Bruiser (2001) dir: George Romero

Before the big zombie comeback that started in 2004 and before he was relevant again and turned out another (inferior) zombie trilogy, George A.Romero directed a smaller somewhat bizarre revenge film which has not yet seen a UK release and went straight to DVD in the US. At the time Bruiser was Romero’s first movie since 1993’s The Dark Half. Although it has pacing problems and the screenplay (also written by Romero) is not as clever as it thinks it is, Bruiser is well worth your time.

The film opens with meek magazine executive Henry Creedlow (Jason Flemyng) going about a life where he is taken advantage of at every conceivable turn. Either by his model girlfriend, his seedy boss or his best friend. He fantasizes getting his own back on these people with violent day dreams but never has the courage to act on the impulses he feels. One day after a particularly humiliating event with his boss and his girlfriend the night before, he awakens with a blank mask for a face. Initially in shock and disbelief he discovers the mask is actually his face now and cannot be removed. He finds that his loss of identity enables him to take action against the people who have walked all over him. So Henry begins a bloodthirsty campaign of vengeance, first against the housekeeper who has been stealing from him, then his girlfriend and finally his boss where he begins to empathize with the bosses downtrodden wife and seeks to help her out of her situation.

The synopsis is simple and truth be told it lacks some meat on its bones. This is also a strength as there are no complex subplots to contend with and there is some pleasure to be had watching poor Henry get his own back. This being a Romero film, its not as bloody or disturbing as you would think it should be. The death scenes are all fairly run of the mill without ever going to full pelt grindhouse levels of gore. The mask that becomes Henry’s face is suitably creepy and Jason Flemyng does a great job of becoming a sociopathic monster after getting our sympathies at the start of the film. Sadly the performances around him don’t seem to match his efforts. Peter Stormare as Henry’s boss and the bad guy of the film constantly mumbles or goes over the top playing an out an out scumbag. It’s a performance that almost matches his ill judged turn in The Brothers Grimm for how bad it is, A little of the restraint and quiet menace he showed in Fargo would have gone a long way here. Leslie Hope as his wife sadly fares little better with an underwritten role which calls for little more than the wooden performance she gives here. Towards the end of the film we are given a clue that there was some unspoken chemistry and feeling between her and Henry, sadly due to the underdeveloped role and poor performance you never share the feeling that this was Henry’s one chance at some kind of redemption. Luckily among the supporting cast is the great dependable Tom Atkins who here gives his usual grizzled cop performance par excellence.

Now you may get the feeling that I am ragging on this film and therefore I didn’t like it. This isn’t the case, there is much to enjoy here. The initially bizarre premise for example is quite unique, if a little similar to The King of the Ants and American Psycho, films released around the same time. The first act is quite slow and well done, we spend a lot of time with Henry in his day to day humiliations so we get to know him and live in his shoes. When the second act begins and the bodies start piling up you never feel sympathy for these despicable characters meeting their demise. The final act freak out which takes place at some kind of party with a macabre cabaret act is also quite good. There are a lot of elements in play here with most of the party guests dressed up in freakish costumes and Romero does a good job of mining suspense from this as you are never quite sure where Henry is or how he will strike.

Like most of Romero’s films, this has some kind of social conscience and as far as I can tell he is trying to say something about loss of identity in the the modern corporation dominated world. It’s a worthy subject and the message could have been delivered better by a superior standard of writer on top of his game. For the moment though for better millennial angst related films see Fight Club or American Beauty. Having said that Bruiser is a better movie than Diary or Survival of the Dead, both of which received a theatrical release which Bruiser was denied.

by Chris Holt

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