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The Gratuitous B-Movie Column: Sanctuary
The Gratuitous B-Movie Column Issue #602: Sanctuary
Dacascos December (in January)!
Hello, everyone, and welcome once again to the internets movie review column that has never been kicked out of a hotel window in slow motion, The Gratuitous B-Movie Column, and I am your host Bryan Kristopowitz. In this issue, issue number six hundred and two, It’s Dacascos December with a look at the low budget action flick Sanctuary, which had its TV debut in mid-February 1998 (presumably on HBO) and then hit home video in late August of the same year.
Sanctuary
Sanctuary, directed by the great Tibor Takacs (Takacs also directed Dacascos in the movie I reviewed in last issue, Sabotage), is an overly complicated low budget action flick about a secret group of assassins that’s hell bent on taking out one of its former members. That former member is Luke Kovak (Mark Dacascos). Kovak, who was recruited into the group as a child after he witnessed the brutal murder of his mother, decided to leave the group when the group’s boss William Dyson (Alan Scarfe) allowed one of its members to be raped and beaten as part of a mission. As tends to happen with groups of assassins, Dyson’s secret outfit didn’t take too kindly to Kovak wanting to leave and made him one of the group’s top enemies.
So where did Kovak go? Basically, he disappeared off the grid and became a priest in Chicago, and he was able to stay hidden there in the Windy City until Kovak’s old partner and lover Rachel Malcolm (Kylie Travis) finds him. As Rachel and, eventually, other group members show up and try to engage with Kovak, we see via flashback Kovak as a full member of the assassination group, working various missions and slowly becoming disillusioned with the whole assassination thing. And while all of that is going on, Dyson’s group tries to blackmail Senator Stephen Macguire (Nigel Bennett), who is set to become the national security advisor or some bullshit. Kovak tries to skip town when he realizes just how close Dyson’s group is to getting him, but he decides to stick around so he can find out what the heck the group is really up to and, maybe, stop them.
The flashbacks, while interesting, slow down the movie’s forward momentum and probably should have been condensed into maybe one or two quick flashbacks. The big search for Kovak in Chicago by Dyson’s group is generally more interesting than anything we see in the flashbacks, so why shouldn’t the movie focus on that? The movie also doesn’t spend much time on the origins of Dyson’s group, which is weird when you consider what the group does. I mean, the group recruits young people, turns them into assassins, and no one within the U.S government or military seems all that concerned about it. Shouldn’t there be a senator or someone like that who is hell bent on shutting the group down? Senator Macguire sort of does that when he becomes the focus of the group’s big hooha blackmail scheme, but shouldn’t there have been someone doing that before any of that happened? And why would anyone allow Dyson to put the group together in the first place?
And then there’s the on again, off again relationship between Kovak and Rachel. Before Kovak left the group Kovak and Rachel were partners and lovers (they also acted as sort of brother and sister when they were first recruited into the group). When Rachel tracks Kovak down and tries to reconnect he rebuffs her because he’s now a Catholic priest and can’t break his vow of celibacy. That’s an interesting relationship dynamic. Why don’t we see more of it? Do we really need to see Kovak and Rachel together “back in the day?” I don’t think we do.
The movie also doesn’t really do anything with Jinx (Elisabeth Rosen), a young homeless teen that Kovak seems to be mentoring at the beginning of the movie. Jinx does kind of figure into the big SWAT team assault on the homeless encampment, but that aspect of the story could have been played by anyone. Shouldn’t there be more on Kovak wanting to be a priest and helping people/teaching a kind of Catholic non-violence?
And why isn’t there more action? The flashbacks, while they do contain moments of action, aren’t as exciting as the “in the now” chase where we see Dyson’s group looking for Kovak. The “in the now” action sequences are far and away better than the flashback action. I also think that it’s interesting that we see multiple people using guns with what look like silencers but the silencer doesn’t make the gun quiet/stealthy. In fact, the silenced guns don’t sound any different than any other gun used in the movie. Are these people using sound suppressors, which are not necessarily the same thing?
Now, I will commend director Takacs and company for trying to do something “different” with the story. Sometimes you never really know if something is something is going to work until you try it. And while Sanctuary isn’t a bad movie at all, it likely would have been better if it hadn’t been as complicated as it is. The flashbacks, the way everything plays out, it’s all just completely unnecessary. Think about how awesome it would have been if the movie started with Mark Dacascos as a priest and, in the middle of preparing for his next church service, was attacked by armed assassins in the church. You know that would have kicked ass. It also would have started the movie off with a bang, and that’s never a bad thing with an action movie.
