User Reviews

Bianca (Holly) and Lawrence (Shay) turn in very decent acting turns as the jaded pro looking for her exit from the business and the naive, young girl from the sticks thrust onto the street, respectively. They make the most of a basically unbelievable plot that relies far too much on outrageous coincidence to move the story along.

Example One: Holly's controlling, abusive boyfriend just happens to pick her last night in town to suggest they leave it all behind, just happens to ask her where she'd go if she had no limits, and this supposedly streetwise pro who's leaving him behind just happens to be stupid enough to tell him precisely where she's headed.

Example Two: Holly's last trick before leaving is a dual job, needing a brunette, but her normal partner just happens to slip in the shower just before Holly shows up at her flat and is unconscious (dead?) when Holly arrives. Holly leaves and her cabbie just happens to nearly run down Shay, who just happens to be brunette, just happens to be a prostitute and just happens to be in town for her first night on the street.

And the most unbelievable part is that Holly is even considering turning the trick in the first place! A fellow pro gifts her with a wad of cash as a going away present in the previous scene and she's leaving in only a few hours, so that trick is wholly unnecessary ... but she takes it anyway.

Suspension of disbelief was nearly impossible for me with this script.

The movie is further hampered by the cartoonish supporting characters. The male antagonists are little more than brutes with suits, with Docker (Ligurian), Holly's erstwhile boyfriend, providing the emotional menace in the beginning and Phillips (Bennett) providing the physical menace for the latter half. Both are bad cops, but we never find out why, never get any context for their clearly violent natures, and are left with two dimensional caricatures to work with.

After witnessing Bennett senselessly off their john over a drug transaction that actually went well, the two women flee. With more unbelievable coincidences at his disposal, Bennett successfully tracks them down in a city of half a million people, and the latter half of the film is him chasing the women from scene to scene, ineffectually, while absorbing a truly unbelievable amount of punishment in the process. Just once I'd like to see someone get hit by a car and not walk away.

The rest of the cast seem to be there for one purpose only, to illustrate over and over precisely how naive Shay is. We see an awkward moment with a john, an awkward moment with a competitor and her pimp, a couple of awkward moments with a street kid who fleeces her, and an awkward moment with a couple of junkies. This is just plain old ham-fisted directing. Lawrence's facial expressions and body language told us that her character was a hick from the sticks in her first scene. The rest was just superfluous.

In the end, the film was enjoyable, however plasticine it ultimate turned out to be, but mostly because the female leads are stunning and spend at least part of the movie unclothed. The growing friendship is clearly the only deep part of the entire movie.

Synopsis? It's a moderately exciting thriller, with a couple of very decent actresses succeeding despite a bad script and some average directing.

We all remember Stanley Kubrick's A Clockwork Orange (1971) or Michael Haneke's Funny Games (1997) for example, well Jon Hewitt is following in large footsteps ...

He's made a short, sharp and edgy thriller that's as effective and engaging as his Red Ball (1999), which was set in the world of corrupt cops. He has retained some of those elements but the central characters are two women, a 30 year old call girl hoping to start a new life and a 17 year old out of towner also hoping to start a new life, they meet on the streets of Kings Cross where fate awaits them in a hotel room. Viva Bianca is vivacious as the blonde Holly Rowe, a proud and determined woman who knows how to handle herself after 15 years as a hooker. Hanna Mangan Lawrence plays the homeless and broke Shay, a vulnerable newcomer dazed and confused by what she's got herself into.

Characterisations are sufficient for the genre and the technicals are all excellent. Special mention to David Franzke and Byron Joel Scullin for the terrific sound & music scape. The screenplay links the story points with an authenticity that's satisfying and the thrills are well orchestrated, including a couple of street fights, a chase or two and some dramatic confrontations - as well as a surprise or two, It all comes together terrifically in a film that while blessed with more than a couple loose ends, still offers a stunning visual and emotional roller-coaster ride. It takes a while getting started and seems to follow a particular formula until—BANG! —a gunshot changes everything.

X is a mostly-satisfying genre thriller.

My RaTiNg- 7/10!!!

The moral of X seems to be that there is no hope, everyone is bad, you are going to get beat up or killed, you'll have to sell your body for a living, so you might as well disappear. A seventeen year old girl who runs away after her mother dies presumably from a heroin overdose, comes to the big city and by chance meets a high class call girl who is desperate to find a brunette to participate with her in a three way. The gig goes horribly wrong however, when a dirty cop shows up and for no explained reason whatsoever, kills the john and then pointlessly spends the rest of the movie hunting down and beating up the two hookers who witnessed it, even though they are less than likely to report him anyway. The call girl happens to be involved with another cop who wants to take her away from all of that, but of course she doesn't want to go, and the young girl meets a handsome and kind taxi driver / magician who wants to be her boyfriend, but of course she chooses to remain on the streets instead and give out hand jobs for fifty dollars a pop. Nothing in the film X makes any sense and there really isn't any plot other than a crazy cop repeatedly catching the girls, beating them up only to have them escape on him again. The sex scenes aren't sexy. All the men save for the taxi driver are disgusting. X didn't invoke a single emotion in me (unless feeling depressed or feeling hopelessness are considered emotions) but it sure made me yawn. Maybe there should be a warning on the label of the video that it may inspire suicide.

