Film Review: Infidus (2015)

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SYNOPSIS:

In the suburbs of Rome, two disparate lives with only desire for vengeance and redemption in common find their destinies intertwined. Massimo’s mind is plagued with images of his wife’s violent death at the hands of a criminal gang involved in the production of snuff films. With every memory of the woman he loved replaced by unforgettable images of her horrific final moments, Massimo sees only one chance to take back his life: find the wealthy individual who commissioned the sickening murder – and make them pay.

REVIEW:

If you’re looking for a dark, violent, bloody crime film, let me direct your attention to Infidus. But let me also warn you, do not go into this looking for any kind of happy story, or feel good moments. In fact, if you’re already kind of feeling down, why not watch something else today, and then get back to Infidus when your mood has lifted. No joke, this is one of the more brutal, bleak, nihilistic movies I’ve ever seen, and that’s saying a lot. But at the same time, it is a very impressive showing, and a riveting story told from two separate angels that crashes together just when you need it to.

First off, to give you a hint as to what to expect, this is the newest release from Necrostorm (see also Adam Chaplin, Judy, Taeter City, etc). Not only that, but Infidus is also directed and co-written by Giulio De Santi (director of Taeter City and Hotel Inferno). That should give you a general idea of what you’ll see for the next eighty minutes, but it still isn’t enough to prepare you for the depths of depravity that are about to grace your screen.

Barabba (Bonini Mino) has just been released from prison after beating a man to death for a shady filmmaker who then ran when the police were coming (think Ryan Nicholson’s Collar or Gareth Evans’ Footsteps, but far darker). He has made a vow to the memory of his father to become a better person, to never fall into the life he once lived again. Then he finds out his brother, Spaccio (Maurizio Zaffino) is now the head of a group of criminals who essentially find victims, record snuff films, then dispose of the bodies. This is the same group who let him take the rap and spend the last seven years in prison.

Massimo (Massimo Caratelli) has been plagued by a series of waking nightmares, visions that quickly move from a woman walking peacefully along the beach to brutal shots of a man in a pig mask stabbing the woman in the skull and tearing away her scalp. Under the screen name Mungus60, he has been in e-mail contact with a man known as The Hunter for quite a while now, building a relationship ever since the Hunter showed him a video of a person being killed. He’s finally been invited to meet The Hunter, face to face, so that they may continue their friendship, but there might just be ulterior motives in Massimo’s mind.

Infidus is a dark (we’re talking pitch black here) crime and revenge drama about two people whose lives were permanently changed for the worse looking to get back at those who have wronged them. And it is brutal. There is so much blood shed in this movie, and even though you’re rooting for the people shedding said blood, it is still a jaw dropping amount, and you’re still left feeling a bit shocked at the methods employed. Eyeballs are stabbed out, people are set on fire, heads are bashed in with hammers, faces are shot to bits at close range. And all of it is done in crisp, well shot black and white (except the dreams and flashbacks, which are presented in full color).

I really liked Infidus, both in story and delivery. As I mentioned, it is a black and white film, and is in Italian with English subtitles. It is separated out into chapters, six total, which nicely divide up the conjoined stories into themed segments. I keep reading where some (or all?) of the actors are ex-criminals, but I can’t find any more detail on that to back up the claim, so I won’t speak more on that. What is really impressive about this movie is how it can deal with such a dark and brutal storyline involving snuff films and loved ones betrayal and revenge in both a violent, disturbing way while at the same time including heartfelt and emotional moments. This is a credit to both the cast and the crew. They also manage to give us a good, albeit depressing as hell, ending to a story that we keep hoping won’t end in a typical Hollywood kind of way. At rare times the CGI blood and gore are a little distracting, basically when they look like CGI blood and gore, but aside from that, Necrostorm and De Santi have yet again committed to film something to behold. If they keep doing what they’re doing, they’ve made a lifetime fan in me.