Left for Dead (2005)

Left For Dead is a revenge thriller set in a city called Hope, where a crimelord called Kincaid rules with an iron fist. Williams, a former hitman for Kincaid is attacked and left for dead ... See full summary »

Director:

Ross Boyask

Writers:

Ross Boyask (original screenplay), Adrian Foiadelli (screenplay)

Stars:

Glenn Salvage, Andy Prior, Adam Chapman

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Glenn Salvage	...	Ben Williams
Andy Prior	...	Danny Kelso
Adam Chapman	...	Kincaid
Kevin Akehurst	...	Dylan
Adrian Foiadelli	...	Taylor
Jeremy Bailey	...	Markus
Adam Hawkins	...	Loader
P.l Hobden	...	Roarke (as P.L. Hobden)
Vicki Vilas	...	Sonya
John Rackham	...	Densmore / Narrator
Andy Scriven	...	Gibson
Paul Portinari	...	Baker
Nelson E. Ward	...	Murphey
Mark Hazelwood	...	Gerry
Alicia Grace Turrell	...	Danellia (as Alicia Turrell)

Storyline

Left For Dead is a revenge thriller set in a city called Hope, where a crimelord called Kincaid rules with an iron fist. Williams, a former hitman for Kincaid is attacked and left for dead when he tries to leave the organisation. He teams up with Kelso, a kickboxer who had his hands smashed by Kincaid, and together, they seek revenge.

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Plot Keywords:

grindhouse film | revenge | kickboxing | british | martial arts | 

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Taglines:

They thought he was dead. They were dead wrong.

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Genres:

Action | Adventure | Crime | Thriller

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Certificate:

Not Rated

Did You Know?

Trivia

The film was completely self-funded by the producer-director team of Ross Boyask and Phil Hobden

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Goofs

During the car fight, the car disappears for several shots.

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Crazy Credits

Music supervisor VV PLH is actually Vicki Vilas (Co-producer and Sonia) and Phil Hobden (Producer and actor who plays Rourke) who worked on choosing the hip hop soundtrack

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Connections

Spin-off 10,000 Cigarettes: The Making of a British Action Movie... (2004)

User Reviews

Amazing effort...

I've seen my fair share of high and low-budget martial-arts films. Hundreds in fact. Hell, I love them so much that I have written countless reviews and help moderate one of the biggest forums on the net: kung fu fandom. Left for Dead grabbed me from the get-go.

I finished Left for Dead only a few short hours ago and I had to share my thoughts on this UK indie gem. It wasn't what I expected; it turned out a lot better, in fact. I thought this was gonna be another USA type indie film which is usually a Hollywood action film with bad acting and lots of needless, badly performed drama between action scenes. But Modern Life? has surpassed my expectations and that of the industry. I love the fact that they created their own world inside the film, i.e. Hope City, Metro City. The comic book feel does wonders for the film, and they use the freedom of this sub-genre very well.

The pacing is really good too. There is nothing I hate more than drama bogging down a good action film. There are some pretty iffy wife flashbacks of Glenn Salvage, and that was as much as I could take! Believe me, the combined running time of the opening and ending fights far surpass that of most films in the genre.

I'm not sure whether the film was shot in sequence but you'll notice how the fights just keep getting more exciting by the minute! The choreography in the chaotic end fight was a lot better than the rest of the film…or was the best simply kept for last? I can already see myself returning to the end sequences on a regular basis. Of course, good fighting consists of more than having a few good moves, and I think Glenn Salvage and Andy Prior looked a lot more determined at the end, and the action seemed a bit tighter – it works out very well when it comes together. The over-the-top death scenes were a great touch, and fit into this twisted world very well. And who can look down on a film featuring not only guns and fists, but Japanese katanas too? Watch out for the brief fight between Glenn Salvage and a blond swordswoman, very impressive.

Granted a lot of the acting was horrible, but the dialogue was more than just filler. There is a speech Kincaid gives his henchmen Dylon and Taylor for instance, about the Nazis, and it works surprisingly well. Yes, the film has its fair share of rough spots in the dialogue and acting department, but you wouldn't believe how good it looks considering the budget and DV equipment origins.

Some trivia: I saw Andy Prior was reading Bey Logan's (UK author and martial artist) book Hong Kong Action Cinema in Glenn's apartment. Some influences might be Highlander (sword scraping on the roof), The Matrix and Kiss of the Dragon. But mostly the action is so energetic that I could care less about where the ideas came from.

At the very least this film is a guilty pleasure. A lot of its success lies in the fact that it doesn't try to be realistic. The creators' imaginations ran wild and in the end I have to applaud the cast and crew.

Details

Official Sites:

Official Website

Country:

UK

Release Date:

9 September 2005 (USA)

Filming Locations:

Brighton, East Sussex, England, UK

Box Office

Budget:

$200,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Modern Life, Big Cat Productions, Jimbo Entertainment

Technical Specs

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1