Drifter (film)

Last updated

Drifter
Drifter film poster.jpg
Directed byChris von Hoffmann
Written by
  • Chris von Hoffmann
  • Aria Emory
Produced byChris von Hoffmann
Starring
  • Aria Emory
  • Drew Harwood
  • Monique Rosario
  • Anthony Ficco
  • Rebecca Fraiser
  • James McCabe
CinematographyTobias Deml
Edited byChris Visser
Music byNao Sato
Production
company
Green Star Films [1]
Distributed by
Release dates
  • October 19, 2016 (2016-10-19)(AU)
  • February 24, 2017 (2017-02-24)(US)
Running time
86 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish

Drifter is a 2016 American post-apocalyptic thriller film [2] directed by Chris von Hoffmann. It stars Aria Emory, who co-wrote the film with von Hoffmann, and Drew Harwood as brothers who become stranded in a town run by cannibals. It was released in October 2016 in Australia and February 2017 in the US. It has an approval rating of 42% at Rotten Tomatoes.

Contents

Plot

While on the road, seeking vengeance for the murder of their father, brothers Miles and Dominic rob a store. The owner shoots Miles in the hand before they kill him. Dominic improvises a bandage for Miles, and they rest for the night in the desert. When Miles expresses doubt in their mission, Dominic angrily threatens to leave him to die in the desert. The brothers continue on after reconciling. While asleep in their car, Miles is surprised by several gunmen. After beating him, they announce that they intend to kill him and steal his car. Before they can, Dominic returns and kills all three despite Miles' pleas for the killing to end.

Miles and Dominic arrive at a small town, where they encounter an old man walking down the street. The man initially refuses to speak to them, but he seems willing to help once they offer him food. After he surprises them by puncturing one of the car's tires with a knife, Dominic begins beating him. A young woman, Vijah, stops him at gunpoint and ushers the two into her house, where she performs first aid on Miles. Vijah explains that the town's leader, Doyle, is dangerous, and they should all stay inside her house for their safety; Dominic ignores her warnings.

While exploring the ruins of the town, Dominic encounters Sasha, who seduces him. As they have sex, Sasha's boyfriend, Latos, appears. While Sasha holds Dominic at gunpoint, Latos grabs Miles and chastises Vijah for hiding the brothers from Doyle. Latos beats Dominic with a baseball bat but leaves the killing blow to Doyle. Latos forces Miles to watch as Doyle murders his brother. When Doyle later questions Miles in his office about why the brothers have trespassed in his territory, Miles refuses to cooperate, to Vijah's concern. Noticing this, Doyle and his gang taunt her. Doyle himself slashes one of her ears to teach her a lesson about loyalty.

Latos delivers food to Miles and says they are interested in having Miles join their gang. Latos explains Dominic was too obviously strong-willed and independent to be of use to them. When Miles is again uncooperative, Latos taunts him with the insinuation that the food is his brother's flesh. Vijah later visits Miles, and gives him a shard of glass. The two caress each other wordlessly, and he observes her scarred ear.

Doyle invites everyone to a dinner. Miles, finding Dominic's head on a platter, grows enraged as Doyle's gang noisily eats and taunts him. Miles draws the glass shard and stabs Sasha in the throat. Latos jumps on him and begins eating his face as Doyle impassively watches Sasha die. Vijah kills Latos, but another gang member takes her hostage. Doyle unceremoniously kills the gang member and takes Vijah hostage himself. Miles shoots Vijah in the gut; the bullet passes through her and kills both her and Doyle. After tenderly shutting her eyes, Miles points the gun at the old man encountered earlier, who has also been eating Dominic's flesh. As the man whimpers wordlessly, Miles lowers the gun and leaves.

