Tainted (II) (2020) User Reviews

A bit more than just cliched violence for violence's sake...

[jager-marc · 6/10 · 18 June 2020]

From the trailer I was worried this would just be gratuitous violence for violence's sake... but it was more! A pleasant surprise!

Great acting and wonderfully dark atmosphere.... You can almost feel the weight of a harsh harsh life of pain, violence and suffering on the main character's life.

The story-line/plot is very cliched but because of the great acting and the well main 'characters', those cliches somehow didn't annoy me (as it normally would have me rolling my eyes and groaning). It seems to me that this film is constantly pushing a message - which I appreciate! (I hate senseless violence and I hate glorifying violent or criminal lifestyles like mob-life or gangs even more!) This film does the opposite, it shows that those lifestyles of crime - drugs, murder etc are horrible, dark and that they TAINT you... for the rest of your life... There is a MORAL to this story which those horrible Hollywood movies usually don't show and for that, I have to write this, so it's not overlooked! Oh.. the moral, as i said above? It's about how low behavior 'taints' you and that it is UGLY. Not a high quality 'great' movie but definitely well above average and worth a look!

A bit slow but ok way to kill 90 minutes.

[HorrorFan6969 · 6/10 · 24 April 2022]

I must admit. I had no expectations. Acting is good. But it's more on the writing / directing I guess. It's a bit slow and boring at times. But if you are like me and need movies like this to sleep at night. It's the best. And I'm not saying this negatively. You need movies like this. Everyone find something in the movies. I used Lifetime movies to have a good sleepy night. But at least this movie keep me intrigued and it was a fun one.

Anything for the Brotherhood

[nogodnomasters · 5/10 · 29 June 2020]

Gregor (John Ralston ) and his wife Adalina (Lina Roessler ) operate a bakeshop that is a front for drug dealing for the Russian mafia (John Rhys-Davies ). The Aryan Nation is forcing themselves into the Russian's meth business and blood has been shed. Gregor hires Lance (Alan Van Sprang ) a former member to kill the local group and leave no witnesses. He leaves a witness and now he is hunted by those that hired him.

Well acted low key action film. Lance is the reluctant protagonist. If you use a hot iron on your chest, have antibiotics nearby.

Guide: F-word. No sex or nudity.

it's not the violence

[ferguson-6 · 5/10 · 15 June 2020]

Greetings again from the darkness. Filmed in Canada with a mostly Canadian cast by a Canadian director, we are reminded how challenging it is to make a low budget action-thriller. Writer-director Brent Cote delivers a masterclass in genre clichés, yet there's enough here to keep anyone initially interested around for 90 minutes.

Alan Van Sprang (SAW III) stars as Lance, the rare Neo-Nazi with ties to both the Aryan Brotherhood and Russian mafia who is also the good guy in the story. Lance has recently been released after serving 15 years in prison, and he's just trying to live out a quiet life by surrounding himself with pictures of beautiful scenery as he dreams of escaping the world he's known. He clocks in and out at work, and mostly avoids chit-chatting with others, except for his friendly neighbor Anna (Sara Waislgas), who happens to sing at the local lounge where Lance periodically buys a bottle.

Of course, it's only a matter of time (maybe 10 minutes) before Lance's old world catches up with his new one. Gregor (John Ralston, READY OR NOT, 2019), his old Russian handler, needs him to kill a few guys that have been infringing on the meth business. So, are you keeping score on clichés? We have an ex-con trying to start over. We have 'one last job'. We have a girl caught in the middle ... there's always a girl! We have the Aryan Brotherhood versus the Russian mob. Plus, we have the underling trying to earn his stripes. In this case, it's Gregor's nephew Malik (Aaron Poole). There's even an imposing Russian mobster named Vladimir (John Ryhs-Davies from two huge franchises - Lord of the Rings and Indiana Jones).

