Customer Reviews

Stiletto

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(7)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

I mostly watched Stiletto for Stana Katic(Castle) as she's an absolutely thrilling actress and she's just wonderful to watch.
At first watch I was lightly appalled by the large amount of bloody, gore-ish, violence, but I quickly grew to love it. It has a interesting plotline, murders within a gang with a killer who doesn't mind leaving behind her perfectly shaped tracks. And I mean how many people kill with a gorgeous, bejeweled stiletto now a days? So Raina is out killing members of a gang. Why? Who freaking knows. But she does it so well that even though they know who it is(well one of the cops anyways), she remains effectively out of their grasp.
Stana portrays heartbreak and fury perfectly. And the rest of the cast does exceptionally well too. The crazy girlfriend who really just has relationship issues that she wants to fix is violent as hell. Her boyfriend is a maniacal gang killer. And their gang boss is in love with her. A perfect watch when you're really in the mood for a good action flick.

A gritty tale of revenge and greed, Stiletto (2008) hits hard from the start with a series of fast-paced bloody kills, and almost never lets up. Stana Katic (TV series Castle) heads the ensemble cast, as Raina Mavias, a native of Russia, taking bloody vengeance against various underworld figures, doing damage up close and personal, with her weapon of choice, a stiletto blade. The steady string of kills so wet and messy, you can almost feel warm blood on your hands.

Crime boss Virgil Vadalos (Tom Berenger) miraculously survives having his belly slit open by Raina, his very determined ex-girlfriend, and brings in police detective Beck (Paul Sloan) to unofficially locate her for him. Vadalos has plenty of muscle available to do his dirty work, including his head of security Alex (William Forsythe), and Lee (Michael Biehn), but the Greek is not above getting a little blood on his hands. As Beck closes in on Raina, his partner and lover, detective Hanover (Kelly Hu), is vexed that he is not following police procedure.

In this dark journey through the criminal underworld, the early victims are mostly unknowns, but the impact is intensified by some memorable kills. Lee experiences the wonders of brain surgery, and Hanover is the subject of a picturesque headshot. The reason for Raina's rampage is finally revealed, and the ending is nicely ambiguous. Directed by Nick Valleonga, and written by Paul Sloan, there aren't really any admirable characters, but the film is certainly intense, with good performances by most, including Sloan, Katic, Biehn, and Amanda Brooks as Penny, Lee's spitfiery girlfriend. William Forsythe as usual, excels at playing a slimeball.

This is yet another female revenge flick with a little twist, I wont give that away. All of the money in this flick was spent on the cast..and with the likes of Tom Berrenger, Michael Biehn, James Russo ( who I phkin' love and is great in this), William Forsythe, Tom Sizemore..and more...they all play their parts to a tee and make what could have been a very formulaic b flick into tons of fun. This one is not really an original in any way...but it is entertaining, and the players all give top notch performances save for Paul Sloan who is the weakest link in the cast. If you are looking for anything ground breaking..you won't find it here, but what you will find is a cool little indie, with great characters that will take the viewer on a fun little ride..if you let it.

I purchased this film specifically to watch the performance of Stana Katic (Castle), and she did not disappoint. The film was not a style I would normally watch, but for those who don't mind a bit of blood shed then this a good film.

The reason I bought this is purely because of Stana Katic. I only knew her through Castle - the best TV show I've ever seen. This is an earlier work of Stana and no wonder she got the role as Detective Beckett, she is so natural in all the flights. Good show Stana, looking forward to more of your work.

For everything that Stiletto does well, it's been done plenty of times before. Despite that though, Stiletto is a fairly entertaining revenge flick that boasts an impressive enough cast that helps propel the film. Stana Katic (TV's Castle) stars as Raina; a femme fatale out for revenge against her former gangster boss lover Virgil (Tom Berenger), who himself is looking to find her after her attempt on his life. Also in tow is the crooked cop (Paul Sloan, who also wrote the film) assigned after Raina, Virgil's sadistic muscleman (Michael Biehn), and Virgil's greedy cousin (William Forsythe). Fairly bloody and equally convoluted in its story, Stiletto delivers the goods that thriller fans are generally looking for, and seeing old pros like Berenger, Forsythe, and Biehn (who gives the best performance he's done in quite some time) make it worth seeing. Also featuring smaller parts from Tom Sizemore, Diane Venora, Kelly Hu, Dominique Swain, and D.B. Sweeney.

I viewed to see Stana Katic's work.More story,less violence,more Katic would have been appreciated.. without Ms Katic why bother seeing Stiletto.

As the other reviewers have mentioned: STILETTO does not lack talent. Michael Biehn, Tom Sizemore, Tom Berenger and William Forsyhte co-star along with Stana Katic. I was pleasantly surprised with this film. Plenty of twists and turns coupled with hard-hitting violence kept me extremely entertained. The performances are all top-notch...Michael Biehn plays a real psycho and the actress that plays his girlfriend is someone to watch. This is not your run-in-the-mill action movie. Instead, STILETTO is a hard-boiled tale of love and vengeance. Set on the gritty streets of Los Angeles, Katic plays Raina, a sexy femme fatale seeking revenge on the rapidly deteriorating crime family responsible for her sister's disappearance. Berenger plays a overly sensitive, yet hyper violent mob boss. Berenger's over-the-top offering is one of the many fun performances of the movie. Do yourself a favor and check it out. STILETTO is a stylish thriller filled with revenge, murder, and mystery set in a world permeated by violence and corruption. Instant classic.

I too bought this since admiring the work of Stana Katic in TV's sophomore season of "Castle." I find her a great foil to Nathan Fillion's Rick Castle character and the camera does a lot of facial close up work highlighting her terrific expressions. In "Stiletto" there is much to like with a huge character cast of accomplished actors and Stana as the stunning protagonist. My reservation was the almost silly gore accompanying the violence. In my opinion I think this reduced the effectiveness of the script and acting as well as the market. Given the ranking of lower than 23,000, I'm guessing this is not one of the producer's finest moments...it could have been a wonderful opportunity to weave a complex story with great acting, but isn't. Enjoy Stana's on-screen moments, and fast-forward the rest. By the way, on a recent late-night talk show she pronounced her name STAH-nah KAH-tick.

It's hard to believe that such a talented cast could make such a terrible picture. After all, it has Oscar nominated Tom Berenger ("Platoon"), the marvelous Michael Biehn ("Tombstone", "Terminator", "Aliens"), William Forsythe ("Out for Justice", "The Untouchables", "Things to do in Denver when you're dead"), and hit TV series sexy cop Stana Katic ("Castle"). And in smaller roles there are Golden Globe nominees Diane Venora ("Bird") and Tom Sizemore ("Witness Protection"), James Russo, D.B. Sweeney, Amanda Brooks, and Kelly Hu, to name just a few. But, with the exception of Biehn, Brooks, and Hu, the performances run from weak to worse.

But bad acting doesn't come easily. It requires a moronic script which co-star Paul Sloan provides, and thankfully he seems to have given up screen writing to concentrate on acting, which he is very good at. Combine a bad script with equally bad editing, and not even the good photography and music can save this bomb.

Of course there are worse films. But when you consider the quality of the cast, such a bad films is inexcusable.