Michael Biehn will probably be best remembered for his bare assed time tumble to duel with the relentless killing machine the Terminator a film which put both him and the latter day governor of California, Arnold Schwarzenegger very much on the map. I have to admit I was so bowled over watching it that I quickly rewound the tape (it was during the advent of home video) and watched it again straight away. Biehn kind of continued on typecast military vs nasty things exercises cropping up in the likes of Aliens and The Abyss and has had a very solid acting career taking in a huge array of films from blockbusters to minor Indie hits and TV roles since then, most recently impressing in The Divide which you can also read about in this section of the website. All that time in front of the camera means that he has obviously learned quite a few things and it is only natural that he wants to further his career and take the helm as director too. First we have him behind the chair in The Blood Bond which I have not seen and now also The Victim for which he also wrote the screenplay and plays the main part with wife Jennifer Blanc-Biehn as female lead, so it could be looked upon as very much an ego trip for the guy if you wanted to be harsh.

To be fair the film is quite watchable and an enjoyable little romp in the woods despite its simplicity and overly familiar story line. The fact that there are only really five principle characters in the movie adds to the compact nature of things. Confusing this is not in the slightest and it’s just a case of sit back, pop open a couple of cold ones and sit back for the ride. We have two ladies (and I use that term somewhat lightly). They are a bit flighty and up for a good time; beer, dressing up, snorting shady cops contraband coke and caressing and firing off their pistols (interpret that how you wish). Then we have the two cops, high ranking and corrupt, living out in the boondocks and apparently in the case of one not packing much lead in his small pencil and prone to letting it get him angry and snapping the neck of one of the girls. Hence we have the surviving lady doing a runner for her life, two cops on the chase and Michael Biehn a loner in his wood shack being the meat in the middle to sort out all the problems. Luckily he is rough, rugged and not only bound to get the girl but also virtually has the word ‘hero’ tattooed across his forehead; but is he quite what he seems?

That is it in a nutshell without giving too much away. The film is fairly short and certainly not taxing at all. It is also well shot and perhaps considering many are comparing it a bit like a Grindhouse quickie a bit too clean and accomplished looking. Comparisons can be drawn to other wood bound survival, women in peril films such as I Spit On Your Grave and Last House On The Left but I felt the 15 certificate really hampered this and would have liked the violence and blood quota to have been upped. I suppose there would have had to have been more of a cast to accommodate this though. I can’t see the ‘Even Bad Girls Need Protection’ tag catching on in the annals of exploitation movies but if you are happy to sit down and chew the nice scenery here you should not leave your armchair feeling too disappointed. The charisma between the two principle characters is great and so it should be considering their relationship and the film does a good job of leaving you satisfied at its dénouement. It certainly has interested me enough to wonder what is next from both leads and the under production (The Dark Forest, Hidden In The Woods; do we see a theme here) sound intriguing

Pete Woods