So what does Sanctuary do right? As I said, the “in the now” action sequences are terrific. The actual church attack sequence is quite harrowing, as well as a SWAT team attack on a homeless encampment (there’s an exploding kneecaps sequence in this scene, something that also happened in Sabotage. Is that something Takacs does in every action movie he makes?). And the final assault on Dyson’s HQ, while too brief, is chock full of what action movie nerds want to see (fight scenes, gunplay, and absolutely brutal death scenes, like the bullet to the throat scene and the sequence where Kovak double gun shoots a bad guy out of a window). There’s also a real sense of satisfaction in the movie’s first ending, when Kovak succeeds in taking down Dyson once and for all. The movie’s “second” ending, that attempts to, I guess, set up a potential sequel? The movie shouldn’t have included that at all. That ending is just awful.
The movie also features a top notch cast. Dacascos does a great job as Luke Kovak, the ex-assassin turned Catholic priest who just wants to help people. We see Kovak maintaining his skills as a killer, training in the martial arts and hiding out in multiple hidden secret rooms around the city. He always knew that someone would come after him and that he may, one day, have to resort to violence again. That’s a messed up life to live. We also see Dacascos with a goatee in the movie’s various flashback scenes and he actually plays Kovak differently in those scenes (he’s way more intense). Dacascos also gets to show off his martial arts skills in multiple fight scenes and shows everyone just how badass he really is.
Kylie Travis does a nice job as Rachel Malcolm, Kovak’s old lover and partner. She knows how to make you both sympathetic and leery of her at all times. You’re sympathetic to her because she claims to be as conflicted as Kovak when it comes to what the Dyson group does, and you’re leery of her because you’re not entirely sure you can trust her. Kovak doesn’t trust her even when it’s obvious he wants to be with her more than anything in the world. I’m surprised the movie doesn’t do more with her position in the group as a sniper as the one sniper scene we do see her in is brutal and makes you think less of her in a big way. Why not redeem her towards the end of the movie doing the same sort of thing but at a different target?
Jaimz Woolvett is sleazy as hell as Dyson henchman Dominic Grace. You don’t like him at all and you’re uneasy when he’s around because you’re never sure what he’s going to do. Is he really totally devoted to the Dyson cause or does he just get off on killing people? It might be both but you’re not sure. I think you’ll dig his big fight scene with Kovak. It plays out exactly the way it should.
Alan Scarfe is terrifying as William Dyson, the leader of the assassination group. He’s a guy that loves having total control over his assassins and loves that they will believe just about anything that he tells them. Dyson is also a guy that gets off on his own bullshit. He really believes that everything he has his people do is for the good of the United States and the world, regardless of how deplorable it all is (and it is deplorable as hell). The reality, of course, is that Dyson is a piece of shit and he needs to go down. Dyson’s ending is exactly what you expect a guy like Dyson to do.
Sanctuary isn’t a bad low budget action flick. In one sense, I like that it tries to do something different with a “standard” action movie plot. At the same time, it doesn’t really succeed with its lofty ambitions. The movie is just way too complicated for its own good. Again, it isn’t bad, but you get the sense that had it simplified its plot a bit more and focused on the “in the now” action sequences more, Sanctuary could very well have been a minor low budget action classic from the late 1990’s. Maybe. What we actually get is very watchable but not as successful as it wants to be. You should still check it out, though.
See Sanctuary. See it, see it, see it. It’s on something called popcornflix right now. It’s worth your time.
So what do we have here?
Dead bodies: At least 25
Explosions: Several, both big and small.
Nudity?: None, which is sort of surprising considering what happens in the movie.
Doobage: A secret meeting, Catholic church ceremonies, a woman in sunglasses, weird food drive items, bullying, jacket hooey, aerial shot of an elevated train, the mean streets of Chicago, martial arts training on a pole, a big spoon, cereal eating, more martial arts training, sexual tension, a gigantic camera, license plate reading hooey, church statue smashing, a flashback, some bullshit about missiles and codes and whatnot, sniper hooey, a foot chase, leaping over a parked car, a great jumping over a truck stunt, unexpected vehicular assault, can kicking, a secret door to a secret room in an abandoned building, more flashbacks, a guy teaching a kid how to kill, firearms training, bomb defusing, martial arts training, of screen justifiable homicide, a hand wound, a secret agent case filled with weapons and stuff, bus station hooey, another flashback, death by needle to the back through a hidden compartment in a the trunk of a limo, a guy gets choked out, attempted teen girl shooting, more sniper hooey, a TV report about a dead priest, a secret computer file, yet another flashback, off screen implied sex, hot coffee to the face, surveillance hooey, lots of overhead stock shots of Chicago, C4 bombs, pay phone hooey, glass window breaking, exploding car tire, forced striping, clothes throwing, boot thrown to the face, flashback to a big hooha government party of some sort, use of the word “cocksucker” multiple times, impromptu bondage sex, shoulder biting, face scratching, serious Taser attack, M203 grenade launcher attack, lock shooting, exploding door, a tracking chip, one more flashback, cardboard box hooey, mugger beating, SWAT team attack on a homeless encampment, homeless people killing, exploding abandoned cars, exploding kneecaps, 2 x 4 to the back, knife throwing, knife to the throat, shotgun attack, exploding truck, a nifty way to sneak into a morgue, bullet to the throat, a big hooha karate fight, a running tackle through a glass partition thing in slow motion, double gun attack, guy gets shot out of a window, Uzi attack on multiple windows and glass partitions, a cross suicide, and an odd ending that tries to set up a sequel of some sort.
