Filth to Ashes, Flesh to Dust (2011)
Directed by: Paul Morrell
Written by: Derrick Bishop
Starring: Allison Ochmanek, Anton Troy, Derrick Bishop, Linda Bella, Meredith Laine, Nicholas J. Leinbach
Filth to Ashes, Flesh to Dust (2011)
(18) Running time: 90 mins
Director: Paul Morrell
Writer: Derrick Bishop
Cast: Meredith Laine, Linda Bella, Allison Ochmanek, Derrick Bishop, Anton Troy, Nicholas J. Leinbach
Reviewed by: Matt Wavish
Quite a mouthful this film’s title, a lot of unnecessary effort just to say the damned thing, and the effort is certainly not rewarded. It is easier just to forget this film exists before bothering to remember to get all those words in the correct order: Filth to Ashes, Flesh to Dust. Christ, what the hell does that even mean? The filmmakers idea of being clever? Well, it’s not, and if you wanted to use a lot of words to give this film a title, then “utter utter, complete, total shite” would have been a much better description.
As you can probably tell, Filth to Ashes, Flesh to Dust is a stinker of a slasher film, but strangely it is not the idea or the killer himself that lets the film down. It is the abysmal acting, poor quality production and total lack of skills in choreographing a fight or creating a kill on screen. Sadly, the majority of the film is made up of killings, so you can imagine that the poor quality does become increasingly tiresome. The acting is just awful, and to be honest, this film would have probably worked better as a silent movie.
There is a killer called Purge who was long thought dead. He loves to torture and murder his victims in gruesome fashion (some newspaper glued to a girls bare skin and ripped off is quite cool), and it would appear that he is still alive, and still killing. A man and his fiancée take a back road to get somewhere quicker, and while in the desert they come across one of Purge’s escaped victims and end up at the mercy of Purge himself. The man gets away, his fiancée does not, and a year later the man’s brother comes back in a secret mission of revenge. He brings his mates, but they have no idea of the horrors that wait. Keeping up? Good, because that’s the plot, and what follows now is one badly directed chase, kill or moment of ‘tension’ after another. The actors do not give off a sense of panic, and the whole thing is quite laughable.
However, there are some good points: Purge himself is a nice addition to the slasher genre. Standing some seven feet tall, he is an ex-soldier, complete with crew-cut, army trousers and LOTS of weapons. He hunts his prey in his secret underground bunker in the desert, and the vicious bastard has some serious brute strength. He throws his victims around like they were toys, and pain doesn’t seem to bother him. Another smart move by the makers is that he never speaks, and the emotionless brute just seems to simply enjoy the thrill of chasing and killing people.
The film has nothing more going for it, so unless you are so dedicated to slasher films to the point you simply cannot miss one, then this film should be ignored. The killer is fun to watch, but the pain of what goes on in-between is just too much to bare. Some of the killings are nice and quite nasty and clever, but they are so badly delivered that all the brilliance is taken away. The victims, and even the killer, all make pointless decisions too, and come across as complete plonkers who deserve everything they get. I mean, if you have a gun, use it, for god sake! And if you are a tiny girl some five feet tall, do you really think you can take on a giant and win? Please!!
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