. Each film deals with sex on some level it seems, with Harvest Lake and now The Bad Man dealing with it the most. Even though the main theme is the same in both of these movies, the two films couldn't be further apart at the same time. Depending on your views on sex, this film will probably be the most extreme. I was surprised when I got the movie in the mail. I was just expecting the movie but they put a nice little package together. Inside the case was not only The Bad Man but also another movie, some signed character cards, a couple of cards that are seen in the movie which Lawrance uses to evaluate people with, and a condom. The last one surprised me the most.
Before I get into the review proper, allow me to share some information about myself. Not many know this about me, but I can enjoy the bondage experience and being "punished" with the right person. I have never gone extreme with it, but it is something that I can get excited about. While The Bad Man goes in that direction some, I felt a little disappointed that it didn't do so more than it did. The Clown, as Lawrence is known by in the underground sex slave market, uses fear and some kind of drug to control those he is trying to turn. I'm sure most people are a bit afraid when giving up control to another person, but it is wanted at least. That isn't the case with Mary and PJ, and whoever else Lawrence has turned before since he obviously has done all of this before. Having been in their shoes, to some degree at least, the story kept my interest through the entire movie. A movie hasn't kept my attention this much in a while.
The story is mostly centered around Mary. The film actually starts with Mary being interviewed after the events of the film. I understood why this was done, as it filled in some blanks as the story advanced, but I was still a little disappointed in this for a couple of reasons. The main reason being that we know that Mary at least manages to get away at some point before it actually happens. This takes out some of the suspense due to Mary's life being threatened. Not that they do that much since Lawrence seems to like Mary a lot. The other reason had to do with liking PJ. Since the story is focused on Mary, I sometimes felt that PJ was left out at. There is plenty going on with him that we see, but we don't get to learn his side of things anything like what we do with Mary. In order to get to Mary more, they (they being Lawrence and his helper who was played by Dave Parker) get really hard on PJ. A lot more seems to happen to PJ than Mary so I would have liked to have heard his side of things.
I was surprised by the lack of nudity in The Bad Man. I know that Ellie Church has said that she doesn't want to do nudity on film anymore, but if there was ever a film that could call for it, it would be this type of movie. There is nudity from both men and women, just not from Church, but the bulk of the film doesn't have any. I did like that the story doesn't end at the house. I was afraid that would be all there is to the story, but Schirmer extends the story some by giving us a glimpse of what this underground sex slave trade is all about. It would have been nice if we could have watched other types of slaves being sold since all we see are a couple of dolls and dogs. That was a minor thing for me though.
I was also surprised that there wasn't much going on for effects for a long time. After a while, I got the why of it. Lawrence doesn't want the merchandise damaged at all after all. Schirmer does give us some effects towards the end of the film with some gory effects that look pretty good. The last one is the biggest. The acting was great. Church and Crowe make a good onscreen couple as they bounced off of each other nicely. I also liked Arthur Cullipher a lot as the bad guy here. Despite being a bad person, he is equal parts charming as well. I liked how he could be charming one minute and then flip it to turn into this villain. Dave Parker was also good even though he never says a word. Every woman that saw him on the back of the cover fell in love with his body.
The Bad Man isn't a film for everyone. I'm sure it will trigger some people, for the right and wrong reasons. If you are a victim of sexual assault, you will likely want to avoid this movie. There are some rape scenes to be found but they are done either off camera or it is done in a way that isn't graphic at all. I'm glad that I was able to get this movie thanks to their campaign on Kickstarter. I think it is Schirmer's best movie since Found, even though it remains my favorite of his. Even though I had some issues with the movie, which I almost always do, I really got into The Bad Man and highly suggest giving it a try if you haven't already. I'm really looking forward to the chat which will hopefully happen in a couple more days. Please check out Dawn's and Terry's reviews as well when you get the chance and be sure to come back to read the chat!
4 out of 5 Been way too long since I have been restrained
After her grandmother has passed away, Mary (Ellie Church) and her husband PJ (Jason Crowe) are starting to settle in the house that her grandmother left to her. As they explore the house, which was running as a bed and breakfast, they hear a knock at the door. They find Lawrence (Arthur Cullipher) outside expecting to spend the night. Mary explains that the owner has passed away and Lawrence asks about where else he might be able to stay. With no other place even close, Mary eventually decides to let Lawrence spend the night and find somewhere else to stay tomorrow. While Lawrence seems like a nice guy and all, he has plans that Mary and PJ will not like at all. Lawrence's job is to make sex slaves and he has set his sight on Mary and PJ. Lawrence will do whatever it takes to break the two into submission. Will Mary and PJ find a way through this or will they give in and become a doll and dog?
