GETAWAY **** USA 2020 Dir: Lane Toran. 76 mins
Tamara (Jaclyn Betham) is just about to go on a girl’s trip with her besties. Whilst getting ready to go she hears on the radio that another young woman in the area they are going to has gone missing, making a total of 16. Looking concerned she switches off the radio and heads out. Bumping into Jerry (Jamil Walker Smith), a cop she has just started dating she lets him know where she’s going and promises him a second date. On the road she runs out of fuel and 2 creepy guys in a beaten up pick up truck stop and give her some fuel. They ask where she is going and watch her as she drives away. With all that seemingly forgotten Tamara, Maddy (Scout Taylor-Compton) and Brooke (Landry Allbright) go out to party. As the night goes on the barman sends down the girls some drinks from a strange guy who disappears before they see him. Feeling the effects of the drug placed in her drink Tamara goes out for air and passes out. She is dragged into the back of a beaten up pick up truck and taken away. Her kidnappers, brothers Merv (Lane Toran) and Kib (Noah Lowdermilk) along with their Pa (Lane Caudell) are the ones responsible for all the female abductions. Youngest sibling Kib has been brainwashed by his Christian father who is justifying their actions by making him believe that they are doing God’s work sending the angels (this is what they call the girls they kidnap, rape and murder) back up to heaven with their seed creating Angel babies. Strange things happen to the three sickos after they kidnap Tamara, ghostly visions, messages in blood and satanic symbols and they accuse her of witchcraft. Whilst the kidnappers are freaking out Tamara manages to get a message to Jerry but can he get there in time? Could Tamara be the seventeenth Angel or are the kidnappers right in thinking she was sent by the devil??
Beginning as an average backwoods slasher/torture style movie this takes some subtle turns ending as a fabulous female dominated revenge movie which I thoroughly enjoyed. Really well acted by everyone involved. The male characters portrayed as mild mannered nervous types or foul mouthed violent cowards and the absolutely gorgeous leading ladies going from naive and innocent to smart talking badasses ( “oh the witch thing again…well we are fucking magical!” ) with the greatest of ease. Director Toran taking on the role of the incredibly creepy Merv and still managing to look quite hot with it or is that just me? The soundtrack and setting are fitting and effective even if sometimes things get a bit gloomy. It comes across as more of a thriller than a horror as (I’m guessing) budget restrictions limit the bloodletting to a minimum which is a bit disappointing but doesn’t take that much away from it I suppose. However it would’ve given it that bit more of an edge. I like that it has elements of cult mentality, witchcraft and survival altogether, starting as one thing and ending as another with the male characters making no difference in the outcome at all. Dont believe the bad stuff you hear about this and just give it a go. It has a great storyline, well acted and holds your attention from the start. As a female I always appreciate the movies where the women come out on top so to speak even if it is a bit light on gore.
Review by Sarah Budd
GETAWAY is available on Amazon