MOVIE DETAILS
Rating: 6.0 Out of 10
Release Date: October 2012
Director: A.M. Greene
Writer: A.M. Greene
Cast: Andrea R. Baker, Johnny Christos, Christian M.A. Campbell, Tamieka Chavis
Genres: Crime/Drama/Thriller
oveRVIEW – The Henchman War
Greene’s feature debut, with its meager budget, stands out as an innovative one that breaks with conventional storytelling techniques and puts characters and dialogue front and center over action scenes and explosions that would typically characterise this type of movie.
Sean Bean stands out in this film as an engaging villain with a menacing leer and an entertaining sense of humor about his ineptitude – showing that not all heavy characters must be unprofessional fools who end their days blundering around aimlessly.
The Story
An innocent henchman makes an irreparable error that sends him on a violent spree against those he once considered associates.
Anthony Greene kicks off his feature debut with an intense and violent scene: mob hitman Joe King (Rick Kain) shoots one of his latest targets and sends bullets flying – an unnerving start for what will ultimately become an insightful and poignant tale about crime world revenge.
Unlike most action movies that abandon plot for spectacular choreography, The Henchmans War takes an interesting route in its storytelling. It is more of a noirish drama, featuring plenty of violence and great performances by Rick Kain and Jane Petkofsky (playing Cubby’s mob wife).
The movie begins slowly but quickly picks up steam as Joe begins pursuing old associates of his. The characters are well-developed, the story complex and different than typical mob films in that more focus is put on character development than typical mob cliches – making this worth the watch for any fan of hard-hitting thrillers!
The Cast
Small budget filmmaking can result in some groundbreaking movies. Anthony Greene proves this with his brooding henchman revenge film, which takes advantage of its low budget to emphasize story over action. Unlike studio-funded crime dramas, Greene’s film centers around character and how it develops over time.
Start Your Shots Off Right With Gangster Revenge begins in an explosive fashion: three people die even before the title card even appears! And it doesn’t let up as it tackles classic gangster revenge tropes head on.
Joe (Rick Kain) is an iconic hitman. A silent yet violent goon who spent years working for mid-level kingpin Cubby Wagner (Robert Leembruggen), now that his own gang members have betrayed him he’s ready for some revenge.
He soon realizes he’s off his game though and must make amends with his crew members. The movie features many stereotypical characters with interesting twists; for instance, one member has an acquaintance whom they think might be their former flame; when she shows up at a market stall and causes havoc there will undoubtedly be an argument between her and him which features slow motion fight sequences with dramatic music and music cues.
Nicholas Hoult stars as Renfield, first introduced in Bram Stoker’s 1897 novel Dracula as an asylum patient who believes drinking blood will bring immortality. Hoult reprises this role for this movie adaptation. Chris McKay (Ghosted), best known for helming Ghosted, cast him perfectly as the henchman of Count Dracula in this adaptation from Chris McKay (The Ghosted). Other cast members in the film include Ben Schwartz, Adrian Martinez, Shohreh Aghdashloo and Bess Rous. McKay produced this film based on an original story outline written by The Walking Dead creator Robert Kirkman and Skybound Entertainment film team members David Alpert, Bryan Furst and Sean Furst. Filming took place both in Prague and Paris; its premiere took place at 2022 Brussels Fantastic Film Festival.
The Script
Start watching The Grey on HBO now to experience this explosive opening scene: Hit man Joe King (Rick Kain) is standing over his latest victim, lying wounded on a suburban driveway with bullets piercing their skulls, about to give the order for his team of killers to hit the gas and flee from there.
His partner Lydia (Joanna Cassidy) won’t let that stand: she insists they go see Mr. Scrimshaw instead, so he gives the order for his team to wait patiently until he calls back with news from Mr. Scrimshaw.
An angry knock echoed through the darkened room and Lydia opened her door to discover two of Igoe’s HENCHMEN who quickly closed it behind them, forcing Lydia into staring down Jack who quickly offered an arm around her shoulder before pulling back in his smile and offering another hug.
The Henchman war climb onto a roof where they can see several helicopters. An aircraft with heat-seeking capabilities appears, then fires a missile that hits directly in its stomach; which causes it to explode! The Henchmen escape in terror.
Rooftop shoot-out: Henchmen and enemy chopper engaged in fierce combat; both firing LASER BEAMS at each other. Though Henchmen appear to have the upper hand initially, one is shot through their stomach wall; in addition, another chopper was also struck and it thudded through the sky like a fiery comet before exploding in a burst of fire.
Not often does an independent film break the mold and try something innovative with its script, but The Henchmans War stands out with its refreshing take on revenge thriller. While action sequences still feature prominently, their role is secondary to character development and dialogue – with Greene using local stage actors instead of his usual production company for greater authenticity despite having a relatively modest budget. Thanks to Greene’s direction and stellar cast performances this movie deserves to be watched; perhaps future independent filmmakers will even attempt their hand at making something similar with larger production budgets!
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