King of the Avenue (2010) User Reviews

Would you sell your soul to be 'king' ?

[TheCornProject · 3/10 · 21 October 2010]

Have you ever wanted to be the best at something but always knew you never would be? What would you do in order to achieve the success & recognition that you think you deserve? These are the questions that are about to plague Taz (Simon Rex); an ambitious young, but slightly egotistical drug baron who is walking in the footsteps of his once kingpin father, Norman (Ving Rhames). Taz lives somewhat of a double life peddling his dope, women & money on the side whilst trying to maintain a family man facade. The biggest problem in Taz's life right now is Dunnie Jnr. (Cesar Ferriat), the current "king of the avenue" (or in other words-leader of the gang). He is the only man standing between him & what he refers to as his "birthright". Anyway one night, Taz wakes up to see the Devil seated before him. The Devil tells him that Dunnie Jnr. is not just planning to kill him but he is also planning to murder his wife & son. The Devil then propositions Taz; let the current reality take its course or seize the opportunity to become the next 'king of the avenue' (yeah I know I should probably trademark that term) by resurrecting his dead father as a demon & ultimately damning his soul for all eternity. Let's just say, the decision he makes won't surprise you...

Anyway I need not expand on the plot anymore than that because up until that point, the film was actually a promising crime drama. I prefer to remain positive about all this but I truly find it hard to fathom why a self-respecting director would choose to turn his film into a schlocky thriller when he has already established something different & definitely more realistic in the first 25 minutes of his film? Also please don't get me started on the script (which was written by the director Ryan Combs)...it was so shockingly bad that most scenes in the latter part of the film show Ving Rhames with an undeniable smirk on his face like he can't get a bad joke out of his head! I don't see Ving Rhames as a particularly bad actor so all I can say is; he must be in this project for the cash. I also have a need mention that all the narration sequences with Simon Rex are just the repeatedly spoken thoughts of what he & all the other characters have already exchanged through their dialogue- yet another insult to the audience's intelligence!

Perhaps I have become too used to watching high-budget films that are so technically perfect that any other indie flick like this that even aspires to compare is looked at by me as inferior? However with that said I do think most people will agree with me on this point that the plot unnecessarily morphed into an abysmal mess after what was a very good introduction. Simon Rex was pretty mediocre as Taz & most of the time played a very unconvincing character through the choices he made. I can't say much for any of the other cast members because they all played such cliché crime & friend/family figures that I never really had any emotional investment in them. In total honesty I couldn't have cared less what happened in the end of this film...I was just happy to see the credits rolling!

Now with all that said & done if the Devil himself visited me right now & gave me the choice of either surrendering my soul to him or watching this film over & over again for the rest of my natural life...I would probably have to think a little harder than usual about it.

1.5/5

crazy drug dealer turns violent

[MLDinTN · 5/10 · 3 December 2011]

The movie is about drug dealer Taz, whom has a wife and family that don't know he's a drug dealer. He has a separate house and girl on the side. He wants to be King of the Avenue, like his father was before he was killed. Enter the devil that makes him an offer. He sends a demon whom needs a loved one's body to exist in, so Taz uses his father's body, Norman. So Norman comes back and all these really terrible and gory things happen to the other bosses. They meet violent ends paving the way for Taz.

Then at the end there is the twist ending. The question is: was there really a demon or was Taz committing all the murders? The film explains it in the end.

FINAL VERDICT: About the only thing the movie has going for it was some cool death scenes and blood. Plus Ving Rhames is just plain cool. Worth checking out if you can catch it on cable.

Missed Opportunity

[LeonLouisRicci · 5/10 · 12 February 2013]

This one had potential to be a quirky, unearthly combination of the supernatural and gangsters. Think Innocent Blood (1992). Even done in a low-budget hack job it could have been quite a hoot. But...

The lead actor is quite a dead-serious voice-over embarrassment and the gangsters are less than Comic-Book enticing. Only the Demon from Hell and his creepy demeanor and slaughterhouse shenanigans add any fun to this, as the family in peril backdrop subtext is weak and mishandled to the point of distraction. It has a good "Twilight Zone" twist but it doesn't save it from Indie Movie indifference.

Worth viewing for the better, brutal parts and Horror Movie splatter. However it is the smarmy child protection and the "I will not raise a punk" inclusions that stall this one from becoming an overtly outrageous display of Grindhouse gory glory.

Bad plot, even worse dialogues.

[david543210 · 1/10 · 7 June 2011]

This is one of the worst movies I have watched in the last months along with "Perfect Hideout" (which may have even been worse, because it also had a much worse plot on top of it all). At no point at all could I feel in any way connected to any character in the film or even feel anything for them. Be it love or hate. I could only feel sorry for them for having to act in such a bad movie. If you have a bit of taste, it's practically unwatchable. When Ving Rhames and his son say their "I love you"s just before or after Rhames executes some former associate of his... you can just roll your eyes at the amateur-like writing and directing. Enough is enough. Make up your own mind. But don't say I didn't warn you.