The film begins with a Pope Francis quote about evil and violence, but ironically, the film's best segments involve neither evil nor violence. Despite his past, Lance is a brooding type who listens to blues music, and serves up inspiring words to Anna. The film offers a new and very quick (though surely indescribably painful) method for removing swastika tattoos from one's chest, although you should know the violent scenes are few in number and brief in runtime. Gregor's philosophy towards Lance is that "a fighter needs to fight", but we actually enjoy Lance's time with Anna more than the gangster bits. Filmmaker Cote may follow the checklist for this genre, however, we do hand it to him for a twist at the end.

Not bad, but kind of pointless

[mjdk2 · 4/10 · 27 November 2020]

All in all this is not a bad movie - the acting is fine and so is the cinematography. But this kind of plot has been done ad nauseam and it's nothing new - so essentially it is a waste of time given how much selection there is these days.

Well done un-Hollywoodized low budget Canadian crime film

[Top_Dawg_Critic · 8/10 · 17 June 2020]

This is novice writer and director Brent Cote's first full length feature film, with only a handful of shorts and a TV movie on his resume.

Although I found the pacing extremely slow, I was still glued to the screen waiting for what will happen next. The normally comfortable 90 min runtime could've used 10-15 min of trimming on some stretched out and/or unnecessary scenes. Although the story is nothing revolutionary, imo, it was told really well and convincingly, with a perfect ending, and in a refreshingly un-Hollywoodish manner.

The score was surprisingly perfect, especially for a low budget B-film, as was the soundtrack. Directing and cinematography were on point and showcased the film very well. Casting was decent, with most of the characters convincing in their roles. You could tell that better cast-directing by a seasoned director would've added the missing ummph in some dialogued scenes.

But we need to cut some slack for the few rookie mistakes Cote made, as new filmmakers have to start somewhere, right? Still, a very enjoyable neo-noir styled low budget B-grade crime thriller. It's a 7.5 rounded up to 8/10 from me. To see more of my 1000+ ratings and 900+ reviews, click on my username.

Well Worth Watching

[gj-mercer · 8/10 · 16 October 2021]

A great crime thriller with well drawn characters, great acting, good storyline and direction. The action sequences are well done and it will keep you gripped throughout.

Why comparing this with TAKEN?

[searchanddestroy-1 · 9/10 · 30 September 2022]

This story, this topic, though not being new, is ten millions better than TAKEN crap serie, with a super hero who ALWAYS win in the end. Here, OK, you deal with a LEON rip-off, something over used, I repeat, but well done, produced by the Indie Canadian industry. It is gritty, brutal, poignant, predictable but exciting for me. It is rather sad, gloomy and performed by convincing actors playing convincing characters. You also have interesting supporting characters, a focus that you don't always have in action thrillers, such as the mobster, not the lead ex con, married to the young lady baker dreaming of a btter life. Touching. I like movies both violent and gripping.

This film could have been made in the 40s

[blademan-95603 · 10/10 · 18 April 2021]

And matter of fact it was. As High Sierra with Humphrey Bogart. Just as one example among many The plot is an old one, and was very old even then. Much older than any film or play that used it in the past two centuries, with a lineage that was likely familiar going back even to the ancient Greeks. Which should give you an idea of its timelessness. And when done right, that never wears out.

This film did it right. Once again.

So a ten star rating from me.

This is how you do a low-budget, off Hollywood film

[silverton-37959 · 8/10 · 11 November 2023]

The cast here is mostly little known talent, at least to American audiences. The director is new to the genre, and possibly new to the business, for that matter. What counts is the talent displayed by everyone involved. Even the bit actors turn in good work, and the director avoids many of the pitfalls that directors with longer histories routinely fall for through hubris/inattention. In this film it's almost as if the director sees this as his only chance to make something good and he's careful to do so.

The script is low-key and almost bare bones, so there's nothing much in the way of the storytelling. This is not a feel good film by any measure. It does avoid being relentlessly depressing, though the circumstances in which some of the characters find themselves are bleak.