Film Review: Sadomaster (2005)

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SYNOPSIS:

Extreme urban violence reigns in Argentina. Senator Beccar Varela rises as the only way to stop violence with his “zero tolerance” politic. People doesn’t suspect that Beccar is the head of the nazi gang that causes the violence. When members of the gang torture and rape a intellectually disabled man, a mysterious Masked avenger begins his brutal revenge against the gangs and the corrupt politics.

REVIEW:

Upon finishing the movie Sadomaster, you may find yourself asking anyone who might listen, “What did I just watch?” Don’t worry, that sense of confusion you’re experiencing is a completely normal and expected reaction. It’ll wear off shortly. But be warned, should you decide to try and explain this movie to a friend, that feeling will return, leaving you unsure of your words and not sure where to begin.

First things first – you see that poster for the movie? The one with the picture of the woman (from the waist down only) in thigh-high boots, and far off in front of her another woman is bound and hanging by a rope around her feet. Well, that has absolutely nothing to do with this movie. In fact, I don’t remember there being a single woman in this movie. It is a sneaky exploitation film trick, making you think this is some kind of kinky nazisploitation flick, but it is not. But that doesn’t mean it’s not worth checking out.

Sadomaster is a South American (Argentina, to be precise) low budget gorefest directed by Fernando Giangiacomo (his only directing credit to date) and German Magarinos (who, under this name and a handful of others, has over 20 indie movies to his credit in the last fifteen years). It’s about an extreme right wing politician (Mauricio Beccar Varela, played by Francisco Perez Laguna) who is running for office as the guy who will clean up the crime, while at the same time, behind the scenes, he is employing a number of interesting criminals to keep the crime rate up so that he has a platform to run on (make sense so far?) He’s got the Nazi Ninjas, which I believe are self-explanatory; She-Fuhrer, an old woman wearing a Nazi uniform who is the daughter of Josef Mengele; and a band of masked marauders led by Noriega (Ezequiel Hansen) who wreak havoc wherever they go. Of course, as you’d imagine, this all lends itself to plenty of pointless, over the top violence and bloodshed. But where is it all going? What is the story here?

Eventually Noriega and his crew happen upon what I assume is supposed to be a mentally handicapped guy. They beat him up, shoot him, and stab him, and then it gets worse, finally ending in a splattered head on the concrete. A drunk dude stumbles upon the body, sees the brain laying outside the skull, and eats it. Why, I have no idea. But this makes him go crazy, becoming possessed by the guy’s ghost, and causing him to steal a “gimp” outfit from the local P*rn store and exact revenge on everyone who did him (meaning the dead guy) wrong.

How can Sadomaster have so many problems, yet be so entertaining? It’s a question for the ages. One of the biggest issues I had was the fact that the vengeance seeking character isn’t even introduced until almost halfway through the film, so while the first half seems like bizarre filler, the second half is rushed to get to the end. But to be honest, most viewers won’t even notice this as a big issue, as they’ll be too distracted by the completely anti-P.C., in your face, blatantly offensive stuff throughout the rest of the film.

When a movie shows extended footage of the 9/11 terrorist attacks during the opening credits, you know it’s going to bother people. Throw in the swastikas, oral and ostomy rape, urination on a baby (it’s a doll, of course, but still…), and an overall sleazy vibe, and you’ve got yourself quite the sick movie. It reminds me a lot of Petter Baiestorf’s movies, actually (see Arrombada, Zombio, or Vadias do Sexo Sangrento for a sample), and that’s not necessarily a bad thing.

So, Sadomaster, what do we do with you? The effects are cheap but gratuitously bloody and gory. The acting is definitely amateur, but this is a very low budget movie so that’s to be expected. There seems to be a lot of filler and little story, as this is one of those movies that gives you a recap of all of the earlier killings near the end, not once but twice. And once the drunk dude eats the brains and dons the gimp suit, he steals a motorcycle and we see him cruising around doing wheelies for way too long.

But at the same time, this is a very entertaining movie. What it lacks in substance it almost makes up for in wackiness and off the wall, over the top characters. And you have to give it to a movie that goes out of its way to offend while at the same time never taking itself too seriously – the films of a certain John Waters come to mind when I think of this approach (especially Pink Flamingos). I’d say give it a shot, see what you think. Lots of people won’t like it, but as for the few who do, we should probably become friends.