Tss5078 Imagine having a bad dream, in which you see a loved one die at your hands. Only to wake up in some kind of asylum, not knowing what's real and what's inside of your own head. That is just one of the themes questioned in the new Sci-fi Thriller, Cruel & Unusual. This is one strange film, that will leave you questioning the nature of reality, but is it all that believable? The story is definitely unique, but has more than several appealing plot holes, that will leave you wondering if the movie was just lazy or beyond your comprehension. The film centers on Edger, played poorly by David Richmond-Peck. Are we really supposed to believe that this guy is capable of the temper or heroism his character is supposed to have displayed? Even less believable is that he's got a hot wife! Personally, I watched this strange film for Richard Harmon, best known as one of the stars of The 100. Harmon truly brings the words devilishly handsome to life, as behind that innocent face and crooked in smile, something sinister is always lurking, and that's what makes him so entertaining. The bottom line is that Cruel & Unusual is a weird film, that makes you think and can be frustrating at times. As a critic, I see massive holes in the story, but maybe, just maybe those were intentional, left to us to fill in the gaps, in which case, the film itself could be as smart and deep as it's plot.

amnesia_vivace Yeah, I know. The summary seems a bit oxymoronic, but if you've seen it, you'll know what I mean. This is a movie that gets more mileage per production dollar than 95% of what you will ever see.Bleak almost throughout, and repetitive, but welcome to purgatory. It's totally necessary, if a bit confusing at times. I'd like to see it again, now that the premise is firmly in focus. It's a movie that is better, in some ways, the second time around.The acting is mostly great, but the unrelenting hostility of Doris gets a bit wearing. (I have an unfortunate tendency to put "real world" values on movie characters) There isn't a bit of wasted emotion coming from her, though...it's just 'her.' Very true to the character. There are a number of moments of doubt about some of the characters, the chief protagonists, mainly. This is all to the good, in my opinion.I really hope the other projects involving the writer\director, Merlin Dervisevic, are as good. I'm sure going to be looking for them.

hoytyhoyty Cruel & Unusual could be taken as religious propaganda - especially of the desert cults like Christianity or Islam. But that hardly matters, as it is a fantasy (like religions, in fact). We are so used to daemons and second comings and what-not in fantasy stories, really all that can just be taken as a given.But the approach of this film is what's so original. It's extremely 'crisp', and 'sharp' - presented almost like a Science Fiction film, in the coldly analytical, urgent way it unfolds.All the performances are good, it is cut beautifully, and it never drops the pace.I have seen some idiot reviews elsewhere on the web, including by magazine reviewers who obviously never actually saw the film and include all sorts of false detail that wasn't actually there.And I think that may be where this film hit a big snag - it's distribution was so low that everyone assumed it was either some awful straight-to-DVD release, or assumed they already knew what the story was.In doing so, they missed out on a great, very dark little piece of fantasy film making. Sure, it may cover some ground that's been covered before, but that's in the nature of the beast: Fantasy, ironically, is a limited field - Science Fiction is less so, and Reality is not limited at all. All writers of scripts and books know this, whether they admit knowing it or not.I really liked Cruel & Unusual and wish the disc was easier to come by.A particular highlight was the use of a great Shriekback track in one of the film's darkest scenes.- -- ---

Amatt_w I Went for the premiere of this film in Taipei Golden Horse Film Festival. Everything is perfect, the performing of actors and actresses are persuasive, the story is simple in fact, but by the editing, it makes the plot more interesting and digging deeper. The philosophy of life and love in the film makes it worth seeing it again and again. The twists in the second half of the film leads the story to an unexpected touching ending. In the end, it turns out to be a movie warm and full of love. Really impressive, and it blows my mind. The movie score seems a little weak comparing to other aspects. In addition, for the first half, some scenes repeat too much times but reveals less. But those are not so important. Please go and see it.