This review was original published as part of my coverage of Fantasia 2020
A nurse and a vengeful father try to survive a Halloween night home invasion in For the Sake of Vicious. Romina (Lora Burke) is a single mother and nurse, who returns home one Halloween night and finds that it was broken into by Chris (Nick Smyth), who has a hostage in the form of Romina’s landlord Alan (Colin Paradine), whom a vengeful Chris wants to admit a horrible act. However, things quickly go from bad to worse when the house is swarmed by hordes of masked maniacs.
For the Sake of Vicious is a home-invasion horror film that is a collaborative effort between writer/directors Gabriel Carrer (The Demolisher) and Reese Eveneshen (Defective). The film stars Lora Burke (Poor Agnes, Lifechanger) as a nurse named Romina, who arrives home to find a hostage situation taking place. Even though she’s initially at odds with deranged vengeful father Chris, the night soon becomes a struggle for survival when masked killers, sent in by Gerald (James Fler), swarm the house and they must become just as vicious as them to make it out alive.
Even though For the Sake of Vicious has a basic story that moves the plot forward, the film is more about the escalating mayhem, which includes some very bloody violence. With the use practical effects and a team of stunt actors as the masked villains, For the Sake of Vicious is pretty much non-stop action after the initial set-up, with an apt description of the film being “You’re Next meets The Raid.” While the film could have used a little bit more story development, For the Sake of Vicious is still worth checking out.