Drive Angry Review

Imagine that you’re a murderer, and imagine that, for your crimes, you’ve been sent to the harshest prison of them all- That’s right- Hell. An evil place, where one hears the screams of the wicked, as they are being punished- not with whippings as the Bible might tell you, but by watching their Loved Ones suffer, and there’s nothing that they can do to stop it. Now imagine that you’ve been put into a cell, and all you see is your beloved daughter, as she suffers, first from loosing you, and then getting abused by the leader of this Satanic Cult, with the abuse eventually leading up to her murder, and the kidnapping of your granddaughter, whom the Cult Leader plans to sacrifice to bring Hell on Earth. Makes you angry enough to bust out of the place, and go on a killing spree to save all that’s left of your daughter. That’s the case in this 2011 film, Drive Angry, produced by Michael De Luca, staring Nicholas Cage as John Milton (our Undead Murderer), Amber Heard as Piper (a Waitress who joins John), William Fichtner as The Accountant (Hell’s Bounty Hunter), and Billy Burke as Jonah King (The Satanic Cult Leader).

John Milton was a murderer who was sent to Hell for his crimes. After the brutal murder of his daughter, as well as the kidnapping of his granddaughter, John has busted out of Hell with two goals; Rescue his granddaughter, and to kill Jonah King, the man who has made John’s time in Hell unbearable. Along the way, John meets up with Piper, an ex-waitress with an abusive ex-boyfriend, both of which she has just left (the job and the boyfriend). Since the young woman is going to Florida, John asks, after beating the crap out of her abusive boyfriend, if he can come along with her, as he has business in Louisiana. Along the way, Piper hears a news story involving a slain couple, their missing baby, and their connection to a Satanic cult. After a shootout with several members of the cult, during which, two police officers are killed, as the police had fired upon John and Piper, John admits to Piper that he’s an escaped murderer and that, more importantly, the slain woman was his daughter, and that the missing girl was his granddaughter.

The pair also has an encounter with a man known as the Accountant- simply put, he’s Hell’s Bounty Hunter, and it’s his job to send John back to Hell, and he’ll kill anyone who gets in his way. Thankfully, it seems that John stole a very special gun during his escape- The God Killer- get hit by this beast, and your soul is destroyed, with no Heaven, or Hell, awaiting you. The Accountant then follows John to another shootout with the cult, and figures out why John is after them, and thus decides to help out John, in his own fashion. Eventually, John meets up with the cult at the Sacrificial Site, an abandoned prison, and he and Piper have an encounter with The Accountant again, who reveals that Satan is just a Warden of a rather large prison, and that he’s against the sacrifice of children in his name, and thus allows the final rampage.

Now, this film has a number of things going for it. The relationship between John and Piper is that of a Father-Daughter one, with John trying to protect Piper from danger, despite the fact that the woman is willing to rush headlong into it, in order to save John’s granddaughter. Then there’s Jonah- he believes that he can bring Hell to Earth, and he does, in the forms of John Milton and the Accountant. There’s also a number of interconnected stories that just tie into the story.

Now, this film is full of violence, harsh language, nudity, blood and gore, and such, with 40+ people getting killed- so if you decide to watch this movie, keep the kids away- have them watch “Once Upon a Forest”- a nice little film where a bunch of forest creatures try to save a sick friend- just the thing for kids- while you watch this R-rated film.

Over all, it’s a good movie, with very little being wasted. The film starts with Action, and ends with Meat Loaf playing “Alive”. I first saw this movie on the Sci-Fi channel, and I have since borrowed it several times from the library. I hope to buy it someday, and scare some people with it.

WC 755

Update - I now own the film.