Made in 1987 with a very limited release it looked like the movie RETRIBUTION would fall by the wayside, making its way straight to video like so many other horror titles. Also like so many of those straight to video titles the film began to develop a following of fans who watched it repeatedly. Now it’s getting a special release from Severin and treated with respect.
Its Halloween night and kids are trick or treating and walking around the neighborhoods. But the most frightening thing to walk the earth that night is death and it arrives at the doorstep of two individuals. One is Vito Minelli (Mike Muscat), a small time mobster and gangster in debt to the mob who kill him over unpaid debts. The other is more complicated.
George Miller (Dennis Lipscomb) is a struggling artist. Unable to cope with life he is standing on the edge of the roof of the building he lives in. A crowd gathers, police show and he jumps. Unlike Vito he survives his encounter with death.
George goes through a painful and time involved rehab. In his case his body is working to repair itself. But it is also his mind that needs aid. He gets better physically but continues to have nightmares. These bad dreams that plague him involve mobsters and death. His psychiatrist Jennifer Curtis (Leslie Wing) feels that he has recovered enough to go home but still stay in touch with her.
George returns to his room at the Don Hotel and resumes working or at least trying to. At night the dreams continue and he begins to think there is more reality that dream to them. He walks the streets at night and then can’t remember where he was. When he wakes the next morning to read the newspaper he sees a murder has taken place, a murder he saw in his nightmares the night before.
While Dr. Curtis thinks this is just a coincidence George thinks it’s more. As the violent nightmares continue and as we, the viewer, see that there is indeed something going on within George it isn’t long before we realize that when George and Vito technically died that night, Vito made his way into George. And now he’s using George to exact revenge on those who did him wrong.
The question becomes can George overcome Vito? Can he find love in the romance he strikes up with Angel (Suzanne Snyder), the street walker who takes an interest in him? Will Dr. Curtis be forced to admit that this isn’t all in George’s head? Or is it?
The 1980s saw a surge in horror films that tied in directly to the video market. That this one came and went only to be discovered in that format isn’t surprising. Most theaters weren’t that interested in these kind of films and spent little to promote them. But the young people who scoured shelves at the local mom and pop video store found these movies and loved them. As they grew into adults they looked for them first on tape and then on disc. Those looking for this one could do no better than the release of the film from Severin.
Severin is one of those boutique companies that finds a film like this and gives it loving care, making the release to disc as fantastic as possible. In the case of RETRIBUTION they are releasing it in a newly scanned 2 k version from recently discovered pre-print elements with over 2 hours of all new special features. These include two versions of the film (the theatrical cut and the extended Dutch video release version), an audio commentary track with co-writer/director Guy Magar, “Writing Wrongs” an interview with co-writer Lee Wasserman, “Shock Therapy” an interview with actress Leslie Wing, “Angel’s Heart” an interview with actress Suzanne Snyder, “Santa Maria, Mother of God, Help Me!” an interview with actor Mike Muscat, “Settling the Score” an interview with soundtrack composer Alan Howarth, “Visions of Vengeance” an interview with special effects artists John Eggett, “The Art of Getting Even” an interview with artists Barry Fahr, “Living in Oblivion” and interview with production designer Robb Wilson King, “BINGO” a student short by Guy Magar with optional director commentary, the trailer, a stills and poster gallery, reversible artwork and as a bonus a CD soundtrack. Not bad for a movie made 35 years ago and releases on a limited scale.
I enjoyed the movie and thought it
was one of the more creative films to come from this era of horror. The
performances were better than most, especially Lipscomb in the lead role. The
photography is well done, the sets perfect and believable and the direction
very well done, even more so when you consider this was Magar’s first feature
film. This may have been one you missed over the years but what better time
than with this release to check it out. A must see for horror fans.
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