Cast

Production

Director and co-writer Chris von Hoffmann said he channeled his anger and frustration into the film, intentionally making it as nihilistic and mean-spirited as possible. His primary influence was The Proposition , [2] though U Turn influenced the initial concept when he was still brainstorming ideas. [3] This early concept involved two brothers who entered a haunted town, but the supernatural aspect was later dropped. [4] von Hoffmann described the film as a "hybrid exploitation thriller that is basically a love letter, a deconstruction of genre movies in general". [3]

Von Hoffmann and Aria Emory, the co-writer and star, met on the set of Behaving Badly and subsequently began developing Drifter. von Hoffmann said Emory was always intended to play the lead. The rest of the cast were not auditioned; instead, they came from people with whom von Hoffmann had previously worked or people with whom he wanted to work. [5] Shooting took place in Southern California over the course of approximately 13 days. [4]

Release

Drifter was released in Australia before its United States premiere. [3] In Australia, Accent Film Entertainment released the film on DVD October 19, 2016. [6] XLrator Media gave Drifter a limited theatrical release in the US on February 24, 2017, and a video on demand release four days later. [2]

Reception

Rotten Tomatoes, a review aggregator, reports that 42% of 12 surveyed critics gave the film a positive review; the average rating is 5/10. [7] Frank Scheck of The Hollywood Reporter wrote, "Despite the relentless violent mayhem, Drifter somehow commits the cardinal grindhouse movie sin of being deadly dull." [1] Scheck described the film's plot as a "rip-off pretending to be homage". [1] Matt Donato of Film Journal International called it "a cinematic collage assembled from better movies", criticizing the film for not having enough individuality to support the homages. [8] In describing the film as "semi-successful", Noel Murray of the Los Angeles Times wrote, "Sometimes it's impressively funky and stylish, and sometimes tediously derivative." [9] Murray concluded by praising the film's ambition and von Hoffmann's artistic voice. [9] Writing for LA Weekly , Luke Y. Thompson called film's premise refreshing, as it recycles less-used aspects of the original Mad Max film. However, Thompson criticized the characters as unlikable, which he says makes their plight uninteresting. [10] John Townsend of Starburst rated the film 8/10 stars and wrote, "While not necessarily a film you will revisit time and time again, Drifter is one you will certainly remember." [11] Andrew Mack of Screen Anarchy wrote that the film "starts off promising enough" but becomes "terribly boring and bland" after the brothers arrive in the town. Mack said the cannibals behave logically by killing off Dominic, but this leaves the film without an interesting protagonist. Mack concluded von Hoffmann can create "visually stimulating films" once he works on better character arcs. [12]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Barb Wire (character)</span> Comic book character

Barb Wire is a fictional character appearing in Comics Greatest World, an imprint of Dark Horse Comics. Created by Chris Warner and Team CGW, the character first appeared in Comics' Greatest World: Steel Harbor in 1993. The original Barb Wire series published nine issues between 1994 and 1995 and was followed by a four-issue miniseries in 1996. A reboot was published in 2015 and lasted eight issues. In 1996, the character was adapted into a film starring Pamela Anderson. Unlike the comics, the film takes place in a possible future rather than an alternate version of present-day Earth.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Butch Cassidy</span> American Old West outlaw (1866–1908/1937)

Robert LeRoy Parker, better known as Butch Cassidy, was an American train and bank robber and the leader of a gang of criminal outlaws known as the "Wild Bunch" in the Old West.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dalton Gang</span> Group of outlaws in the American Old West

The Dalton Gang was a group of outlaws in the American Old West during 1890–1892. It was also known as The Dalton Brothers because four of its members were brothers. The gang specialized in bank and train robberies. During an attempted double bank robbery in Coffeyville, Kansas in 1892, two of the brothers and two other gang members were killed; Emmett Dalton survived, was captured, and later pleaded guilty to second-degree murder, although he later asserted that he never fired a shot during the robbery. He was paroled after serving 14 years in prison.

<i>High Plains Drifter</i> 1973 American Western film by Clint Eastwood

High Plains Drifter is a 1973 American Western film directed by Clint Eastwood, written by Ernest Tidyman, and produced by Robert Daley for The Malpaso Company and Universal Pictures. The film stars Eastwood as a mysterious stranger who metes out justice in a corrupt frontier mining town. The film was influenced by the work of Eastwood's two major collaborators, film directors Sergio Leone and Don Siegel. In addition to Eastwood, the film also co-stars Verna Bloom, Mariana Hill, Mitchell Ryan, Jack Ging, and Stefan Gierasch.