Kim Richards?: Big time.
Gratuitous: Central Italy, Mark Dacascos, Mark Dacascos in central Italy, a group of shadowy priests, Chicago, Mark Dacascos as a priest, Catholicism, communion, talk of spiritual guidance, the old “put hair on the door as a warning to see if anyone disturbs it” trick, Mark Dacascos beating the shit out of a metal pole, a bloody dead woman flashback, a learning stuff montage, Mark Dacascos attempting to rent a car on the 1998 internets, a nearly empty bus station, disc retrieving, Operation Titan, looking up a license plate number in the computer, Mark Dacascos possibly sitting in a bunch of broken glass, attempted honey trap, Mark Dacascos keeping up his priest identity by not having sex with a hot blonde woman despite the hot blonde woman really wanting to have sex with him, 1990’s CGI, hiding out with hobos, 1998 facial recognition, exploding kneecaps, Mark Dacascos taking out an armored truck with a shotgun, Continental News, Mark Dacascos doing the double gun and run attack, Mark Dacascos leaping into a room in slow motion, and an odd ending that tries to set up a sequel of some sort.
Best lines: “Do you believe in ghosts, father?,” “Don’t look a gift horse in the mouth, okay?,” “Some things aren’t worth fighting for,” “I don’t want to hear about the Nevada thing, or Dyson, or whatever else you folks are into,” “Hey, Osborn is tough to get at,” “Hold your fucking water, man!,” “You’re too pretty to be driving a car, sweetheart,” “You ever worry about killing someone innocent?,” “Tell me, Luke, how do you get set up in a place like this?,” “Seems the call was made from Louisiana,” “It’s not going to be a bullet that kills you people,” “Strip. What?,” “Why didn’t you just leave?,” “Get dressed. Please,” “Dyson has created a very powerful job opening,” “Why don’t we just take him out? He’s no good to anyone dead. It’s all about control,” “Your misplaced chivalry has compromised this whole operation,” “Just a splash, buddy. Just a splash,” “I envy your weakness, son,” “You have to tell me, why a priest?,” “Whoa, father, what’s the hurry?,” “Possible visual on Rachel Malcolm,” “No evidence,” “Rachel. You fucker!,” “If you’re going after Dyson I’m going with you,” “Nice to see you again, Father Luke,” “Control, my man. It’s all about control,” “Commander! We reap what we sow,” “What have you done?,” and “Just trust us.”
Rating: 7.0/10.0
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Things to Watch Out For
–Castle Falls: This is a new low budget action flick directed by modern action legend Dolph Lundgren (his first movie as a director since 2010’s The Killing Machine, also known as Dolph Lundgren is The Killing Machine and Icarus) and starring fellow modern action legend Scott Adkins (Lundgren also stars in the movie, too). Basically, the movie is about multiple gangs looking for a bunch of hidden money inside of a building that’s set to be destroyed. Adkins plays a janitor that finds the money and ends up being targeted by those gangs. Or something. I don’t know, I haven’t seen it yet (although I do plan on seeing it soon enough). The movie is being released to home video by Shout! Factory, so you know that, even if the movie stinks, you’ll get a top notch home video presentation, so we’ll have that. Anyway, I can’t wait to see this. I’m sure it rocks.
–Black Friday: This low budget horror comedy came out in early December to much fanfare and so-so reviews. It was much ballyhooed because it features Devon Sawa, Michael Jai White, and the Bruce Campbell in the cast and is about a group of toy store employees who have to fight off zombies or something on Black Friday (why did it take until 2021 to make a movie about a fucked up Black Friday?). The reviews I read for it were, as I said, so-so. Some people liked it, while others thought it was a disaster (plenty of people thought the movie’s jokes just didn’t land, which is a big problem when your movie is a horror comedy). I’d still like to see it, though. It can’t be that bad, can it? Anyone out there see this?
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Well, I think that’ll be about it for now. Don’t forget to sign up with disqus if you want to comment on this article and any other 411 article. You know you want to, so just go do it.
B-movies rule. Always remember that.
Happy New Year!
Sanctuary
Mark Dacascos– Luke Kovak
Kylie Travis– Rachel Malcolm
Jaimz Woolvett– Dominic Grace
Alan Scarfe– William Dyson
Nigel Bennett– Senator Stephen Macguire
Elisabeth Rosen– Jinx
Monika Schnarre– Colette Fortier
(check out the rest of the cast here)
Directed by Tibor Takacs
Screenplay by Michael Stokes (with uncredited work by Brian Irving)
Distributed by New City Releasing, Sterling Home Entertainment, and Screen Media Ventures
Rated R for violence and language
Runtime– 104 minutes
Watch the movie here
