Botched

Botched is a crime thriller that is in a league of its own. Never before have I seen the fusion of such absurdities encountered in this film with a swift brand of suspense. Botched carries the feel of a Guy Ritchie film with 100% more blood, dismemberment's, and romance. Surprisingly, this film hasn't been marketed at all towards the gorehound public.


Richie Donovan is a down-on-his-luck small time crook who is in a world of trouble from his boss after failing the previous heist. In a final attempt to settle the debt, he plans to steal an ancient cross from a penthouse suite in Moscow. His luck goes from bad to worse as the elevator stops on the abandoned 13th floor which is shelter for twin serial killers.


Botched doesn't deserve all the negative opinions that seems to plague this little film. Just like films of a similar caliber like Hot Fuzz, Botched is an incredibly witty film that is directed by someone who understands pure, unbridled entertainment. This is a film that spends the first half-an-hour immersing you in the story of an interesting character, and suddenly throws a dinner of death at your doorstep; much like From Dusk Till Dawn.


The central hostages that were taken by Donovan's crew make up a diverse and dysfunctional bunch. The most memorable of the crew is security guard Boris. Ex-spetsnaz, Combat veteran, and master trap setter, Boris is the show stealer here. Not much is known about him or his character. In fact, judging by his kooky antics throughout the film, all of those claims undoubtedly could be lies.


Behind the comedy-horror veil is a wonderful love story occupied by two people caught in a hellish scenario. The chemistry between the two leads flourishes even though Stephen Dorff comes off as a supreme douche bag in every role he plays. The violence is over the top and the villains of the film are evil and religious. In a horror scenario, those are two things that you never want to mix. Instead of separating church and state, they should separate church and horror films.


Botched is a madcap good time. From all the filth that has been released in the past few years, Horror really is rusting up. But from the ashes of this dying genre, new life can be given. That life is Botched. A film that doesn't really know what it wants to be, but it just does it. Botched is what I'd like to see come out in theaters, maybe even a wide release. It's this small-handful of good releases that makes me have faith in "splatter horror".

-mAQ