<i>Gunfight at the O.K. Corral</i> (film) 1957 film by John Sturges

Gunfight at the O.K. Corral is a 1957 American Western film starring Burt Lancaster as Wyatt Earp and Kirk Douglas as Doc Holliday, and loosely based on the actual event in 1881. The film was directed by John Sturges from a screenplay written by novelist Leon Uris. It was a remake of the 1939 film Frontier Marshall starring Randolph Scott and of John Ford's 1946 film My Darling Clementine.

<i>Intolerable Cruelty</i> 2003 film by Joel Coen

Intolerable Cruelty is a 2003 American romantic comedy film directed, co-written and edited by Joel and Ethan Coen, and produced by Brian Grazer and the Coens. The script was written by Robert Ramsey and Matthew Stone and Ethan and Joel Coen, with the latter writing the last draft of the screenplay. The film stars George Clooney, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Geoffrey Rush, Cedric the Entertainer, Edward Herrmann, Paul Adelstein, Richard Jenkins, and Billy Bob Thornton. It premiered at the 60th Venice International Film Festival and was released in the United States on October 10, 2003.

<i>Last Man Standing</i> (1996 film) 1996 American film

Last Man Standing is a 1996 American action film written and directed by Walter Hill, and starring Bruce Willis, Christopher Walken and Bruce Dern. It is a credited remake of Akira Kurosawa's Yojimbo.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dominic Toretto</span> Fast & Furious fictional character

Dominic "Dom" Toretto is a fictional character and one of the two protagonists of the Fast & Furious franchise. He is portrayed by Vin Diesel and first appeared on film with the other fellow protagonist Brian O'Conner in The Fast and the Furious (2001). Dominic was created by screenwriter Gary Scott Thompson, who was inspired by an article on street racing that was published in the May 1998 issue of Vibe magazine, while Diesel was heavily sought after to play the character. The character also appears in the animated television series Fast & Furious Spy Racers (2019–2021) and the video game Fast & Furious Crossroads (2020), both voiced by Diesel.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Seth Costello</span> Character from Hollyoaks, created 2010

Seth Costello is a fictional character from the British television soap opera Hollyoaks, played by Miles Higson. He made his first appearance during the episode broadcast on 20 July 2010. His first major storyline was in 2011 when he was the centre of a steroids storyline. He also became involved in the storyline where his father Carl Costello began an affair with Mercedes McQueen. 2020 saw the return of Seth, when he blackmailed the McQueen family with grandfather Silas Blissett. He departed again on 2 February 2021.

<i>The Stranger</i> (1995 film) 1995 American film

The Stranger is a 1995 American martial arts action thriller film directed by Fritz Kiersch and starring former professional kickboxing champion Kathy Long. The plot of the film is based on the premise of the Clint Eastwood classic film High Plains Drifter (1973) transposed onto a biker subculture.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sasha Bezmel</span> Fictional character

Sasha Bezmel is a fictional character from the Australian Channel Seven soap opera Home and Away, played by Demi Harman. The actress relocated to Sydney from Brisbane for filming and she stated that winning the role was a dream come true. Harman told a reporter that her character forced changes within herself, which she had difficulty adjusting to. Harman made her first screen appearance as Sasha during the episode broadcast on 31 August 2011. Harman decided to leave the show in 2014 and filmed her final scenes in October. Sasha made her official departure on 1 April 2015.

<i>Badmans Territory</i> 1946 film by Tim Whelan

Badman's Territory is a 1946 American Western film starring Randolph Scott. It was followed by the loose sequels Return of the Bad Men (1948) and Best of the Badmen (1951).

<i>Bounty Killer</i> (film) 2013 American film

Bounty Killer is a 2013 post-apocalyptic action comedy film directed by Henry Saine. Bounty Killer is based on a graphic novel published by Kickstart Comics in 2013.

<i>Dead in Tombstone</i> 2013 film

Dead in Tombstone is a 2013 American direct-to-video horror Western film produced by Universal 1440 Entertainment. It was directed by Roel Reiné and written by Shane Kuhn and Brendan Cowles. The film stars Danny Trejo as Guerrero, a gang leader who gets double-crossed by his fellow gang members. Striking a pact with the Devil after entering Hell, he resurfaces to the earthly world to avenge his own death by killing the men who murdered him. The film was released in home media on October 22, 2013, and was followed by a sequel, Dead Again in Tombstone (2017).

