Search - Bruiser on DVD

ROMERO RETURNS!!! A Kinder, Gentler Romero...

Sheila Chilcote-Collins | Collinswood, Van Wert, OH USA | 04/09/2004

(4 out of 5 stars)

"After eight years, Romero returns. This movie, was of course, NOT WHAT I WAS EXPECTING. Not from George...However, I enjoyed the movie as it is a odd mix of Kafka's The Metamorphosis meets Joel Schumacher's Falling Down with Michael Douglas.Poor, meek, downtrodden Henry Creedlow finally wakes up & realizes that human beings are treating him like crap. He has hallucinations during these bad times about doing the things, and bad things they are, to the whole, insensitive human race.Henry is getting screwed by life & he ain't gonna take it anymore! He wife is screwing his megalomaniac & sexually charged boss, his best friend in the world is screwing Henry, GEEZ, does this guy get a break? Even the hired help is screwing poor Henry, strangers on the street are rude & the yippy pampered family poodle treats him with contempt!Until...Henry gets some HUGE cojones, with the aid of a white mask replacing his face. Thus, making him the ultimate in an anonymous killers.Speaking of killers... There is an excellent soundtrack and appearance by The Misfits in an ultimate, hedonistic head banging, party scene.This isn't REALLY a horror movie, per se. It is a quietly crafted and sophisticated revenge of the downtrodden picture that I really and truly enjoyed!Happy Watching!"

Sorry, But I'm Disappointed with New Film of Horror Maestro

Tsuyoshi | Kyoto, Japan | 04/20/2002

(2 out of 5 stars)

"I always welcome any works by great creators of this genre -- I even went to theater to watch John Carpenter's vampire flick -- and the name of George A. Romero never fails to interest me. But his newest film, made after 8 year absence since not-so-good "The Dark Half," is a big disappontment.Jason Flemyng is Henry, who is leading an unhappy life with his unfaithful wife. At his office, uncompromising tyranny of his boss is waiting for him. One day, he finds his face is turned into total blank as if completely erased -- like a white mask he saw at the party last night. Is this a chance to do something he normally can't? Or is this a curse? So, what he's gonna do? Though the idea is original, Romero fails to develop it fully, being content with the initial half-baked concept. I am sorry to say this, and I don't change my attitude to this respected director, but I think Romero needs to show what he wants to do in the film. Sometimes the film is unexpectedly funny (the ending scene is pretty funny and cool), and sometimes scary (especially his first reaction to his housemaid), and those parts are OK, I admit. But Romero seems to find too much sense in Henry's white, expresionless face. Is he going to revenge all the people who bullied him in the past? Or should he stop, listening to a piece of good advice his female friend kindly gives? Between those options Henry wavers -- and I know that's supposed to be the point -- but the film takes too much time to show his conflict, which is a too obvious one. Romero's horror masterpieces in the past indeed dealt with these philosophical topics, but not so heavy-handedly to destory the good pace of the entire film.And in the end, Henry does what he does in the most contrived fashion, using laser, with the sound of The Misfits (who also appears). I admire Romero's usually underrated works, which are sometimes unduely labeled "cult" films, but here, in "Bruiser," he put more ponderous things than he should have."

Overlooked and Misunderstood

Scriptor | Los Angeles, CA | 10/27/2004

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This movie really doesn't get the credit it deserves, as it isn't the typically visceral fare we've come to expect from Romero. Instead, "Bruiser" is a thoughtful, intelligent, slowly paced film that forces you to search for meaning on your own. If you've missed this one, definately pick it up. It is well worth your time."

If only the last 30 minutes had been first...

Mr. Richard K. Weems | Fair Lawn, NJ USA | 10/21/2007

(3 out of 5 stars)

"Jason Flemyng plays Henry, a beaten-down exec at a glamor magazine who is being taken advantage of by his wife, his best friend, his boss, etc. Of course, the movie is about his taking revenge, though he does so only by losing his identity.

There's the overview, so let me now say that what would have greatly helped this film would have been to instill it from the beginning with the kind of humor and playfyulness that the last half hour had. Henry is a little too obvious about what he's oblivious to, and though Jason Flemyng plays the part well, he just doesn't have a very convincing character to portray. Peter Stormare of course stomps through the screen as Milo (pronounced mee-lo), an immigrant executive who has taken in the American Dream of consumption to its extreme, but Stormare seems to be a good barometer for the general quality of a movie--when he is over-the-top, as in this and in something like Armageddon, it is clear that you are not going to be watching a very good movie. However, when he is toned down, as in Fargo or (hell) even in Seinfeld as Slippery Pete, you know you are in for a good show. Henry's wife is more and more uninteresting as she gets nastier and nastier, and even the Hispanic maid is grossly overexaggerrated as she also takes advantage of poor, little Henry. That Henry has to become faceless to finally stand up for himself is an interesting move, but even when the transition occurs, the deaths are a little too lacking in creativity, and the events just plod along.

Until the Halloween party finally emerges. The Misfits are on stage, unusual costumes abound, and even when Tom Atkins appears as (guess what) a cop, his appearance is more of a clearing of the air rather than a dreadful move of casting. The finale shows promise, though the first hour gets to be an unfortunate bear. I am going to avoid spoiling any endings here, but it might be worth jumping over the first 55 minutes or so to get to the good stuff--no doubt, you'll be able to catch up pretty quickly.

The DVD also has a music video for The Misfits' "Scream," also directed by Romero--evidently, the video was removed from any kind of MTV rotation for being too violent, but it shows a glimpse of the grandfather of gore at some of his most natural work. Romero has certainly initiated a flood of great horror, and I am glad to see him trying something a little atypical, but I wish he could have worked a little more backwards and let the whole movie swing to a lighter mood.
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