X: Night Of Vengeance DVD Review

• 20th Feb 2012

When I received a copy of what was described as an “erotic thriller”, I had my doubts. I’m not a man whose goal is to review softcore porn. However, I was pleasantly surprised by this film. X: Night Of Vengeance sees the chance encounter of two call girls, one a pro (so to speak…) and another who is just out on the streets, desperately looking for her next dollar. When the two are working with a “client”, they witness a drug deal go wrong, and so are on the run from police and criminals alike.

Holly Rowe is portrayed by Viva Bianca, of Spartacus fame, as the jaded call girl whose is desperate to get out of Sydney’s seedy red light district, and reinvent herself in Paris. Shay Ryan is the seventeen year old new girl on the block, without any friends or even someone she can trust. Her character, played by Hanna Mangan Lawrence, bumps into Holly by chance in a back alley.

Holly asks Shay for a favour, to help her out with a job and earn serious amounts of cash for it. But, when the job turns dirty and their client is killed, the night takes a turn for the worst and the girls flee into the darkness of Sydney’s underbelly.

With surprisingly good performances from the two girls, I was impressed to say the least. Not expecting something of this magnitude, the characters were not only believable, but you could see the emotion of what they were going through on their faces. I was especially impressed with Lawrence’s job as Shay.

With regards to how “erotic” the film actually was, there were a few more sex scenes than you’d see in most films. Nothing over the top, but obviously not one for the kids. In fact, I would nearly not use the term “erotic” when describing the film. For the most part, this had a noir feel to it.

Director Jon Hewitt did a great job in capturing Sydney’s ugly side, from ugly motels to drug lords. The film has a raw quality to it, and in its tragedy lies a great story. At under an hour and a half, it’s short – but Hewitt makes this work by not over selling the plot or dragging anything out. The film has a sharp edge to it, and it’s timing aids this by keeping the plot plodding at a steady pace.

As a thriller, this is both satisfying and enjoyable. There are times when the dialogue can get a little cringe-worthy, but it’s easy to look this over. A surprising little film, it’s always nice to find gems like this one. X: Night Of Vengeance may not take in the greatest amount of money, but it has much more character than a lot of those blockbuster films were are given year after year.

Chris Droney