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Cry for the Bad Man Review
Loading...Cry for the Bad Man Review
Camille Keaton– Marsha Kane
Scott Peeler– Wayne MacMohan
Eric Dooley– Derrek MacMohan
Christopher James Forrest– Billy MacMohan Jr.
Karen Konzen– Helen Kane
Victor Jones– Deputy Jesse B. Pyle
Mark Poppleton– Bill MacMohan
Kurt McCall– Pastor David Knight
Mark Wright– John Kane
Directed by Sam Farmer
Screenplay by Sam Farmer
Distributed by Uncork’d Entertainment
Not Rated
Runtime– 70 minutes
https://www.facebook.com/cryforthebadmanmovie/
Cry for the Bad Man, written and directed by Sam Farmer, is a fascinatingly bizarre mega low budget siege thriller about a woman that’s pushed to the edge and who then has to engage in swift and brutal violence to stop a gang of thugs from taking her house and killing her. Clocking in at a lean and mean barely seventy minutes, it moves deliberately towards its gory conclusion, which is both a good thing and a bad thing. It’s a good thing because it allows Farmer’s exceptional leads to chew the scenery a bit and act their hearts out (not to mention that the villain shows the entire world just how incredibly awful he is), and it’s a bad thing because the movie should probably be even shorter than it is. With the super violence on display, it might have been wiser to add a few more action scenes and up the body count instead of going for maximum suspense. Sometimes, exploding heads are your friends, cinematically speaking.
Cry for the Bad Man stars modern genre icon Camille Keaton as Marsha Kane, a badass old broad that refuses to sell her property to the MacMohan clan, a family of rich, troublemaking assholes that basically want to own everything in the area. Marsha is constantly harassed by the MacMohan brothers (Wayne, who is the leader and played by Scott Peeler, Derek, played by Eric Dooley, and Billy, also known as BJ, and played by Christopher James Forrest) and she, for the most part, takes their abuse. She has no intention of selling her property to anyone, and she also doesn’t want trouble. She just wants the MacMohans to leave her alone.
Now, you may be asking “Why doesn’t she just go to the police if these MacMohan punks are bothering her so much?” The answer to that is the local law, in the guise of Deputy Jesse B. Pyle (Victor Jones), is in cahoots with the MacMohans, so there really is no hope on that front. There’s either going to be a confrontation of some sort or the MacMohans are going to figure out that Marsha isn’t going anywhere and just give up.
Yeah, good luck with that happening.
So, one day, after one final bit of ridiculous harassment, the MacMohans deliver an ultimatum to Marsha. She either sells her property to them by midnight or they’re going to kill her and, maybe, her daughter Helen (Karen Konzen). Marsha goes to her pastor (Kurt McCall), talks to him about what she’s feeling, and decides right then and there that she’s had enough of the MacMohan clan’s bullshit. If they do show up to take her out, she’s going to fucking blast them with her shotgun and make them wish that they just gave up.
And so the MacMohan brothers show up at Marsha’s house at midnight with guns and seriously bad intentions. And Marsha has her fucking shotgun loaded and ready. Who will prevail?
The build up to the eventual confrontation between Marsha and the MacMohans is quite good. You know that some shit is going to go down between the two factions but you’re not quite sure what it’s going to entail and how it’s going to go down. Marsha is very determined to keep her property and, despite not wanting to be a violent person, she will kick ass if she has to. And the MacMohans are sleazy and slimy as fuck, especially Wayne. The guy just oozes awfulness and has the kind of face that you want to see get shot off. The MacMohans have a big card game in a barn to sort of figure out what their plan is going to be and, Jesus Christ, if you didn’t hate them the second you meet them you will hate them after this game, especially Wayne. Again, Wayne is such a fucking scumbag you oh so want to see him get fucked up. He really is that terrible.
When the confrontation happens, the violence begins quickly, but it doesn’t really escalate from there. There’s a huge pause in the action as Marsha threatens the MacMohans, and the MacMohans threaten her. And that’s all they do. Both sides threaten the other and talk. And talk. And talk. This goes on for a little while until there’s more sudden violence, and then there’s more talking. There’s a certain amount of suspense created here due to those pauses. You know something is going to happen but you’re not sure when, exactly, it’s going to happen. Those pauses are too long, though. Way too long. And the suspense is drawn out way too much. If the MacMohans had a few more thugs to bring with them at midnight so Marsha could kill them, or if there had been more gunplay this section of the movie wouldn’t feel as drawn out as it does.
