Customer Reviews

Bruiser

5 star:		(14)
4 star:		(13)
3 star:		(15)
2 star:		(7)
1 star:		(6)

 

 

After eight years, Romero returns. This movie, was of course, NOT WHAT I WAS EXPECTING. Not from George...

However, I enjoyed the movie as it is a odd mix of Kafka's The Metamorphosis meets Joel Schumacher's Falling Down with Michael Douglas.

Poor, meek, downtrodden Henry Creedlow finally wakes up & realizes that human beings are treating him like crap. He has hallucinations during these bad times about doing the things, and bad things they are, to the whole, insensitive human race.

Henry is getting screwed by life & he ain't gonna take it anymore! He wife is screwing his megalomaniac & sexually charged boss, his best friend in the world is screwing Henry, GEEZ, does this guy get a break? Even the hired help is screwing poor Henry, strangers on the street are rude & the yippy pampered family poodle treats him with contempt!

Until...

Henry gets some HUGE cojones, with the aid of a white mask replacing his face. Thus, making him the ultimate in an anonymous killers.

Speaking of killers... There is an excellent soundtrack and appearance by The Misfits in an ultimate, hedonistic head banging, party scene.

This isn't REALLY a horror movie, per se. It is a quietly crafted and sophisticated revenge of the downtrodden picture that I really and truly enjoyed!

Happy Watching!

This movie really doesn't get the credit it deserves, as it isn't the typically visceral fare we've come to expect from Romero. Instead, "Bruiser" is a thoughtful, intelligent, slowly paced film that forces you to search for meaning on your own. If you've missed this one, definately pick it up. It is well worth your time.

Jason Flemyng plays Henry, a beaten-down exec at a glamor magazine who is being taken advantage of by his wife, his best friend, his boss, etc. Of course, the movie is about his taking revenge, though he does so only by losing his identity.

There's the overview, so let me now say that what would have greatly helped this film would have been to instill it from the beginning with the kind of humor and playfyulness that the last half hour had. Henry is a little too obvious about what he's oblivious to, and though Jason Flemyng plays the part well, he just doesn't have a very convincing character to portray. Peter Stormare of course stomps through the screen as Milo (pronounced mee-lo), an immigrant executive who has taken in the American Dream of consumption to its extreme, but Stormare seems to be a good barometer for the general quality of a movie--when he is over-the-top, as in this and in something like Armageddon, it is clear that you are not going to be watching a very good movie. However, when he is toned down, as in Fargo or (hell) even in Seinfeld as Slippery Pete, you know you are in for a good show. Henry's wife is more and more uninteresting as she gets nastier and nastier, and even the Hispanic maid is grossly overexaggerrated as she also takes advantage of poor, little Henry. That Henry has to become faceless to finally stand up for himself is an interesting move, but even when the transition occurs, the deaths are a little too lacking in creativity, and the events just plod along.

Until the Halloween party finally emerges. The Misfits are on stage, unusual costumes abound, and even when Tom Atkins appears as (guess what) a cop, his appearance is more of a clearing of the air rather than a dreadful move of casting. The finale shows promise, though the first hour gets to be an unfortunate bear. I am going to avoid spoiling any endings here, but it might be worth jumping over the first 55 minutes or so to get to the good stuff--no doubt, you'll be able to catch up pretty quickly.

The DVD also has a music video for The Misfits' "Scream," also directed by Romero--evidently, the video was removed from any kind of MTV rotation for being too violent, but it shows a glimpse of the grandfather of gore at some of his most natural work. Romero has certainly initiated a flood of great horror, and I am glad to see him trying something a little atypical, but I wish he could have worked a little more backwards and let the whole movie swing to a lighter mood.

I always welcome any works by great creators of this genre -- I even went to theater to watch John Carpenter's vampire flick -- and the name of George A. Romero never fails to interest me. But his newest film, made after 8 year absence since not-so-good "The Dark Half," is a big disappontment.

Jason Flemyng is Henry, who is leading an unhappy life with his unfaithful wife. At his office, uncompromising tyranny of his boss is waiting for him. One day, he finds his face is turned into total blank as if completely erased -- like a white mask he saw at the party last night. Is this a chance to do something he normally can't? Or is this a curse? So, what he's gonna do?

Though the idea is original, Romero fails to develop it fully, being content with the initial half-baked concept. I am sorry to say this, and I don't change my attitude to this respected director, but I think Romero needs to show what he wants to do in the film. Sometimes the film is unexpectedly funny (the ending scene is pretty funny and cool), and sometimes scary (especially his first reaction to his housemaid), and those parts are OK, I admit. But Romero seems to find too much sense in Henry's white, expresionless face. Is he going to revenge all the people who bullied him in the past? Or should he stop, listening to a piece of good advice his female friend kindly gives? Between those options Henry wavers -- and I know that's supposed to be the point -- but the film takes too much time to show his conflict, which is a too obvious one. Romero's horror masterpieces in the past indeed dealt with these philosophical topics, but not so heavy-handedly to destory the good pace of the entire film.

