Director
Scott A. Martin
Cast
Scott Martin………Michael
Ron Burgher………Les McGraw
Thomas Shrader………Craig
Greg Mason………Joe
DVD Release Date: September 25, 2007
Rating: Not Rated
Running Time: 107 Minutes
The Movie
Michael is a man that is simply looking to make a name for himself in the world. He’s not looking for money or for his face to be plastered all over every billboard from one end of a highway to another. He just wants to enjoy his work and show the world what it’s like to be in his profession. The only problem is that his profession is that of a serial killer. Michael likes to either kidnap girls or con them into coming home with him so he can rape them and kill them.
Les McGraw is the man that Michael has decided to trust with what he does. Michael contacted Les and said he wanted to tell him everything about what he does and how he does it. It is then that Les consents to the interview and they sit down to have a lengthy one-on-one conversation including viewing all the tapes of his gruesome acts. To him he feels as if there is nothing wrong with the things he has done, and while Les may not agree, he sits and listens the whole time because he knows it will make him a star.
The first problem with this film is the camera work. Most of the footage shown is from Michael’s home video footage shot by his “buddy” that was always with him. The horrific event video tapes given to Les are meant to show the incidents as they happen and on the fly to capture the true horror. Yet the footage is edited and cut as if it was shot by three or four different cameramen. Not to mention that sometimes the cameraman is right in the face of the running/hiding victims as they try to get away from Michael and they act as if he’s not there. It’s just too unbelievable no matter how disturbing what’s happening on screen.
Next up is the acting, and it is just not good. There were times I honestly felt as if a high school play was being badly performed in front of my eyes. Most notably is a scene that takes place in a diner during the first twenty minutes of the film. The waitress, Les’ assistant, and the guy who gives her the tape look and sound as if they are reading right off a cue card. I honestly believe they went around town and said, “Hey y’all want to be in a movie?” and took everyone who said “No.”
While the idea behind Hurt isn’t a new one, it also isn’t a bad concept either. It invokes disturbing thoughts with slight moments of uneasiness, but not much. There’s rape, sodomy, murder, torture. You name it and it has been done. But Michael claims to have videotapes of everything he did to all his victims yet continues to simply describe most of it and also reenact them by himself. Yeah, that’s scary.
The low budget of the film is just too blatantly obvious and it shows in every single ounce of the film from the camera work to the sets (since they are all people’s homes). Throw in a batch of untalented actors with a script that Pacino couldn’t make work and it turns things into even more of a chaotic mess. Perhaps they thought that some random nudity and hardcore sounding music would make things more frightening and dark. Well, maybe in their minds it was.
The Video
The film is shown in every aspect imaginable. There is anamorphic widescreen, mini-DV, home video footage, and others that just make it all over the place. It’s rather hard to say how it is because some of the footage is intended to be crappy (home video) while others are meant to look decent (interview segments).
The Audio
The film is heard in Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono sound and is not good. Unless they’re shouting, then the dialogue can’t be heard without turning the volume way up. And then after you’ve done that, the music kicks up and deafens you.
Special Features
Stills – About twenty-four still frame shots from the film.
“Blood And Dishonour” Book Teaser – Still images from a soon to be released book about the dark, bloody, and perversely erotic world of the satanic sluts.
Trailer
Trailers – The Iron Rose, Satanic Sluts, and Black Mass
The Inside Pulse
Avoid. There’s not much more that really needs to be said. The special features were kept to a bare minimum and that is a good thing considering how horrible the film is. As I’ve said before, I give them points for credit because the idea truly isn’t a bad one if it’s done right. And when put side-by-side to another film, the DVD cover art says it is “reminiscent to Henry: Portrait Of A Serial Killer.” Upon first reading, some excitement flowed through me because I love that film. After watching it and reading that line again, I actually laughed. Hurt is so far from being in the same league as Henry that it’s like comparing Jury Duty to A Time To Kill.
