CRY FOR THE BAD MAN **** USA 2019 Dir: Sam Farmer. 70 mins
No, this isn’t a film about Lynyrd Skynyrd, who famously had a hit with the song “Cry for the Bad Man”. This is a full on exploitation style horror/thriller, starring the one and only Queen of the screams Camille Keaton, who starred in the legendary video nasty I Spit On Your Grave and I Spit On Your Grave: DeJa Vu.
Camille Keaton returns to the screen, and boy does she bring it! Her grandfather was the king of silent-film comedy, Buster Keaton, so it’s no surprise good acting is in the blood.
The marketing team here let the film down, I would have gone for something like “Grandma with a Shotgun” or “Night of the Huntress” because this film deserves more attention. Yes, the title sounds like a TV movie, but this film is anything but that. Cry For The Bad Man is a very violent, brutal thriller, not a run of the mill thriller that so many companies knock out by the dozen.
When Marsha (Camille Keaton) a recent widow refuses to sell her property to local landowners/gangsters terror ensues. Marsha arms herself and stands firm waiting for anyone to try and take what is dear to her, the house she not only built but a place where memories were made.
This film is a great example of true indie filmmaking on a low budget, shot perfectly with the kind of solid production you would find in a film shot on 10 times this budget.
Cry For The Bad Man has all the necessary ingredients needed to make a good thriller, lots of action, shocks and surprises, and a good bit of suspense thrown in for good measure!
Both fans of thrillers, home invasion and shoot em up movies will love this. I really liked this exploitation thriller, it delivered on all levels. Camille Keaton was on fire in this film, she was amazing, it’s her best performance since I Spit On Your Grave, a real treat seeing her in this kind of role!
Review by Tony Newton