30-ish Holly is looking to get out of prostitution: she has a menacing boyfriend. 17 year old Shay is starting out as a prostitute but isn't really suited to it. They end up in a threesome with a client who is killed by a bent cop, following which they end up on the run.

There are some good things about this Australian film, Holly and Shay are played by Hanna Mangan Lawrence and the exotically named Viva Bianca(both from the Spartacus TV series) and both young ladies are a) very attractive and b) scantily clad (or less) from time to time. And the thing is directed with a sense of style: what appears on screen has clearly had some thought given to it.

Unfortunately, it is very slow to get going, founded on coincidence and improbability, and the action frequently slows to a dead stop. Despite tolerable performances, I didn't believe it for an instant, and I was frequently bored.

"X: Night of Vengeance" is about two prostitutes, Holly Rowe (Viva Bianca) and Shay Ryan (Hanna Manhan Lawrence), who inadvertently put their lives in dangers when they witness their client being shot by a cop. What follows is a series of chases throughout the criminal underworld.

This film does have its moments. In the beginning, there is an effective scene with Shay in a bathroom with blue lighting. That scene was probably meant to underscore the vulnerability of a poverty-stricken prostitute in a hostile underworld where women are dehumanized to the point where they become pieces of meat. Another great moment, at the beginning, has the camera linger upon Viva Bianca's Holly so that we ask ourselves what she is thinking and feeling.

Yet, on the other hand, the scenes of prostitution, violence, and drug use are so aggressively unpleasant that they have the effect of pushing you away rather than trying to involve you in the lives of their characters. Watching "X" was truly a depressing and sometimes boring experience, because there is nothing redeemable about this picture. "X" did not need a happy ending, but it did require compelling human stories to fill the void created by the emptiness and coldness of its underworld environment. This film's failings demonstrate the difference between great films, like the "Exorcist," "Hotel Rwanda," and "The Last King of Scotland," and sub-par horror films like Salo, Friday 13th series, and Hostel. All these films depict horrific subject matter, but some of them have characters with great depth and humanity. As a result, we are willing to stay with these characters on their harrowing journey, even when their lives are a living hell. When compelling human stories such as these are absent from a movie, all that is left is the violence, the blood, and the drug use. Some people like these things for their own sake, but for me a film has to be a lot more than just its aggressively unpleasant subject matter.

Jon Hewitt's latest drama is a confronting, hard-hitting erotic thriller set in Sydney's vice ridden King's Cross red light district. Shay (newcomer Hanna Mangan Lawrence) is a naïve 17-year old who arrives in Sydney from a small country town and quickly tries to earn a living as a street prostitute. She is taken under the wing of Holly (Viva Bianca, from TV series Spartacus, etc), a veteran high-class escort who wants to leave this world behind and start afresh. But when the pair witness a drug deal gone wrong and a brutal murder they find themselves on the run from Bennett (Stephen Phillips), a corrupt cop. Their desperate flight takes them on a frantic journey through seedy strip clubs and dingy back alleys. X is an unashamed and clichéd genre piece, and while not particularly original, it still delivers some strong action sequences. There is enough casual nudity and brutal violence here to satisfy jaded palates. Hewitt has actually filmed on location in King's Cross itself during the night, and Mark Pugh's cinematography lends a sleazy authenticity to the drama. Hewitt is a dab hand with exploitation movies and pulp dramas, and his direction is full on. Cindy Clarkson's rapid-style editing brings a kinetic energy to the material. X is familiar territory for Hewitt, whose films like Red Ball have also delved into a murky and violent world of corruption and murder. Hewitt has created a pair of strong female roles, and both Bianca and Lawrence deliver brave, physical performances.

When you sit down to watch a film which doesn't shy away from the fact that it's basically nothing more than soft core porn, you'd be well credulous to expect anything approaching a decent screenplay, remotely believable dialogue or convincing acting. X doesn't provide any surprises here. What you may expect however, is an oversupply of nudity and some good old fashioned sex scenes that provided all those awkward moments watching 80s movies with your dad. If that's why you decided to watch this film, and let's be real, what other reason could there be, prep yourself for an 90 minutes of repeated disappointment. Now I may be completely wrong on this one, but I was under the impression that sex with a prostitute normally involves the lass taking her clothes off. Not so, for the working girls of this version of Sydney.

Yet somehow, this film was captivatingly watchable. I'll put it down to brave casting decisions - a blonde, early 20 something model acting as a Sydney cabbie, and the surprising invincibility of the villain cop who seemingly laughs off bashings to the head and getting run over at speed by a Holden.

Speaking of Holdens - Big ups to the special effects team, who managed to transform the single commodore from cop car, to cab, to second cop car and back to cab without anybody realizing it's the exact same car. Though you can't help wonder if some of the budget could have been diverted away from semi nude stripper extras, and toward maybe renting a hire car or two.

