Vindicta (2023)

Director: Sean McNamara

Starring: Elena Kampouris, Sean Astin, Daniel Cudmore

When a city is terrorized by a sadistic serial killer, a seasoned detective and a newly recruited paramedic discover the key to stopping the bloodshed lies in unlocking the truth of their own haunted pasts.

While the city is in chaos with riots, protests and vandalism, a mysterious killer with a face mask resembling Michaelangelo’s David terrorizes the city. He brutally kills his victims and leaves Latin graffiti at every crime scene.

Meanwhile, Lou (Elena Kampouris) – a fire paramedic – is ready for her first day out on the job, partnering with Jason (Jaime M. Callica), who has been on the force for 15 years. While the killings appear to be random at first, there are a few twists as the film develops. David made for a creepy and memorable villain.

Yes, this is a slasher movie, but there’s more to it than meets the eye. This is a vengeance movie, and told from the perspective of a victim turned villain. I found this approach rather interesting. Still, be prepared for a few disturbing and grotesque scenes.

There are several issues, though, and the biggest and most obvious is probably the killer’s reveal video. How did he get all this footage? Who filmed it? Some of the events fell into place far too perfectly to David’s advantage, and wasn’t always believable. Nevertheless, it is still a good turn of events which justifies the killer’s actions (to a certain extent, off course).

‘Vindicta’ has a ‘Scream/Halloween’ feel to it. Although by no means a perfect movie, I rather enjoyed it and predict it will become a cult classic.

Would I watch it again? Yes, I will.