I grew up loving monster movies. I absolutely adore creature features. Chances are if a movie has monsters I’ll probably love it. I also really enjoy seige films. A Hard Place piqued my interest because it combined these elements into one film.
Read on for my thoughts on A Hard Place.
Synopsis
A group of criminals on the run find themselves caught in the middle of an ancient feud between the monsters that roam the day and the creatures that rule the night.
A Hard Place was directed by J. Horton (Craving) from a script he wrote with Michael Epstein (Bite School 2: Bite Squad). The film stars Felissa Rose (Sleepaway Camp), Lynn Lowry (The Crazies), Rachel Amanda Bryant (16 Bits), Kevin Caliber (Live Laugh Die), Ashley Undercuffler (Alone in the Night), Jennifer Stone (Dr. Gift), Scott Alan Ward (Air Fryer Slaughter), Glenn Plummer (Saw 2), Sadie Katz (The Beast Inside) and Bai Ling (The Crow).
A Hard Place starts out with a movie within a movie, a film called AbductDead. It finds a group of people who has been abducted running afoul on a bunch of zombies. Scenes from this imaginary film is seen throughout A Hard Place. It stars Sadie Katz, Glenn Plummer and Bai Ling. I really wish this was a full movie because who doesn’t want to see Bai Ling crush zombie heads with her boot? We zoom out to a couple of people sitting in a car at the drive in watching the movie and this sets the plot of A Hard Place in motion.
The film follows a group of criminals looking for a place to lie low for awhile after a robbery but they quickly run into trouble when the person they are supposed to meet isn’t there. This turns out to be the least of their worries when a group of humanoid plant creatures called guardians start to kill them off. I really liked the look of the creatures. They have a unique design and the way of moving that is pretty creepy. They’re also very good as killing people in ridiculously bloody ways. It helps that the film has a very high body count. The death scenes and the action scenes are well staged.
I really enjoyed the wide range of characters on display here. Rachel Amanda Bryant plays Fish, who is kind of the voice of reason. Jennifer Stone plays Candy, a character you will love to hate. She doesn’t have a moral compass and if she does, it’s broken. Ashley Undercuffler plays Naja, a character who you are never sure where her loyalty lies. Felissa Rose plays Henrietta, the leader of a country family. I loved Felissa here as I feel like it’s her at her most unhinged. The film takes these characters and runs them through the ringer. They seriously go through hell. The film also has a pretty solid twist about halfway through that changes the way you think about everything that came before it.
Final Thoughts
A Hard Place is an action packed horror film with a high body count and lots of gory kills. It features a diverse cast of characters and some nice twists. Recommended.
