''Avenged'' (also known as ''Savaged'') is a 2013
Redsploitation
An exploitation film is a film that tries to succeed financially by exploiting current trends, niche genres, or lurid content. Exploitation films are generally low-quality "B movies", though some set trends, attract critical attention, become hi ...
film directed by Michael S. Ojeda. The film premiered on October 15, 2013 and stars Amanda Adrienne as a young woman who seeks revenge on her rapists.
Plot
When Zoe (Amanda Adrienne) tells her mother that she wants to move in with her long-distance boyfriend, her mother is reluctant to let her drive by herself since she is deaf and would be unable to call for assistance if she needed it. Despite her reservations, Zoe's mother allows her to go alone which proves to have disastrous consequences when, in the course of bravely helping an injured reservation Indian, Zoe is abducted and brutally raped by several members of a degenerate local gang, descendants of the people who wiped out the
Apache
The Apache () are a group of culturally related Native American tribes in the Southwestern United States, which include the Chiricahua, Jicarilla, Lipan, Mescalero, Mimbreño, Ndendahe (Bedonkohe or Mogollon and Nednhi or Carrizaleño an ...
tribe inhabiting the lands over two hundred years ago. The preserved skull of the Apache chief (Rick Mora) is kept by them as a spoil of war.
Once they have finished abusing her, the gang kill and bury Zoe, only for an elderly Native American man, graveyard keeper Grey Wolf (Joseph Runningfox), to attempt to bring her back through a ritual. However, the resurrection ceremony also brings back the spirit of the Apache Warchief
Mangas Coloradas
Mangas Coloradas or Mangus-Colorado (La-choy Ko-kun-noste, alias "Red Sleeve"), or Dasoda-hae ("He Just Sits There") (c. 1793 – January 18, 1863) was an Apache tribal chief and a member of the Mimbreño (Tchihende) division of the Central ...
, who was killed by an ancestor of one of the gang that raped Zoe. The chief, possessing Zoe's body, starts to hunt down her murderers. Grey Wolf finds Zoe and explains what has happened to her, warning the possessed woman that her flesh will continue to rapidly decay, and for both Zoe and the chief to know peace, they must be avenged quickly.
After a number of the gang are killed (disemboweled, shot with arrows and scalped), the remaining ones decide to abduct Zoe's boyfriend, Dane, who has followed Zoe's trail in search of her. They succeed, loading-up on weaponry and barricading themselves in an improvised fortress which they surround with myriad traps. Zoe, in return, is gifted with a long-buried tomahawk and a knife, which once belonged to the murdered Warchief. She eventually hunts down all of the gang except for Trey (Rodney Rowland), who is the direct descendant of the chief's own murderer. When she tells him to "walk in hell" (the last words spoken to the chief before he was decapitated), Trey realizes what has been happening, and flees to the graveyard, torturing Grey Wolf for information on how to put Apache ghosts to rest. Zoe, meanwhile, murders the rest of Trey's family, while Dane, learning that she is alive, heads to the sacred Apache grounds as well.
Trey desperately tries to bury the skull in order to pacify the spirit, but fails to finish before Zoe appears. After fighting her off with a chainsaw, he is defeated and beheaded, completing the Warchief's revenge, but leaving Zoe's body broken and ruined. Dane finds her upper half trying to bury itself. After the tragic pair express their love one final time, Dane, in an act of mercy, cremates Zoe's remains, liberating both souls into the Afterlife.
Cast
Production
While writing the script for ''Savaged'', director Ojeda pulled from an earlier script he'd written for a film that never came to fruition, which had been inspired by a motel in
Superior, Arizona
Superior (Western Apache: Yooʼ Łigai) is a town in Pinal County, Arizona. According to the 2020 census, the population of the town is 2,407. Superior was founded as a mining town for the Silver King and the later Magma mines; silver was mined ...
.
The motel had given Ojeda a room that had been the site of a death a year prior to his stay, which prompted him to check into the motel for a two-week stay, during which time he wrote the initial script.
''Savage'' was created on a limited budget, as Ojeda and the film's producer Jason Gurvitz "
alledin a lot of favors
ue to Ue or UE may refer to:
Businesses and organizations Universities
* University of Edinburgh, a university in Scotland
* University of Exeter, a university in England
* University of the East, a university in the Philippines
* University of Evansvil ...
the quality of work that Michael was able to deliver".
Amanda Adrienne's
headshot
A head shot or headshot is a modern (usually digital) portrait in which the focus is on the person. The term is applied usually for professional profile images on social media, images used on online dating profiles, the 'about us page' of a cor ...
was the first one that Ojeda saw.
Adrienne (a natural brunette) had blonde hair when she auditioned for the role. "
jedawanted a blonde because the blood would look better on the hair and
drienne wouldlook more angelic". Production took place in 2012 and filming took place at an abandoned gold mine outside of
Los Angeles
Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...
.
Reception
Critical reception for ''Savaged'' has been positive, and ''HorrorNews.net'' rated it at five out of five stars. ''
Fearnet's'' Scott Weinberg commented that "even at the peak of its gruesomeness, there's still a small sense of restraint", which he felt "helps ''Savaged'' go from a potential "rape flick" to a broad yet brutal action/horror flick that, believe it or not, comes off feeling a whole lot like a suitably entertaining gender-reversal on ''
The Crow
The Crow is a supernatural superhero comic book series created by James O'Barr revolving around the titular character of the same name. The series, which was originally created by O'Barr as a means of dealing with the death of his fiancée at t ...
''". ''
Ain't It Cool News
Ain't It Cool News (AICN) is an entertainment news website founded by Harry Knowles and run by his sister Dannie Knowles since September 2017, dedicated to news, rumors, and reviews of upcoming and current films, television, and comic book proje ...
'' also commented on the film's similarity to ''The Crow'', as they felt that this was indicative of the film "
ollowingthe revenge film path a bit too closely" but ultimately viewed the film as "a revenge flick worth checking out". ''
Bloody Disgusting
Bloody Disgusting is an American multi-media company, which began as a horror genre-focused news site/website specializing in information services that covered various horror medias, including: film, television, video games, comics, and music. ...
'' praised the movie's retribution scenes, which they called "Satisfying and absolutely glorious".
Release
The film premiered on October 11, 2013 at the
Busan Film Festival
The Busan International Film Festival (BIFF, previously Pusan International Film Festival, PIFF), held annually in Haeundae-gu, Busan (''also'' Pusan), South Korea, is one of the most significant film festivals in Asia. The first festi ...
and was renamed ''Avenged'' for the home release on 21 April 2015.
References
External links
* {{IMDb title, 2378453
2013 films
2013 horror films
2010s exploitation films
2010s supernatural horror films
American exploitation films
American supernatural horror films
Films about kidnapping
Films about deaf people
Films about murderers
Films shot in California
American rape and revenge films
Films scored by César Benito
American slasher films
American films about revenge
American ghost films
2010s action horror films
American vigilante films
American action horror films
2013 horror thriller films
Redsploitation
2010s vigilante films
American splatter films
2010s English-language films
2010s American films