And in the end, Henry does what he does in the most contrived fashion, using laser, with the sound of The Misfits (who also appears). I admire Romero's usually underrated works, which are sometimes unduely labeled "cult" films, but here, in "Bruiser," he put more ponderous things than he should have.

George Romero directs this straight to video thriller starring Guy Ritchie regular Jason Flemyng. Henry Creedlow (Flemyng) is a man beaten by life. His wife emasculates him, his best friend steals from him, and his boss Milo (Peter Stormare) embarrasses him during staff meetings. The only person who's nice to Henry is Rosie (Leslie Hope), the boss's wife. When Milo throws a backyard barbecue, Henry learns that Rosie makes masks for all of her friends. She makes a mold of their faces and then has them decorate it so that it best represents their personality. When she tries it with Henry it fails because he's too shy and empty to decorate it. The next morning he wakes up and discovers that his old face is gone, replaced by his blank mask. He tries to tear it off but scratches himself in the process. Originally horrified, Henry becomes emboldened by his new anonymity and seeks revenge against those who have been taking advantage of him. The film is fun despite having it's fair share of problems. The police become aware of a masked vigilante and a cliched manhunt ensues. Flemyng does well while Stormare hams it up severely. The acting overall is weak. A decent little thriller from the legendary Romero that's worth a watch on DVD.

I had put off seeing Bruiser for some time, basically because I had heard not so great things about it. As much as I love George Romero though, I had to give Bruiser a look, and the end result wasn't anything terrible in the least, but it was definitely not as good as it could have beeen either. Bruiser stars Jason Flemyng (Lock, Stock, & Two Smoking Barrels, League of Extraordinary Gentlemen) as Henry Creedlow; a young executive who has been walked on his whole life. His gorgeous wife (Nina Garbiras) cheats on him with his abusive boss (Peter Stormare), his best friend (Andrew Tarbet) has been stealing money from him, and generally nobody notices him. Everything changes however when he wakes up one day to find his face is gone, replaced instead with a white, blank mask resembling those made by his bosses' wife (Leslie Hope). Henry's sudden loss of identity allows him to seek bloody revenge against those who have wronged him, which works out pretty well throughout the film's first half, but sadly Bruiser loses steam after passing its halfway point. Despite some moments of dark humor, Bruiser just ends up being an average revenge fantasy with some corny dialogue, and kind of a lame ending, but you still have to admire Romero's imagination. Also featuring genre stalwart Tom Atkins and legendary horror punk rockers The Misfits.

George A. Romero's Bruiser is really a great combination of horror and comentary of humanity. Yes you do see scenes of horror, a woman's head being crushed by a train, a woman being thrown out a window of a building with an extension cord wrapped securly around here neck, yes you do see things of this nature, but the main focus of the film seems to revolve around the life of an everyday guy who is walked on everyday of his life by his wife,boss (the 2 are sleeping together), his best friend cheating him out of money that belong to him, but one day he wakes up and his face is replaced with a white mask, he then starts to sink into insanity, carrying his twisted revege on all those who have wronged him. Romero shows this cruel and hard world that is sometimes true, but just as he shows this Romero also shows that even in the most unexpected places youn can find a real friend, someone that can give you hope when you need it most. Bruiser is not a striaght out horror film, it's more of a social commentary just as he had done earlier in his classic dead films, Romero this time shows maybe humanity is not all that bad.

hokay...here we go...got to admit, i only bought this disc for the misfits video "scream" in its special features list. it is indeed the only special feature. no commentary, no trailer, no nothing. with the exception of NOLD and Dark Half, i also must confess to not being a george romero fan ( a world where romero gets more praise than tobe hooper simply scares the hell out of me)...now, that being said, bruiser was good. i was surprised. the story was strange, the performances low key, the blood-letting suprisingly low. nothing really special here...except the concept...put-upon man wakes one morning with no face and proceeds to use this semi-anonymity to take revenge upon those that have wronged him...the featureless protagonisdt of the story is creepy, harkening back to the stark white terror that mike meyers mask portrayed in Halloween, so i guess even that was pretty derivative. the misfits have a big chunk on stage at the flick's end...

Yes. What can I say, interesting little flick. I really dig Romero zombies (infact am infatuaited by them) but after 8 years of hiatus this is a nice little return to movies. Especially for an old school director with visinary ideas and not much budget to always back him up. Land of the Dead is going to rule!

