Torment: Written Review

August 6, 2018

Torment

Written Review

Hi everyone and welcome to MyIndie Review Vlog, the show that gives you spoiler-free reviews of indie films. My name is Asaf Angel from MyIndie Productions.
Today I’m going to be reviewing 2017’s feature-lenght horror, Torment, directed by Italian filmmaker and actor, Adam Ford, and produced by Domiziano Cristopharo.

Thank you guys, for sharing your work with our show.

Torment revolves around the inner world of notorious serial killer and rapist, John Wayne Gacy a.k.a. The Killer Clown.

Gacy was born on March 17th, 1942 and died by execution on May 10th, 1994 after spending 14 years on death row. He was convicted for sexually assaulting, torturing and murdering at least 33 teenage boys and young men between 1972 and 1978.

Even though the film gives its own free interpretation, it holds nothing back and gives a disturbingly unfiltered depiction of Gacy’s insane torture world.

The film focuses on Jeffery portrayed by Rikki Fiore, a young unsuspecting man, who is unfortunate enough to get caught in Gacy’s web. The killer clown commences to hideously torture and sexually assault Jeffery.

Actor Matteo De Liberato who plays Gacy gives us a completely brute and vicious character which is interesting, because even though it is easy to imagine the Killer Clown behave in that manner, no known footage of Gacy’s would ever hint by his appearance or demeanor, that he was capable of doing what he did. That means De Liberato had to interpret Gacy’s behavior from scratch.

As for Rikki Fiore, and also Marko Pielich who plays another victim of Gacy’s, usually I would say it feels like these actors went through a lot to have their performances serve the story. This time I don’t need to speculate. It is a fact that these actors went through a great deal to serve the story. You can clearly see this in the film. Director Adam Ford did not compromise and it shows. He made sure to leave as little room for the imagination as possible.

Another element I found interesting: The atrocities Jeffery experiences are so traumatic, that they penetrate his subconscious, so he is horrified even when passed-out. Ford manages to give us an inside look into the action of a madman, but also into the mind of his victim.

There is also a nod to what took place in Gacy’s actual execution, but I don’t want to say more for fear of spoiling.

It feels like Torment was made with an extremely low budget, yet great vision. Makeup and special effect were excellent and production value was decent.

To sum up, even though it sometimes feels that the film is lead by its extreme visuals, it is still a great achievement that fearlessly tackles a story in a way most haven’t seen yet on screen.

Torment gets a 7.5/10 on the Look At Me, I’m a Film Critic scale!
In case it wasn’t clear up to now. This film is not for the faint of heart. Viewer discretion is advised. Torment will soon be released to DVD and VOD, so keep an eye out for updates.