The Aggression Scale (2012)

A mob boss (Ray Wise) wants his stolen money back and everyone who might be involved, killed. He also wants proof which requires the use of a Polaroid (seriously?). After 3 people are snuffed we switch to the subplot. A family of four...recently married move into a new home. The son Owen is creepy and silent. He is interested in things that kill. Lauren (Fabianne Therese) is his 17 year-old step sister who showers with her back to the camera...end of eye candy.

It isn't hard to figure out how this grindhouse plot and family drama come together. When Owen gets a chance to escape, rather than take it...cue heavy metal music as the quiet teen opts to fight 4 grown armed men. In this "Home Alone" tale, Macaulay Culkin is a psycho, who, like a cat, likes to play with its prey before the kill.

Derek Mears, one of the bad guys has that creepy Michael Berryman look to him, but acts more like a pansy. I found his character to be darkly comical as things happen to him. Dana Ashbrook comes across as George Cloony light. Good old fashion home break-in with some new twists. Excellent blood splatter. "B" movie fun. I would have given the film 5 stars had they played Talking Heads "Psycho Killer."

F-bomb, no sex, no nudity (Fabianne Thereseside breast). pot smoking

No two ways about it, this movie was awesome. I'll even say from start to finish on this, because the opening scenes definitely get your attention. Basically this movie is what Home Alone would have been like had Macaulay Culkin's character failed some anger management classes. Add to this premise one Dana Ashbrook who plays a menacing (and menaced!) villain and the ever awesome Ray Wise and the situation is complete. There's not much to say about creative camera angles, scrupulous sound editing, and innovative lighting. No, reader, this movie's strength is in the sheer cat-and-mouse suspense that inevitably and irresistibly builds, and yes, the ending is totally worth it.

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I'm going to try to NOT oversell the gritty indie "The Aggression Scale." This is a small, low-budget endeavor that succeeds on its own modest terms. But it is really best to keep your expectations in check, that way you might be pleasantly surprised. A hit at this year's SXSW Film Festival, "The Aggression Scale" tells a fairly simple story, allows for a slow build tension, and then packs a few terrifically unpleasant confrontations into its final act. But the less you know, the better. The movie is already being compared to another prominent and beloved film (both by the media and with other reviewers here). I'm not mentioning which movie, though. I happen to think that making this comparison devalues the twists that develop in the film's second half. I had been aware of this prior to seeing the film and as I watched the movie, I wished I hadn't known where exactly we were headed. In fact, I screened this with a friend and kept all secrets to myself. When things started happening, it had much more impact for him because he wasn't expecting anything in particular.

Truthfully, there's not much plot to director Steven C. Miller's third film. But guess what? It doesn't really matter. It's best not to scrutinize the film from an intellectual level, just hang on for the experience. I was no fan of his last movie, The Scream of the Banshee, which took a good idea and turned it into a most generic thriller. For me, "The Aggression Scale" definitely is a step in the right direction, but it's still quite rough around the edges. In this case, though, that works well for the movie which has a seventies exploitation type ambience. It's a gritty Grindhouse type of movie with loads of violence, a fascinating hero, menacing bad guys, and an occasional lapse of logic. But it works. "Twin Peaks" veterans Ray Wise and Dana Ashbrook join forces as the primary villains in the piece. Wise, a crime boss just out of jail, enlists his henchman (led by Ashbrook) to recover some stolen money. This leads to general murder and mayhem.

You want more story? Too bad. Nothing is particularly explained beyond this cursory outline. The bad guys soon go after a family at their desolate country home. And the rest of the story plays out as a cat-and-mouse game of survival. As I said, there are some nice surprises and much brutality. It's always good to see Wise although he doesn't have much to do here. The break-out performance is young Ryan Hartwig, who conveys a lot without saying anything. I liked "The Aggression Scale" for exactly what it is. It's not a great movie by any means, but it is an effective one on a visceral level. With moderate expectation, there's plenty to enjoy here as a guilty pleasure. About 3 1/2 stars, I'll round up for Hartwig. KGHarris, 5/12.

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"We don't have to do this clean, you go down this list and kill them all, then you find my money. You got 48 hours." When a recently released criminal gets out of prison and returns to his life he notices that $500,000 of his money has been stolen. After finding out who took it he hires a group of hit men to get the money back. Things go fine until they reach a house with a boy who fights back. Based on the preview I was intrigued at this. It seemed like a movie I would like but thought it could go either way. I have to say this was a huge surprise to me. This is not a movie for everyone because it is very bloody and violent. The best (and only) way to describe this is that this is an over the top extreme violent version of "Home Alone". If that doesn't want to make you watch it then I don't know what else to say. To me this movie was very fun to watch and I really liked it, it a morbid way. These revenge movies like this are one of my favorite type of movies. Overall, a very over-the-top violent version of "Home Alone" that I loved but is not for everyone. I give it an A...I know but I really enjoyed it.

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Home Alone meets Rambo.

Steven C. Miller's "The Aggression Scale" starts with "bang!" as hitman Lloyd (Dana Ashbrook) sends a message with his shotgun.

We quickly learn that Lloyd has been sent by mob boss Mr. Bellevance (Twin Peak's Ray Wise) to find a large sum of stolen money. Lloyd and his fellow crew Chissolm (Derek Mears from Friday the 13th), Freddie (Jacob Reynolds from Gummo) and Wydofki ("the knife man" played by Jospeh McKelheer from The Hamiltons) kill a handful of people before finally arriving on the new doorsteps of the Rutledge family.

Bill (Boyd Kestner) and Maggie Rutledge (Lisa Rotondi) are recently married, each with a teenager from a previous relationship. Lauren (Fabianne Therese) is Maggie's troubled daughter, angry at having to move across the country to a new house with people she barely knows. But it is silent Owen Rutledge (Ryan Hartwig) who has the bigger issues...a fact that Lloyd and his boys are soon to discover for themselves when they kick in the door.

Dread Central.com calls The Aggression Scale "one of the more unusual and clever games of cat and mouse fans have ever experienced before."

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