"Rage" is a low-budget, "Duel" -inspired film that I would say teeters on brilliance. I'm not sure if anyone else would give this film such a brazen compliment, but I personally appreciated the way director Christopher Witherspoon took a familiar "psycho stalker" set-up and turned it around in an explosion of unexpected violence.
While visiting his mistress to end their secret relationship, a man unknowingly cuts off a motorcyclist for a parking space. Then, throughout the day, he continuously sees the shady crotch-rocket rider - identity concealed behind a helmet not UNsimilar to the "Nailgun Massacre" killer - who begins by keying his car, but gradually works his way up on the figurative 'ladder of torment'.
The big appeal I had for "Rage" was how the build-up leaves you waiting for a common 'whodunnit' twist ending - the likes of which I find usually drag a film down with self-indulgent "look at how I tied all the loose ends together with my clever ending". Sometimes that can work well for a film, but it's just unrealistic and forced. In all honesty, I was expecting that throughout the majority of this flick. Is it the wife? The shrink? The mistress's brother? Then Shaggy and Scooby will eat some big sandwiches and credits will role... No. "Rage" had a total REVERSE twist ending, which I found MUCH more fascinating than the clichéd 'last person you'd suspect' scenario.
Another thing I liked was a vicious rape/beating that came completely out of left field. Definitely took the movie into some truly dark, grim territory. There's also the off-screen chainsaw slayings of the nosy elderly neighbors which was also nicely unsettling. After all of this, the killer's motive was as simplistic as a stolen parking space. Was this rampage justified? Tell me you've never thought about torturing someone who has swooped in on your parking space on the WRONG fucking day. C'mon.
Overall, I strongly recommend "Rage". It's a highly unpredictable flick with a very satisfying payoff.
"Rage" is a low-budget, "Duel" -inspired film that I would say teeters on brilliance. I'm not sure if anyone else would give this film such a brazen compliment, but I personally appreciated the way director Christopher Witherspoon took a familiar "psycho stalker" set-up and turned it around in an explosion of unexpected violence.