Of course, you also have to realize that director Farmer only had so many resources to work with and needed to make the most of what he had, and he does. The house set looks phenomenal, and the movie’s many practical special effects are absolutely disgusting, which is what you want with this kind of situation. If someone is getting shot in the hand with a shotgun that hand is going to get fucking pulverized and that’s exactly what we see happen. And getting shot in general in this movie is horrendous. You don’t want to get shot at all. You don’t see that all that often in movies of any stripe these days.
The movie also has a killer soundtrack by Frank Carino. It’s the kind of soundtrack that makes you uneasy while listening to it but you want to listen to it anyway.
Camille Keaton is a force of nature as Marsha. She seems like a nice lady at first, but as soon as you start fucking with her it’s only a matter of time before she decides she’s had enough and comes after you. And, as we see multiple times, you don’t want Marsha Kane coming after you for any reason. She will take you the fuck out. Keaton clearly relishes playing a badass with a shotgun and you will love seeing her blast the bad guys with it. And I also want to commend her for the “shotgun shell in the garbage disposal” thing. It’s goddamn brilliant.
I can’t stress enough just how awful Scott Peeler makes Wayne MacMohan. My God, the man is so damn reprehensible. And that’s before he actually starts doing anything beyond talking. Peeler just oozes sleaze in the role and you really hope something bad happens to him. Like seriously bad.
When it comes to the other MacMohan brothers, Eric Dooley as Derrek and Christopher James Forrest as Billy aren’t as reprehensible as Wayne, but then they’re not exactly the greatest human beings in the world, either. You sort of feel sorry for them a few times because it’s obvious that they’re just “doing what they’re told” and they’re kind of stupid, but then, still, anyone taking orders from a guy like Wayne probably deserves getting shot at with a shotgun. Victor Jones makes Deputy Jesse B. Pyle a real piece of shit, too. Not as big of a piece of shit as Wayne but pretty damn close to him.
Cry for the Bad Man could have used a little less suspense, a little less talking, and lots more action. For a barely seventy minute movie it drags a bit too much. But writer/director Sam Farmer has put together a fairly decent if bizarre mega low budget siege thriller. He makes the most of what he has to work with and comes out with a very watchable movie. He also gives Camille Keaton a chance to be the ultimate badass. You don’t want to mess with Keaton’s Marsha Kane. You do want to see Cry for a Bad Man, though, especially if you’re a fan of Camille Keaton and or siege thrillers. You will dig it if you accept it for what it is and what it’s trying to do.
I do wish it was even shorter, though. Faster, too.
See Cry for the Bad Man. See it, see it, see it.
So what do we have here?
Dead bodies: 5
Explosions: 1. Sort of.
Nudity? None.
Doobage:Unloading a revolver, pill bottles, cobwebs on an old picture, wall washing, hand washing, smoking, listening to music, multiple physical and verbal threats, using a knife to pin a piece of paper to a wall, face slapping, .38 hooey, a weird argument, glass bottle target practice, black clothes, pistol loading, shotgun blast through the door, walking through hallways in the dark, a neat as hell mirror trick, exploding hand, a countdown, multiple gun sliding, attempted first aid, hammer cocking, crowbar hooey, involuntary striptease hooey, kidnaping, shotgun sliding, negotiating, knife through a bloody stump, a shotgun shell in a garbage disposal, exploding sink, bullet to the head, a flashback that explains the very beginning of the movie, closet shooting, a bathroom trick, exploding head, a shotgun massacre, and a somewhat badass ending.
Kim Richards?: None.
Gratuitous: Camille Keaton, Camille Keaton unloading a revolver and putting it in a box, Camille Keaton washing her hands, an old wedding photo, “My Guy” record, anti-Semitism, dipshits playing cards in a barn, Jack Daniels, Camille Keaton engaging in target practice, a first aid kit, a discussion of arterial blood, discussion of “castle law,” Civil War/”War of Northern Aggression” bullshit, talk of knives purchased from a home shopping channel, a one handed guy trying to put his shirt on in the background while the people in the foreground are engaged in a tense discussion, a story on how to gut a deer, and Camille Keaton cocking a shotgun in slow motion.
Best lines: “Evening, Miss Kane,” “It was them,” “You’re protecting them!,” “This ain’t right!,” “This is my house!,” “Womanhood ain’t no handicap. You remember that, girl,” “Don’t you try that shit on me,” “I’m gonna talk to pops about this,” “You goddamn savage. Just like your old man,” “I’m an idiot! I’m a fucking idiot!,” “This ain’t no negotiation!,” “What the hell, Wayne?,” “Mind of I smoke? Not in my house!,” “Fuck you, Derrek! Look at me! I’m dying here!,” “Show me your tits! Did you just say show me your tits?,” “The gravel is hurting the tip of my dick,” “Yeah, I remember you. Entitled little rich boy,” “Your turn!,” and “Got a warrant?”
