As Good As It Gets

The film creates a perfect balance between action and depth of basic needs, in the midst of an infertile atmosphere.

If you like to be scared, if you like to laugh, and if you like to learn a thing or two at the movies, this absolutely cannot be missed.

The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.

Let me first state that I am completely taken aback by a comment/review that states that men have nothing better to do than rape women (socially-wise) when they meet up. That's putting it in a nutshell, which is still just plain wrong on many different levels. I'm not a fan of the "genre" (if you can call it that), but this movie tries to put some other layers to the whole thing (not that they all work out perfectly, quite the opposite).But the movie has some strong points (even things I don't agree with) and takes a bit of different path as to what you would expect. It kind of mixes another factor into the whole revenge thing. Not worked out perfectly and the one thing I do wholly agree with the other reviewer is that "American Mary" is far superior. But it wouldn't be fair to judge this movie like that. The technical aspect might not be up to speed with other productions, but this is low budget, no matter how much globalization has evolved ...

'Julia' is a film, which covers the genre of rape and revenge by portraying the story through the mind of the victim. Ashley Williams delivers a stirring performance as a timid woman who is brutally attacked and finds herself trying to recover by joining a violent cult. This movie is strange but innovative which is hard to watch at times yet it's dark and disturbing atmosphere adds to the shocking nature of the story. Many people who have slated this film as a cheap rip off of 'I spit on your grave' have not understood what it is showing and how it is different. This film does not focus on revenge itself but instead on the loss of control driven by the madness and fury within the mind of the victim. The film is extremely explicit and it is meant to be so that the viewer enters the mind of 'Julia Shames' and shares in her need for revenge.

I just watched this film and came away completely surprised by it. At first I thought it was just another run of the mill horror flicks as I didn't watch any trailers and just went on the movie artwork. How wrong was I. I was so impressed by this film I logged onto IMDb hoping to see some well written reviews of this gem but to my shock Im presented with a 4.4 score!! Who is coming up with this stuff?Let me just make this simple for you, if you liked the film Drive and don't mind a bit of violence and want a strong female lead then this is the film for you.Fantastic score and visuals and a real moody vibe to the whole thing. Yeah, some scenes are a little bit unnecessary but I can totally let it off.Great flick.7/10

Newbie feature director Matt Brown clearly saw this as his "breakout" work.Other IMDb reviewers have covered the basic story arc. Sort of an "I Spit on Your Grave" #45, with long stretches of zero dialog, lots of goofy lighting, editing so frenetic you might think you imbibed a forbidden substance before viewing -- even if you did not -- and lighting that favors the dark end of the spectrum, which simply adds to the mayhem that is this very forgettable film.Not to mention that, if the film should bomb financially, it could be re-packaged as a Youtube how-to on male castration.So, since we are already knee-deep into this review (or, at least, knee-deep into SOMETHING) let's go a bit deeper.The core problem with this kind of film -- AND THIS IS IRONY AT THE HIGHEST LEVEL -- is that, if you are a film-maker with artistic aspirations, globalization (where films made in one country are intended for distribution in another) has wiped out what used to be called, in decades past, the "art house" market.Note that even Tarantino tried to point this out in his own work by trying to "bring back" the genre.So -- here is the premise of the review, please work with me on this -- even as Modern Society has become so homogenized that opportunities for archetypal rituals of male bonding have been reduced or disappeared, the entertainment biz has similarly reduced or disappeared the opportunities for a film-maker to produce something done primarily to exhibit artistic expression.To simplify: Limited male bonding opportunities in modern society (can't go to the nearest village ... and pillage) have left (sad to say) gang-rape as one of the few activities that can be attempted today. Even if the aforesaid participants did not really want to commit the act in the first place.Limited genres of commercially accepted film have left the so-called horror film as one of the only remaining genres in which a director with artistic intent can unleash that intent with any expectation of commercial success ... even if he did not actually want to make a horror film in the first place.So, the ultimate irony, you have men committing an act they did not actually want to commit (because of limited opportunities) and film-makers memorializing said act because there is no opportunity to make the film they really want to make.Alternative point of view: if you consider the above to be overkill, let me simply say this is a terrible movie and if you want to see the same theme done correctly, find a copy of American MARY.