'The Tortured'
(Erika Christensen, Jesse Metcalfe, Bill Lippincott, et al / R / 84 mins / IFC Films)
Overview: An upper-middle-class couple's life is destroyed when their only child is kidnapped and killed. Obsessed with revenge, the couple seizes an opportunity to kidnap the killer.
Verdict: In Rutland Country, a six year-old boy, Benjamin Michael Landry is kidnapped by a psychopath from his front yard. His father, Craig (Jesse Metcalfe) who had left him the yard playing for 2 minutes is too late to stop the kidnap. And, very quickly we discover the boy is found dead, the police discovering that John Kozlowski (Bill Moseley) had been the one who abducted and killed Benjamin.
With a jury finding Kozlowski guilty but instead of giving him life without parole, given that he named names of the other children he had killed too, laying down 25 years to life is what was bargained out. What with the verdict nor her husband's act of leaving their child alone outside that fateful day sitting well with Craig's wife Elise (Erika Christensen), soon they hatch a revenge plan against the evil child killer.
From the producers of the 'Saw' movies, 'The Tortured' (a title that reflects the state of mind left to those involved in such a crime and what happens for the remainder of the movie to their victim) might seem a run of the mill pain-inflicted revenge movie - but it is far from such a thing come the final credits. When Elise and Craig execute their own kidnap plan against Kozlowski it is one that defy's belief re: could it be as easy as that, but the smoothness of what follows is born out of true devotion to the cause at hand.
With Craig being an EMT knowing exactly how to inflict pain to the child killer without klling him instantly is the highlight of his day. But the way the torture scenes play out, and yes there are many differing versions of them, it's hard to see where the line between sanely motivated and twisted psychopath is drawn.
Filmed in 2009, and with a horror-type movie poster art work that completely detracts from the true nature of this suspenseful film, 'The Tortured' showcases an at times brilliantly conflicted performance from Christensen. Come the end, well, not to give anything away, but you will 100% not guess the breathtaking twist ending, I promise you.