Wretched Cunt

Director(s) - Emir Skalonja and Krystal Shenk
Starring - Krystal Shenk, Rich Ruiz, Jimi Voelker, and Emir Skalonja
Release Date - 2017
Genre - Horror
Format - Streaming (Online Screener)

Rating (out of 5):

     It's been awhile since I reviewed some shorts.  Last week I was able to check out Michael Rodriguez's Terror at Station 13 but before that it had been months since my last short review.  Shorts can be fun.  Most of the time they take no time getting to the action with just a very short time dedicated to character development and pointless dialogue.  Also, due to my internet restrictions at home it is easier to stream a short compared to a feature length film.  Recently, director Emir Skalonja reached out to me to review his new films Jericho and Wretched Cunt.  Jericho was a fun crime thriller but Wretched Cunt was a horror short.  I really liked the name and I want to thank Emir for reaching out to me.

     The film follows a young woman who is in an abusive relationship with a drug dependent man.  He is physically and emotionally abusive to her and often times would force her to do drugs with him.  One night he goes too far and forces her to snort something that she was not comfortable doing.  The then verbally bashes her over and over again before sending her to get him a beer.  She grabs a knife instead and exacts retribution in the form of his flesh.

    
     Emir is a director that has really impressed me with what he can do with such little resources.  Lately, his films have been a bit broader in terms of scope than the first few films of his I saw.  He was a directed that I expected gore from but he has since grew out of that as a filmmaker with the film Jericho.  Wretched Cunt was a nice return to the red stuff.  The acting in this one is fairly decent but the cast had plenty of room to learn.  The short's two main stars, Krystal Shenk and Rich Ruiz, are really dedicated to their role but there was times where they were not that convincing.  Ruiz has a knack for portraying an abusive dickhead but there was a few times when he is yelling at his girlfriend that he is not that convincing.  Shenk is great as a battered woman at her wits' end.  In the films' climax she is oddly erotic as she mutilates her former lover.  With that being said, during the scene when she was crying after being forced to do drugs her performance feels a little forced itself.  The viewer doesn't feel the heartache and frustration that she is trying to convey.  The story for this one is simple, don't fuck with your woman.  In essence the film is purely torture porn with one exception; the roles have been reversed.  So many torture porn flicks follow a man who is torturing others for their own sick amusement.  This time we get a woman doing it to because she was wronged almost in an I Spit on Your Grave way.  Finally, it takes a little time to get to the good stuff but we get a pretty brutal torture scene with some decent gore and solid practical effects.  Due to the way the film is shot we don't get a lot more just because the film is centered around the two characters.  Overall, the film lives up to the title Wretched Cunt.  The film starts out quite mildly but kicks it up into high gear.  Fans of blood and torture will want to check this one out.