 | MOVIE DETAILS • Name: The Furies • Year: 2019 • Country: Australia • Director: Tony D’Aquino • Main cast: Airlie Dodds, Linda Ngo, Taylor Ferguson • Runtime: 82 minutes • Production company: Odin’s Eye Entertainment, The Film Distillery, Head Gear Films • TRAILER |
As I expect all the Ganiveta readers are big fans of scary movies, probably everyone reading this review has seen the movie Predators (2010), the entry in the popular horror and science-fiction space hunters saga directed by Nimród Antal and produced by Robert Rodriguez where a group of human elite warriors from different origins finds themselves in an unknown jungle as prey for the green alien slayers. Well, The Furies (2019) takes more or less the same idea, only that the landscape is a desert and its abandoned mines, the victims are a group of young ladies, and the hunters are a bunch of deranged male humans wearing creepy masks.
The Furies (2019) is one of those movies made by the fans of horror and for the fans of horror. The perfect definition of a slasher film. Action non-stop, good gory sequences, and a simple plot without pretentions high. It is easy to understand many people can dislike the movie, it is true that doesn’t bring many new ideas to the genre, yet it is undoubtedly that the intention of the filmmakers was far from creating an elaborated piece to remember, but to making an enjoyment splatter fest.
It is evident the filmmakers had in mind some social criticism about capitalism, sexism and all these problems that are surrounding us deep in this 21st century. One can easily smell the scent of “Fuck the patriarchy” the movie exudes, but don’t get it wrong. The prey girls are The Beauties and the hunting men are The Beasts, but this is a horror movie and I doubt the pretensions were high enough to keep the social and gender conflict further than being part of the plot.
Tony D’Aquino, the writer and director of The Furies (2019) in which is his debut feature film, manages to put together a good piece with the few ingredients he has within reach. The pace is always dynamic, giving no rest to the audience. The gory scenes, which are abundant along the running time, are very well done and in their exact measurements. It’s not an extravagant bloodfest, but it’s a messy film. Dirty things happen on the screen.
It is also fair to outstand the acting job of the main star Airlie Dodds, a young actress that manages to bring at all times the perfect equilibrium between fear and fury, between drama and revenge.
Obviously, The Furies (2019) is not a movie for the masses. And it is a movie that people who are not into gory slasher films might not like. Dirt takes over fanciness, and mercy and romance have no place in the story. The perfect kind of film to be part of the line-up of a festival like Sitges Film Festival. So, if you want to get messy, give a chance to The Furies (2019).
RATE: 6/10
IMDB URL: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt8228172