George Romero's contributions to the horror genre are legendary. Here is the guy who made "Night of the Living Dead" in the late 1960s, single-handedly bringing flesh-eating zombies into the lexicon of millions of horror fans. Two sequels followed with differing levels of success, but Romero's zombie films most importantly inspired several Italian directors, most notably Lucio Fulci and Umberto Lenzi, to churn out a plethora of grue drenched films featuring the shambling dead. Of course, Romero didn't just sit around during the intervals between zombie films; he made other films that, while not as well known as the trilogy of "Dead" films, are eerie in there own right. There is, of course, the gritty picture "The Crazies," a film about a viral infection's devastating impact on the residents of a small Pennsylvania town. Another one of these movies is his latest one, "Bruiser." "The Crazies" was a great, low budget effort that really worked on many levels. Sadly, "Bruiser" is a poor vehicle that, in my humble opinion, rarely works on any level and sullies this director's reputation in the horror genre.

Bruiser is the name of a fashion magazine where the film's protagonist, Henry Creedlow, spends his day trying to earn a buck. And work he must, for his life appears to be one huge money pit. His gorgeous wife Janine expects a lot from her husband, like nice cars, fancy clothes, and a huge house decorated with expensive accoutrements. Not content when she receives these nice things, Janine hounds Henry constantly about not standing up for himself. We soon learn that she has a point: Creedlow wines to his stockbroker pal, who just happens to handle Henry's finances, about not earning enough money on his investments. Henry doesn't really do anything drastic, like change brokers, but instead stews quietly to himself about his cash flow problems. More challenges await Henry in the deteriorating relationship with his boss at the magazine. Milos Styles is a world-class jerk; a domineering, spastic dragon who takes great joy in belittling those around him. Although Creedlow has a good relationship with Styles's estranged photographer/mask sculpturing wife, Milos makes him want to scream. But what's a guy in debt up to his eyeballs going to do? Quit? That's out of the question. Instead, Henry Creedlow internalizes his anger, only occasionally indulging in imaginative acts of bloody violence carried out against his persecutors. For example, when a pushy woman elbows her way ahead of Henry at the train station, he fantasizes about pushing her underneath the train and revels in seeing the wheels roll over her head.

Things are about to get worse to the nth degree. Problems arise when he sees wife Janine and boss Milo fooling around at a work party. His wife actually has the nerve, when confronted by Henry about her indiscretions, to argue with him over his meek acceptance of her adultery. This incident is the straw that breaks the proverbial camel's back, and Janine secretly plans to leave her weak willed husband. At this point, something interesting happens. Henry awakens from a night's sleep and discovers his face covered by a mask eerily similar to one Milos's wife gave him the day before. Our hero panics when he realizes the mask is somehow molded to his face, completely impervious to any attempts at removal, and now really is anonymous to the outside world. He uses the mask as a means to get revenge against his oppressors and chooses Janine as his first target. When Creedlow learns how successful the operation against his wife was, he plans other attacks that threaten his embryonic relationship with Milos's wife while bringing in unwanted attention from the police. The movie concludes at a party thrown by Milos for his employees and models, where Creedlow must decide if his ultimate revenge plot is worth risking his life.

I loved the first twenty or thirty minutes of "Bruiser." Only a cold-hearted jerk would fail to empathize with Henry's plight. Here's a successful guy who has got it all, and no one pays him an ounce of respect. Romero makes sure that the enemies arrayed against Creedlow adequately embody evil, from the snotty Janine to the overbearing Styles. You just know "Bruiser" is going to turn into a revenge film with Creedlow gunning for his enemies. The only question is what type of revenge film we will see, and it is in this aspect that "Bruiser" ultimately disappoints. After Creedlow woke up with his white mask, the movie started to drag horribly. I knew I was in trouble when I kept glancing at the clock on the mantle and found myself astonished that only a few minutes had gone by when it felt like hours. This film is horribly arthritic for a revenge picture, with so much time passing between killings that boredom rapidly sets in. Even worse, the murders we do see are rather tepid affairs definitely not worth the wait.

A few things really work for the movie. I can't remember the last time I saw such a stylish film, with characters wearing expensive looking clothing interacting in houses loaded with sumptuous decorations. A few of the characters, particularly Styles's wife, appear downright patrician in their demeanor and appearance. If only Romero had contrasted the posh surroundings with some gritty violence, "Bruiser" could have been a real winner. As far as the DVD goes, you get a gore filled music video from The Misfits, a commentary from director Romero, and trailers for "Bruiser," "O," and "Faust." You get a nice picture transfer too. Romero will have to do better than this if he wants me to sit down with one of his pictures in the future, however.