Bruiser (2000)

After an eight-year hiatus, George Romero makes his long-awaited cinematic return with the visceral Bruiser, a savage and unsettling take on Kafka's The Metamorphosis as a Death Wish revenge fantasy. Jason Flemyng stars as an emotional doormat who, ground down by years of abuse by his boss (Peter Stormare) and humiliation by his wife, wakes up one morning to find his face missing. He's the ultimate anonymous man, and he's mad as hell and not going to take it anymore. Painting his masklike visage like a tribal warrior, he hunts down and kills his tormentors. Romero takes an odd pleasure in Flemyng's perverse self-help campaign, as if his savage explosion is some form of primitive personal growth. Lacking the irony and complexity of Romero's best work (Dawn of the Dead, Martin), Bruiser turns into little more than a sophisticated revenge picture with inspired moments of black humor. --Sean Axmaker Amazon.com

Revenge, Suspense & the Misfits!

"Bruiser" is a great revenge/suspense film that features a cameo and soundtrack by the Misfits.

This movie has a great villain as played by Peter Stormare. The arrogant, womanizing, jerk boss is hilariously entertaining-he's the man that you love to hate. Stormare's Milo is the perfect foil to Jason Flemyng's timidness.

His portrayal of the villain really makes the scene where the "Hero" gets his revenge that much sweeter.

The movie is more suspense than horror, there's not alot of gore, just violence and creepy images.

The party scene with the Misfits is the reason I saw the movie and it's great to see/hear them throughout the film. The Misfits song "Descending Angel" is used during the intro to the costume party scene, while "Bruiser (If looks Could Kill)" is played during the party itself.

Michale Graves, the lead singer of the Misfits actually has a cameo as a cop after the "Hero" gets his revenge on his wife/girlfriend.

Then "Fiend Without A Face" is played over the credits.

The movie does drag in some parts, like when he's getting revenge on his "Friend" who has been stealing his money, but overall it is a great watch, I recommend it.

April 25, 2008

5 stars because

it is an unusual film in many ways. The true monsters here are the "normal", decadent cheating human creatures surrounding him: like his wife, his "friend", his boss. They're all modern egomaniacs and psychic manipulating vampires. Bruiser is the naive, gentle guy who just... but watch it yourself. March 26, 2008

A Romero flavored identity crisis

I had put off seeing Bruiser for some time, basically because I had heard not so great things about it. As much as I love George Romero though, I had to give Bruiser a look, and the end result wasn't anything terrible in the least, but it was definitely not as good as it could have beeen either. Bruiser stars Jason Flemyng (Lock, Stock, & Two Smoking Barrels, League of Extraordinary Gentlemen) as Henry Creedlow; a young executive who has been walked on his whole life. His gorgeous wife (Nina Garbiras) cheats on him with his abusive boss (Peter Stormare), his best friend (Andrew Tarbet) has been stealing money from him, and generally nobody notices him. Everything changes however when he wakes up one day to find his face is gone, replaced instead with a white, blank mask resembling those made by his bosses' wife (Leslie Hope). Henry's sudden loss of identity allows him to seek bloody revenge against those who have wronged him, which works out pretty well throughout the film's first half, but sadly Bruiser loses steam after passing its halfway point. Despite some moments of dark humor, Bruiser just ends up being an average revenge fantasy with some corny dialogue, and kind of a lame ending, but you still have to admire Romero's imagination. Also featuring genre stalwart Tom Atkins and legendary horror punk rockers The Misfits. March 11, 2008

If only the last 30 minutes had been first...

Jason Flemyng plays Henry, a beaten-down exec at a glamor magazine who is being taken advantage of by his wife, his best friend, his boss, etc. Of course, the movie is about his taking revenge, though he does so only by losing his identity.

There's the overview, so let me now say that what would have greatly helped this film would have been to instill it from the beginning with the kind of humor and playfyulness that the last half hour had. Henry is a little too obvious about what he's oblivious to, and though Jason Flemyng plays the part well, he just doesn't have a very convincing character to portray. Peter Stormare of course stomps through the screen as Milo (pronounced mee-lo), an immigrant executive who has taken in the American Dream of consumption to its extreme, but Stormare seems to be a good barometer for the general quality of a movie--when he is over-the-top, as in this and in something like Armageddon, it is clear that you are not going to be watching a very good movie. However, when he is toned down, as in Fargo or (hell) even in Seinfeld as Slippery Pete, you know you are in for a good show. Henry's wife is more and more uninteresting as she gets nastier and nastier, and even the Hispanic maid is grossly overexaggerrated as she also takes advantage of poor, little Henry. That Henry has to become faceless to finally stand up for himself is an interesting move, but even when the transition occurs, the deaths are a little too lacking in creativity, and the events just plod along.

Until the Halloween party finally emerges. The Misfits are on stage, unusual costumes abound, and even when Tom Atkins appears as (guess what) a cop, his appearance is more of a clearing of the air rather than a dreadful move of casting. The finale shows promise, though the first hour gets to be an unfortunate bear. I am going to avoid spoiling any endings here, but it might be worth jumping over the first 55 minutes or so to get to the good stuff--no doubt, you'll be able to catch up pretty quickly.

The DVD also has a music video for The Misfits' "Scream," also directed by Romero--evidently, the video was removed from any kind of MTV rotation for being too violent, but it shows a glimpse of the grandfather of gore at some of his most natural work. Romero has certainly initiated a flood of great horror, and I am glad to see him trying something a little atypical, but I wish he could have worked a little more backwards and let the whole movie swing to a lighter mood.
October 21, 2007

A story of insanity meets revenge

I was a little disappointed in this George Romero film. Maybe I was expecting a little bit more of the horror aspect of his movies. This is a story of revenge of someone that has lost everything or what Henry perceives as "everything". Henry systematically takes his revenge out on anyone that has screwed him over or out of something in his life. It is also a story of a mental breakdown of a "victim" and how Henry would deal with it. To me, there are many other movies that are the same and better than this one. Use your discretion on this one.
September 2, 2007

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