Cry For The Bad Man is a low-budget, indie film that weaves a southern tale of women’s struggles, bad men, and the shotgun that keeps them at bay. Written and directed by Samuel Farmer, this harrowing heroine’s revenge thriller stars the legendary Camille Keaton of 1978’s jaw-droppingly brutal I Spit On Your Grave. Distributed by Uncork’d Entertainment (Division 19, Dolls), Cry For The Bad Man is a gritty thriller that is a great new addition to the “hell hath no fury like a woman scorned” narrative films.

After losing her husband, Marsha Kane (Camille Keaton) is left with only her daughter and her land. A rich family headed by a bullish father and his spoiled sons — Wayne (Scott Peeler), Derrek (Eric Dooley), and Bill (Mark Poppleton) — issue her a contract to change ownership after they set their sights on her land. The powerful family uses their connections in law enforcement and intimidation to persuade her to sign, but after she refuses to comply, the brothers resign to take care of her for once and for all. Over one grisly night, they find that the only way she is leaving her beloved house is “over their dead bodies”.

You don’t quite get the thrill of watching a huntress exact her revenge as you do with I Spit On Your Grave, but instead, Cry For The Bad Man plays out more like a western. Throughout the film, there were often shots that had the audience staring at the business end of a shotgun, and when the final showdown began, all the movie was missing was a tumbleweed and the theme song from The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly playing in the background. A movie that I would summarize as a Mexican standoff set in the deep south, one woman defending her homestead against 3 bandito-like brothers felt like a modern-day western.

Camille Keaton, as captivating as ever, brings her character to life as a resilient woman full of strength, qualities that harken back to her infamous role as Jennifer in I Spit On Your Grave. An expert at playing the woman scorned, Keaton’s powerful performance, in particular, carries this film. It was unfortunate that so much of the rest of her cast came off as hokey and cartoonish southern characters, but this was overcome thanks to Keaton and a well-written script. Cry For The Bad Man is not as much as a feminist yell as I Spit On Your Grave is, but it gives just as much commentary on toxic masculinity and violence against women, just in other aspects besides sexual assault, as well as touching on the persistent confederate culture of the south.

Though the acting was sometimes questionable and the movie had a lazily abrupt ending, I enjoyed the grungy, kickass rock score that drove home the badassery of this femme fatale thriller, and, it was a stroke of brilliance calling upon genre legend Camille Keaton, who brought Marsha Kane to life with a husky-voiced, steely-eyed performance. It is difficult not to compare this movie to I Spit On Your Grave, especially as there was a picture that hinted at Marsha having a backstory of being arrested in 1978, which leads me to believe that Marsha was meant to be some sort of continuation of her throwback character, Jennifer, as the original I Spit On Your Grave was released in 1978. Fans of that cult classic as well as southern-thriller lovers may particularly appreciate Cry For The Bad Man, which can be pre-ordered on Amazon and iTunes and is due for HD streaming and DVD starting May 5th, 2020.

MOVIE RATING — 6.5 out of 10 ☠️