In Battleground Canadian director Neil Mackay delivers an interesting film that walks the line between crime drama, action film and horror film. For what is obviously a very low budget film with no actors you are going to recognize, this is a very entertaining film.
The film opens with a group of criminals who have just pulled off a major heist, $3.2 million. Things don’t go as planned when one of them kills a cop in the process so they are forced to lay low overnight before catching their plane out of the country. They find a seemingly abandoned cabin in the woods and shack up there where the infighting begins and leads to the death of one of the men who is buried out in the woods.
The next morning the men find that their van has been stolen and that the man they buried is missing. They begin a trek through the woods to catch their plane where the slowly figure out that a crazed Vietnam vet (Hugh Lambe) is running around the woods killing everyone that crosses his path. Quickly the cast begins dropping like flies. One particular character, Texas (Bob Cymbalski), is about the only one you hope kind of makes it out alive. Cymbalski isn’t your typical action hero, which is cool, but when is says lines like “I’ve got some business to attend to. Personal business.” Then cocks his shotgun, you can’t help but laugh.
The film kind of has a Reservoir Dogs meets Rambo with a slasher flick edge thrown in. There is even a woman introduced who was on a date with her boyfriend in the woods before the crazed vet killed him, so she is on the run too. While most the deaths are pretty straight forward, gun or shotgun, booby traps in woods, etc, there is a great gore moment for the horror fans when the crazed vet decapitates a man then skins his severed head.
Mackay has written and directed a solidly entertaining film that is well shot and has a solid group of actors. They’re not all great, but none of them are bad. Certainly several steps above what you’d expect from a film of this budget.
The film is presented in a 2.35:1 widescreen format and 5.1 Dolby Digital suround sound. This is a solid looking film, especially for a low budget film, and the sound is mixed very well. Everything looks and sounds great.
The only extra is the Trailer.
These are the kind of surprises I love stumbling upon as a reviewer. Lambe play a great villain. He’s obviously insane, but at the same time very cold and calculating. On the other side you have Cymbalski who plays the guy you absolutely want to root for and see win the day. This is Neil Mackay’s first feature film and as solid as this is, I can’t wait to see what he delivers next.
Well Go USA Entertainment presents Battleground. Written and Directed by: Neil Mackay. Starring: Bob Cymbalski, Hugh Lambe, Bryan Larkin and Lee Sandford. Running time: 89 minutes. Rating: Not Rated. Released: August, 28 2012. Available at Amazon.com.
