Checked out the new suspense film Bad Samaritan… a movie so obscure, I never saw a trailer for it and that’s a challenge when you see as many movies as I do. I don’t even think they had a poster or standee for it at the theater. About all I did know was the film was in English and it was probably a horror or suspense film with that title.
Bad Samaritan is about a small time burglar who breaks into a home only to find the arrogant rich prick who owns it has a woman tied to a chair. He tries to free her but can’t in time and flees. In a move that made me appreciate the script, he reports the kidnapping to the police, admitting to his B&E and begging them to help. They ultimately don’t believe him (due to his criminal record). The kidnapper is a smart, sadistic guy who figures out who our main character is and the movie turns into a (air quotes) Deadly Game of Cat and Mouse (end air quotes).
I liked the setup to this movie and, as mentioned, that the main character goes to the police like a normal person might… and then tells his family the truth when the kidnapper starts messing with their lives too. I just wish the movie was better. I don’t think it’s a waste but it does feel overly long and starts to drag about half-way through. There’s good acting on display and the film is well made so it has that going for it… but I just lost interest. Decently strong opening, pretty good ending… saggy in the middle.
Curiously, the movie takes place in Portland, Oregon and the main character is Irish (and speaks with the accent). The villain is played by David Tennant who is Scottish but speaking with a weird American accent. It’s distracting since he played Killgrave on Jessica Jones with a good US accent… so not sure what he’s doing in this movie.
If you catch this one late at night on HBO or whatever, maybe give it a look. It’s a small film with no marketing budget behind it and very few reviews… it’s not perfect but it has a few things going for it that might make it worth a watch. Not a high recommendation due to the pacing issues but it’s still fairly interesting.
Score: 76