Why do Dope Dealers get Married and have kids

[marbleann · 5/10 · 11 September 2012]

This movie is not that bad. What would one expect in a movie about a dope dealer selling his soul to the devil? The Devil and Daniel Webster? But what I found in the movie was a alternating view of the oft told tale of Mephistopheles. The view is that Mephistopheles was a collector of souls of the damned. And that is exactly, I am sure not intentionally, what this movie is about. Every dope dealer who has a name is killed because the main character makes a deal to be the biggest drug dealer in his city. I find the leading actor acted like he was in a comedy. The supporting characters were way more interesting. Ving Rhames you can tell is having a ball. Who could take this move seriously? It was a DMX /Scarface redux.

The deal hinges on the soon to be King dope dealers wife and child getting killed if he does not take the deal. So he lives a double life the wife and his kids has no idea about. In any case the movie is entertaining if you like gore and shot outs. And you can suspend reality for a for a hour and a half. If not stay clear. But it is not any worse then most of the garbage out there. Just to see Ving Rhames hamming it up and having a ball.

Probably for Ving Rhames fanboys only.

[krachtm · 5/10 · 20 December 2012]

The plot: A drug dealer makes a deal with the devil to become the biggest, baddest dealer in the city.

Like everyone else, I watched this movie because of Esai Morales and Ving Rhames. Unfortunately, it's not really all that great of a movie. Still, I kind of liked it, despite it being an overt morality tale that spends much of time lecturing the viewer. It's got a certain degree of charm, I suppose. Or maybe I'm just being too forgiving, because I pity the careers of Rhames and Morales, who are actually pretty good actors. Anyway, it's a perfectly serviceable plot, and, despite some less than stellar directing, the end result is perfectly watchable. If you're looking for something other than a low budget, independent exploitation movie, I think you're going to be writing "worst movie ever!" threads in the comments.

I can't really say that this is the sort of movie that you remember, because about 30 minutes into it, I realized that I'd already seen it. That's kind of a bad sign. Still, I sat through it again, and I'm not entirely regretful. When you're a Ving Rhames fan, sometimes you have to sit through some truly awful movies, and this was not his worst.

Bad genre mix

[nogodnomasters · 4/10 · 8 May 2018]

When they mixed the supernatural with a crime movie, you sometimes get great results such as "Crow" which added the right about of sex, nudity, violence, music, and weird. Sometimes you don't get good results such as this movie. Simon Rex plays Taz, a wannbe-drug king. His dad, or step-dad, is played by the tough guy Ving Rhames, who starts out the movie as dead, comes to life in a flashback, then really comes back to life as a demon. Taz, in order to save his family from being murdered, makes a deal with the devil, (who would BTW already would have his soul) to become the new drug king of Miami. Ving as the demon goes around to eliminate the competition, although as it turns out Taz doesn't have the stomach for the job.

Blood, killing, brief sex scenes, brief nudity and not enough of anything worth while.

Not a good supernatural film, not a good crime film. The movie has us identify with a drug king who is both a bad guy and a coward. It just doesn't work well.

how did this get made

[the-sandman-978-97799 · 2/10 · 27 April 2018]

After watching what ever this was suppose to be. I thought it was a comedy of showing how to not make a film. but found out on hear it is a drama thriller, only thrill I had in this movie was the ending credits.

King of fools

[movieman_kev · 2/10 · 17 May 2012]

When Taz (Simon Rex),an adopted son of a well-known drug dealer who's staying in the family business, makes a deal with the devil, he enjoys the good life until it comes time to pay his due that is.

I sincerely don't know which was worse, the atrociously clichéd dialog or the corny overblown way said dialog was delivered. The only reason i even gave it a chance, the usual greatness of Ving Rhames, couldn't save this turkey. King of the avenue? This film would be lucky to be the jester of some worthless side street.

Eye Candy: 2 extras briefly get topless and one ass

My Grade: D

A whole lot of fun!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[jshermen · 10/10 · 26 October 2010]

This was one of those films that was great from start to finish. I have been a fan of Ryan Combs since the Straight out of Compton days and I have literally watched his growth from movies I found amusing, to films that I remember in my everyday life. King Of The Avenue is a fantastic character movie. You actually fell like your part of this crew of men who have one thing on there mind, becoming the king. It's fun to watch them elevate to the top crew, but really, that's when the movie starts. I know this is a independent, but I think this is one of the best roles I've seen Ving Rhames in. My girlfriend and I voted Ving Rhames as the last person we would want to run into in a dark alley, or a park on a nice summers day for that matter. Ving is awesome in this film.

Horrible!

[cdmtbrooks-70233 · 2/10 · 10 May 2020]

One of the worst movies ever made. The rating I gave was strickly for the violence!