Infidus

IMDb

• In the suburbs of Rome, two disparate lives with only desire for vengeance and redemption in common find their destinies intertwined. Massimo's mind is plagued with images of his wife's violent death at the hands of a criminal gang involved in the production of snuff films. With every memory of the woman he loved replaced by unforgettable images of her horrific final moments, Massimo sees only one chance to take back his life: find the wealthy individual who commissioned the sickening murder - and make them pay. Barabba, a recently released convict, hopes to keep a promise he made to his father and start a new life with his brother, Spaccio, far from the violent world that they used to inhabit. Discovering that his brother is involved in the snuff gang, Barabba seeks to change things the only way he knows how: through violence and bloodshed. Shot with real ex-criminals and deprived people from the streets, INFIDUS is a drama about redemption and revenge that will uncompromisingly show you the reality of the Italian criminal underworld, ramming sweat, tears and real Blood down your throat, with not a single drop spared.
  - Written by Gareth Jones

DreadCentral

Revenge is an exceptionally messy business when it comes to director Giulio De Santi’s latest excursion into the realms of extreme violence – the uncompromisingly savage Infidus.

Just released from a seven-year prison stint after being double-crossed by a fellow member of his gang and left for the authorities, super-sized hard man Barabba (Mino Bonini) sets out to reunite with his brother, Spaccio (Maurizio Zaffino). Arriving at his brother’s place, Barabba finds no sign of him – but he does find something shocking… a series of incredibly gruesome snuff video tapes that the old gang are now apparently in the business of making.
Grinding down one end of a length of rebar in order to fashion a rather nasty-looking makeshift shiv, Barabba immediately sets about catching up with acquaintances old and new in the bloodiest ways possible as he tries to track down his brother.

Along the way he picks up an initially reluctant assistant in the form of a woman (Stefania Bonini) who is known to, and regularly abused by, the gang. She quickly joins him, initially in an advisory position, but quickly comes to up tools herself as the pair cut a bloody swathe through this particularly heinous criminal underworld.

Told alongside Barabba’s story is that of a man known only by his online nickname, ‘Mungus60′ (Massimo Caratelli), who is attending a personal meeting with the rich individual behind the commissioning of Spaccio’s gang’s vile films. As the two speak of the motivations that drive them to order and watch such material, Barabba’s vengeance unfolds – before it becomes obvious that Mungus60 has a certain kind of revenge on his mind, also…

Infidus is a very different beast in comparison to the previous sci-fi/horror splatter funhouses offered previously by director De Santi and the Necrostorm studio. Largely gone are the wild visuals, inventive excess and moments of stylish flair (though look out for an incredibly messy car accident which is obviously inspired by Tarantino’s Death Proof). Instead, De Santi keeps Infidusgrounded in one of the harshest realities he possibly could have. Deprived, crime-ridden streets where life is cheap and death comes cheaper are the order of the day, presented with a casual, almost documentarian feel.

Displayed predominantly in stark black and white and boasting very little dialogue, Infidus sets an oppressive tone from the beginning – a feeling of total misery that hangs on long shots (sometimes too long) and the excellent electronic score by composer Razzaw to get its point across. Occasionally, a red filter is applied, or happier memories may move to colour – but predominantly, De Santi wallows in a world sucked dry of all pleasantry.

Infidus isn’t easy going at all… and that’s before the real violence even kicks in. Once Barabba begins stabbing eyes out of heads, burning people alive, crushing dudes with junkyard machinery, pulling heads off and ripping open stomachs with his bare hands, you’re firmly in established Necrostorm territory in terms of the displays of some seriously convincing and thoroughly well done gore. Yet, unlike in previous films, the violence here is so brutal that it’s never enjoyable – but that’s largely the point of Infidus, and it’s a point most certainly well met.

On the story and performance side, Infidus does fall flat in the presentation of its antagonists. While Il Cacciatore, the affluent individual behind the creation of the snuff films, is nicely expanded upon in the script and played with convincingly smarmy self-confidence by Domenico Vagnati, the rest of his ‘dogs’ that Barabba hunts down are little more than names on a page – and most offer little resistance to the rampaging ex-con. Moments of dialogue allow each actor to espouse what makes their character seemingly unique from the others, but they’re offered little chance to meaningfully interact or work towards true three-dimensionality.

Massimo Caratelli as Mungus60 also has little to do, yet in his position this is for thematic reasons –ultimately a tortured man turned stone cold killer by his own yearning for vengeance. He holds a strong screen presence, however, with the ability to deliver his grief and guilt through expression.

Leading man Mino Bonini (who fans of the studio may recognise as the chainsaw-wielding henchman from the latter stages of Hotel Inferno) carries a true sense of unspoken weight and weariness with him to the screen. Even given the relative lack of dialogue, he pulls it off in admirable style – you don’t doubt for one minute that this is a very dangerous guy with something in him that he’s desperately trying to control. And even if the script doesn’t allow for a truly emotional relationship to be convincingly realised between Barabba and his brother, Bonini works some of kind of magic alongside De Santi to generate a sense of gravitas in what he ultimately feels he has to do – something which, in lesser hands, would otherwise have been completely absent.

There’s no catharsis to be had in Infidus; no satisfaction to be discovered in revenge and the visitation of violence on others – no matter how righteous the motive may be. While it may not pluck on the emotional strings, on an individual character basis, as much as it hopes to, the message is clear. This is a film that is relentlessly grim, uncomfortable, and uncompromising. Make no mistake – Infidus is not for the casual splatter fan. This is harsh stuff for which only the strongest of stomach and sensibility need apply; a ruthless, expressionistic and challenging experience that isn’t easily forgotten.

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