Overall, it's like watching a lesson in how not to make a movie.

An Australian plunge into the worlds of prostitution and police corruption, X isn't nearly as erotic as you might think because co-writer/director Jon Hewitt shies away from sensationalizing the subject matter. Oh, there's a good bit of nudity, some sex scenes and violence, but most of that stuff is either de-romanticized or Hewitt deliberately tries to play down its prurient appeal. In the most straight forward sex scene in the film, the only nudity is a couple of ganders at a flaccid male member. Not the most titillating of images by anyone's standard. And the violence is of the sudden kind that actually looks like it hurts. Hewitt undeniably wanted to make the least arousing flick he could. He largely succeeded, but the lack of distraction only makes the weaknesses in his story easier to see. Still, he's got three pretty strong performances and a story that throws a few unpredictable turns at the audience. That's not nothing.

Holly (Viva Blanca) is a well-practiced call girl who's decided she's leaving the business to remake herself in Paris. She's going abandon everything from her old life, especially her creepily intense client/boyfriend Michael (Peter Docker). But on her last night before departing, she takes a job for a threesome at a hotel. All of her usual partners are indisposed, so Holly turns to a young girl she literally runs into on the street. Shay (Hanna Mangan Lawrence) is a 17 year old girl fresh in the city from an unhappy family life and has just gotten a taste of the degradation of handjobbing old men in cars for money and the dangers of existence on the street. Holly needs the help. Shay needs the money. So they sex up this guy, only to then witness his murder. On the run from the killer, Holly and Shay are forced to use every resource they have to stay alive and hope doing so doesn't ruin their chances of having that life be better than it currently is.

Though the plot of X depends on a few coincidences, it's fairly solid and involving. The acting of Hanna Mangan Lawrence, Peter Docker and Stephen Phillips as the killer is affecting. Lawrence creates a center of neediness in Shay that she nevertheless puts to use by trying to manipulate people through her own weakness. Docker is believably off kilter and Phillips lets the passions of his character spill over everything he does. It's harder to judge the work of Viva Blanca. She's playing a jaded, hardened woman who isn't naturally sympathetic, but I'm not sure if the emotional indifference felt toward Holly is intentional or the result of poor acting. Holly isn't unlikable. She's like a beautiful handbag that's a cheap knock off so you don't care if you lose it.

The major obstacle to X being a good film is that the last half of it hangs entirely on the threat of the killer who's after Holly and Shay. The first time he catches up to Holly, however, she beats the snot out of him. I don't mean she tricks him or surprises him or takes advantage of some fluke circumstance. Holly punches the killer in the throat, kicks him while he's down and then beats him senseless with her carry on luggage. It's kind of hard to take the killer seriously as a menace after that. I know it's all feminist and "grrl power" and stuff for Holly to be able to physically defend herself. In this sort of story, though, that lessens the danger she faces. If she can kick the guy's ass, why does she need to flee from him in fear? And when, later on, the killer and Michael comes to blows, what is the viewer supposed to think when Michael puts up a worse showing than Holly?

X isn't a bad motion picture. It simply isn't smartly written enough to stand being an non-exploitative as it is. It needed to be a little trashier, a little sexier, to be good. Your mileage may vary, of course.

Holly Rowe (Viva Bianca) a call girl has saved up enough money for retirement. She is getting ready to go to Paris. Michael, one of Holly's Johns is a married man who has an unhealthy attachment for her. He wants to run away with her to Paris.

Meanwhile Shay (Hanna Mangan Lawrence) is the new girl on the block making money by giving hand jobs to old men while talking dirty (I couldn't believe that is what old men always request from young girls.) Shay doesn't have a pimp to "protect" her. She has been stepping on the other girl's territory without paying her dues.

Holly has a big score and needs a second girl. All the other girls are busy. That is when she runs into Shay (literally) in the street. She takes Shay under her wing. Of course nothing goes as planned and the working girls witness a murder. They are on the run because...? Prostitutes make for credible witnesses and always run to the cops when they see a crime. The movie becomes a game of cat and mouse with some minor unoriginal twists.

What we learned is that all Johns are creepy men who want kinky sex, all prostitutes are reluctant victims, and cars in Australia don't have front air bags. The acting was good. The script was bland.

Nudity (male and female, Viva Bianca,Hanna Mangan Lawrence, Belinda McClory), sex, f-bomb.

Start of the movie look promising with a bit of suspense until halfway through when the "cop" shot his business partner. From then onwards, it was downhill as good actors try their very best to play roles that were just not fitting the storyline of the film. Could have been better if the "cop" didn't know one of the ladies and had to do some real investigative work to uncover them but it wasn't to be and that spoiled the movie in the end. Knowing one of the ladies ended the film for me, because it meant there was nothing else to happen. Nevertheless, it wasn't bad for a budget film but could have been better with a bit of research on intriguing scenes. The actors in my view were all great just the story line let them down.