BEATEN TO DEATH (2022)

New in select theaters from Welcome Villain Films!
Directed by Sam Curtain.
Written by Sam Curtain, Benjamin Jung-Clarke.
Starring Thomas Roach, David Tracy, Justan Wagner, Nicole Tudor, June Clarke, Andy Krambousanos, John McGregor, Elaine Curtain, David Curtain

After a drug deal gone wrong, Jack (Thomas Roach) and his girlfriend Rachel (Nicole Tudor) are viciously beaten by a drug dealer, leaving Rachel dead and Jack seriously wounded. But when Jack escapes and seeks help from a loner named Ned (David Tracy), Jack finds out that in the outback, there is no safe places.

BEATEN TO DEATH is a grim and devastating film of one man’s will to survive against insurmountable odds. It’s a small-scale survival film set in the Australian outback with big stakes. Yes, the violence in BEATEN TO DEATH is gruesome, but given the title, what would you expect? It’s a hard-edged gore-fest focusing mainly on surviving rather than inflicting pain on another person. It’s not about the gore though. Jack’s futile attempt to make his way across the rough terrain after being tortured horribly seems to be the point here. It’s quite a nihilistic viewpoint, but you have to admire the protagonist’s will to keep going despite the horrors he’s been through.

Still, this is not a film for the squeamish. I’ve seen quite a lot of gore in my time and seeing what torture this movie heaps upon Jack is almost excruciating to watch at times. Usually in action films, the hero gets a couple cuts and bruises, a gash that’ll leave a wicked scar on his cheek or chin, but in BEATEN TO DEATH, Jack undergoes irreparable damage that, if he does defy the title of the movie and get out of this predicament alive, his world will be forever changed. The stakes are high here and the arduous endurance test Jack has to take is something one normally sees in a production this size. But while the blood flows freely, the film never feels like it is reveling in the gore. Instead it highlights the true horror of the violence one person can inflict upon another and takes it to the absolute extreme.

Though most of the time he is gasping for air or screaming in pain, Thomas Roach gives his all in a physically demanding performance, but the real standout is the towering menace of David Tracy who plays Ned. With long grey hair and a weathered face, the man-mountain seems to be more dinosaur than man. I’ve never seen this actor before, but this guy has presence and commands every scene he’s in.

BEATEN TO DEATH is not a comfortable movie. It’s reminiscent of other no-hold-barred, grimy, gritty, violence-fests from down under like WAKE IN FRIGHT and FAIR GAME where the outback is as much a horror as the acts of the evil men who roam it. It’s grindhousey as it focuses more on man vs. nature than man vs. man, reminiscent of those classic survival tales of the seventies like DELIVERANCE, STRAW DOGS, and such where a softer man is forced to get tough quick or die by the deeds of his fellow man or the surrounding elements. I highly recommend checking BEATEN TO DEATH out, but only if you have the stomach for it.

Check out the trailer here!!