The Bad Man was written and directed by Scott Schirmer. I have said before that I have become a fan of Scott Schirmer's films because he does something different with each film. Some themes remain the same in each film, but the stories are different each time. Each film deals with sex on some level it seems, with Harvest Lake and now The Bad Man dealing with it the most. Even though the main theme is the same in both of these movies, the two films couldn't be further apart at the same time. Depending on your views on sex, this film will probably be the most extreme. I was surprised when I got the movie in the mail. I was just expecting the movie but they put a nice little package together. Inside the case was not only The Bad Man but also another movie, some signed character cards, a couple of cards that are seen in the movie which Lawrance uses to evaluate people with, and a condom. The last one surprised me the most.
Before I get into the review proper, allow me to share some information about myself. Not many know this about me, but I can enjoy the bondage experience and being "punished" with the right person. I have never gone extreme with it, but it is something that I can get excited about. While The Bad Man goes in that direction some, I felt a little disappointed that it didn't do so more than it did. The Clown, as Lawrence is known by in the underground sex slave market, uses fear and some kind of drug to control those he is trying to turn. I'm sure most people are a bit afraid when giving up control to another person, but it is wanted at least. That isn't the case with Mary and PJ, and whoever else Lawrence has turned before since he obviously has done all of this before. Having been in their shoes, to some degree at least, the story kept my interest through the entire movie. A movie hasn't kept my attention this much in a while.
The story is mostly centered around Mary. The film actually starts with Mary being interviewed after the events of the film. I understood why this was done, as it filled in some blanks as the story advanced, but I was still a little disappointed in this for a couple of reasons. The main reason being that we know that Mary at least manages to get away at some point before it actually happens. This takes out some of the suspense due to Mary's life being threatened. Not that they do that much since Lawrence seems to like Mary a lot. The other reason had to do with liking PJ. Since the story is focused on Mary, I sometimes felt that PJ was left out at. There is plenty going on with him that we see, but we don't get to learn his side of things anything like what we do with Mary. In order to get to Mary more, they (they being Lawrence and his helper who was played by Dave Parker) get really hard on PJ. A lot more seems to happen to PJ than Mary so I would have liked to have heard his side of things.
I was surprised by the lack of nudity in The Bad Man. I know that Ellie Church has said that she doesn't want to do nudity on film anymore, but if there was ever a film that could call for it, it would be this type of movie. There is nudity from both men and women, just not from Church, but the bulk of the film doesn't have any. I did like that the story doesn't end at the house. I was afraid that would be all there is to the story, but Schirmer extends the story some by giving us a glimpse of what this underground sex slave trade is all about. It would have been nice if we could have watched other types of slaves being sold since all we see are a couple of dolls and dogs. That was a minor thing for me though.
I was also surprised that there wasn't much going on for effects for a long time. After a while, I got the why of it. Lawrence doesn't want the merchandise damaged at all after all. Schirmer does give us some effects towards the end of the film with some gory effects that look pretty good. The last one is the biggest. The acting was great. Church and Crowe make a good onscreen couple as they bounced off of each other nicely. I also liked Arthur Cullipher a lot as the bad guy here. Despite being a bad person, he is equal parts charming as well. I liked how he could be charming one minute and then flip it to turn into this villain. Dave Parker was also good even though he never says a word. Every woman that saw him on the back of the cover fell in love with his body.
The Bad Man isn't a film for everyone. I'm sure it will trigger some people, for the right and wrong reasons. If you are a victim of sexual assault, you will likely want to avoid this movie. There are some rape scenes to be found but they are done either off camera or it is done in a way that isn't graphic at all. I'm glad that I was able to get this movie thanks to their campaign on Kickstarter. I think it is Schirmer's best movie since Found, even though it remains my favorite of his. Even though I had some issues with the movie, which I almost always do, I really got into The Bad Man and highly suggest giving it a try if you haven't already. I'm really looking forward to the chat which will hopefully happen in a couple more days. Please check out Dawn's and Terry's reviews as well when you get the chance and be sure to come back to read the chat!
4 out of 5 Been way too long since I have been restrained
