Directed by Lucky Mckee and written by Mr. Mckee and Jack Ketchum, The Woman is a strangely odd tale about a man who finds a feral woman and decides to domesticate her....you know that old story. There is nothing usual about this story from beginning to twist filled end though, but, lets start at the beginning.
The husband of a seemingly normal family finds a dirty wild woman out in the woods while he is out hunting. So, being a normal red blooded american male he captures her and takes her home to his family...like most normal people.
Once he gets her home and adequately tied up he attempts to clean her..not something that normally merits screen time but to be fair bathing usually doesn't lose you a finger, now does it? The hero, if you can call him that, then dispenses punishment for the action to "train" her not to bite. Ok..right here, right now im gonna say its hard to review this film and not give the good parts away. The problem being that the film relies heavily on "really?...did that just happen" moments..but in light of informing my audience, I will try.
Once the Patriarch of our normal little family thinks he has the wild woman docile enough he shows his family what he has found. They, being normal people and all, also think this is just peachy.
This is the point in the movie i started to grasp the real concept behind it. This film is horror alright but more of psychological than physical. You watch a family accept more and more from a man who gives less and less. It does become hard at times to sit and watch this husband/father be an ever increasing monster. To not give too much away you will realize by the end that Jason and Freddy are a lot less scary than a sociopath that you have to call dad.
That is what this movie does well. It forces you to watch a deconstruction of a family by a monster of a man. The Woman the movie is named for is actually only the catalyst to show what he can become and what he already is. In fact, they could have used any kinda woman or person in her spot. To be completely honest this may be my biggest gripe about the film. It just seems this film could have been just as effective with him doing the same things to a hooker or school teacher..maybe even more impactful in my opinion. Oh and also if your looking for tons of blood your not gonna get it but you will get well placed blood and guts... Just saying.
That being said this film makes you feel for the characters. It is downright uncomfortable at points with the extreme actions of the males in the film. The gore is well placed and not over used. The end of this film is very twisted and begs alot of questions and i like that since this film leaves most of the characters scarred and completely broken. McKee did a good job of moving the viewer through this maze while keeping them interested and slightly uneasy.
This is not a perfect film or story, but it does make you feel dirty and ashamed and you fear for the characters... and isn't that what a good torture film is supposed to do? There may be films that do it better but honestly the psychological aspect may be done better in this film than most of this genre. In the end The Woman is one girl you should not underestimate.
originally posted by contributor David Winterborne
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