<i>Back Trail</i> 1948 American western film, directed by Christy Cabanne

Back Trail is a 1948 American Western film, directed by Christy Cabanne. It stars Johnny Mack Brown, Raymond Hatton, and Mildred Coles, and was released on July 18, 1948.

<i>The Kid</i> (2019 film) 2019 film

The Kid is a 2019 American Western film directed by Vincent D'Onofrio, from a screenplay by Andrew Lanham. The film stars Ethan Hawke, Dane DeHaan, Jake Schur, Leila George, Chris Pratt, Adam Baldwin, and Vincent D'Onofrio.

<i>Daniel Isnt Real</i> 2019 film directed by Adam Egypt Mortimer

Daniel Isn't Real is a 2019 American psychological horror film directed by Adam Egypt Mortimer, from a screenplay by Mortimer and Brian DeLeeuw, based upon the novel In This Way I Was Saved by DeLeeuw. It stars Miles Robbins, Patrick Schwarzenegger, Sasha Lane, Mary Stuart Masterson, Hannah Marks, Chukwudi Iwuji and Peter McRobbie.

<i>Monster Party</i> (film) 2018 horror film

Monster Party is a 2018 horror thriller film written and directed by Chris von Hoffmann. The film stars Sam Strike, Erin Moriarty, Kian Lawley, Robin Tunney, Virginia Gardner, Brandon Micheal Hall, Bill Engvall, Julian McMahon, and Lance Reddick.

<i>The Pale Door</i> 2020 western horror film

The Pale Door is a 2020 American horror Western film directed by Aaron B. Koontz and written by Cameron Burns, Keith Lansdale, and Koontz, with Joe R. Lansdale as executive producer. It stars Devin Druid, Zachary Knighton, Melora Walters, Bill Sage, Pat Healy, Stan Shaw, Natasha Bassett, Noah Segan, and Tina Parker.

Brassic is a British comedy-drama television series created by Joe Gilgun and Danny Brocklehurst for Sky One and became Sky's most successful comedy series in seven years. The series follows the lives of Vinnie O'Neill (Gilgun) and his friends in the fictional town of Hawley. Other primary cast members include Michelle Keegan, Damien Molony, Tom Hanson, Aaron Heffernan, Ryan Sampson, Parth Thakerar and Steve Evets.

References

  1. 1 2 3 Scheck, Frank (February 25, 2017). "'Drifter': Film Review". The Hollywood Reporter . Retrieved May 12, 2017.
  2. 1 2 3 "[Interview]Drifter's Chris von Hoffmann Survives the Apocalypse of Filmmaking". Bloody Disgusting . February 21, 2017. Retrieved May 12, 2017.
  3. 1 2 3 "Interviews: Chris von Hoffmann - Director of Drifter Talks His New Movie, Horror and Remakes". SpoilerFreeMovieSleuth.com. February 21, 2017. Retrieved May 12, 2017.
  4. 1 2 Anderson, Derek (February 23, 2017). "Q&A with DRIFTER Director Chris von Hoffmann". DailyDead.com. Retrieved May 12, 2017.
  5. Ryan, Taylor (February 25, 2017). "Drifter – Q&A with Director Chris von Hoffmann". BorrowingTape.com. Retrieved May 12, 2017.
  6. "DRIFTER (2015)". Accent Film Entertainment. Archived from the original on February 19, 2017. Retrieved May 12, 2016.
  7. "Drifter (2017)". Rotten Tomatoes . Retrieved December 7, 2020.
  8. Donato, Matt (February 23, 2017). "Film Review: Drifter". Film Journal International . Retrieved May 12, 2017.
  9. 1 2 Murray, Noel (February 23, 2017). "Review Horror-thriller 'Drifter' is a semi-successful exercise in genre homage". Los Angeles Times . Retrieved May 12, 2017.
  10. Thompson, Luke Y. "Drifter (NR)". LA Weekly . Retrieved May 12, 2017.
  11. Townsend, John. "Drifter". Starburst . Archived from the original on May 9, 2017. Retrieved May 12, 2017.
  12. Mack, Andrew (February 23, 2017). "Review: DRIFTER Runs Out of Gas in a Trope Tainted Wasteland". Screen Anarchy . Retrieved May 12, 2017.