As a general rule vigilante films aren't especially my cup of tea. Ordinary men turned heroes, above and beyond the law, striking down all and sundry criminals, I tend to baulk at the amorality of it all. Still I can get behind a loopy trash picture about as much as anyone and Cellat succeeds amply in that department while ripping off Death Wish in apparently slavish fashion. I've not seen Death Wish in some eight odd years so its hard for me to especially link the two films, except that I do remember Death Wish getting pretty dull in its final block, which certainly isn't the case here. Everything about the plotting here is familiar, but the film twists it around into odd and interesting shapes, its certainly inept in a lot of places but its weird as well, and funny, sometimes intentionally and sometimes not but in some surprising places pretty rib-tickling in a "What on Earth am I watching?" kinda way. For instance, anything not use of is stripped from the original so that the finale can have our hero Orhan setting out in search of serious vengeance, which he does in sadistic fashion more suited to Italian films of the era than the common American fare. Only problem is, the ambition some way outstrips the budget and expertise, so once effective wince maker moment aside the finale is more the stuff of grotesque comedy. The villains are straightforward figures of fun when they first appear, but switch to psycho rapists in the blink of an eye, this might have worked but even as brutes they act like idiots, like clothed apes parodying human villainy. The violation itself is played as mean spirited rough and tumble rather than truly brutal, but still succeeds in off key unsettlement, editing is abrupt but appropriate while sound effects editing cheerfully mixes comical ineptitude with surprising competence. A good number of bloody squibs are used on villains, and their jerking flails when shot have unexpected impact, there's a good body-count too and the film is rather fun when it gets moving, yet never reaches above basic entertainment despite patches of excitement and stylish photography. I guess that's the genre working on me, repetitive stuff that doesn't distinguish itself until the final 20 minutes but still reasonable, with a big help coming from fine moustachioed Serdhar Gorkhan as our hero. He has a good grim faced presence, exuding authority and a charisma that really makes you want him to succeed, pulls of some tearing emotional scenes as well. I could have done with more intensity and certainly more nudity and twisted behaviour, though there is a little the film is kind of a let down in that department. Still I had a good time here and if a Turkish rip off of Death Wish sounds like your cup of tea, you might well do also.
