The Eleventh Aggression Doesn’t Reinvent the Wheel and Doesn’t Have To
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The Eleventh Aggression works because it knows exactly what it is. It’s not perfect, but sometimes you don’t have to break the mold to be interesting.
Written by James “Crypticpsych” Lasome
June 6, 2011
Movie Trailer
Image Gallery
Release: 2009 (Festivals), June 28, 2011 (US DVD)
Directed by: Charles Peterson
Written by: Charles Peterson (Story and Screenplay), Elias Castillo (Screenplay), and Jose Rosete (Screenplay)
Starring:
Patrick Adam as Det. Davidson
Lanny Rethaber as Det. Garret
Amy Searcy as Alice
Steve Furedy as Jeffrey Walters
The Eleventh Aggression begins with what is one of the more arresting first few images I’ve ever seen in a film. A woman has been tied upside down between two trees, in broad daylight, by a hulking, scummy looking man (Furedy). Claiming that she’d cheated on him, he promptly cuts open her pants and pours drain cleaner… into her. When the cops later discover the grisly aftermath, they’re stunned by the horrific act and have very little to go on.
The two detectives assigned to the case could not be more different. Det. Garret (Rethaber), who usually isn’t put on murder cases, acts by-the-book and has a devoted wife. Det. Davidson (Adam), on the other hand, is brash, short-fused, and usually finds himself in bed with a different woman every night. Garret’s reluctant purpose in this situation is to evaluate Davidson and keep him in line while hunting for the killer. However, as the body count beings to rise and the killer’s actions get more sick and sadistic, the detectives may have to sacrifice more than they bargained for to get justice, and they may never be the same again.
It would be impossible for me to review The Eleventh Aggression without saying something up front: this film is not Seven though it may want to be. It has a lot in common with that film but it is nowhere near as good. Both films have killers murdering and claiming their reasons are for some form of vengeance, have a couple of mismatched cops investigating and have the killer causing massive problems in the hero’s personal lives. Just because the story is similar to that popular film, however, doesn’t mean The Eleventh Aggression doesn’t work.
The Eleventh Aggression’s biggest asset is that it starts from that proven, archetypal story and then goes in a few unique directions. The detectives have interesting character arcs, as if they are a little unstable in mood. The grisly kills are suitably uncomfortable, dark, and mean-spirited (even if the viewer doesn’t always see the gory details as they happen). The movie also is, in general, passably done on a technical level. The visuals, while not crystal clear, are thankfully not galling. More importantly, the sound is pretty much perfectly synced with the video, which is apparently far harder to do than it seems given some of the films I’ve seen. All of this combines to make The Eleventh Aggression a quite effective and watchable, though standard, thriller.
There are a few problems with the film, though. First, there are moments where the low-budget really shows through. My personal favorite is an early moment where the detectives head to the lab to see if the first victim has been raped. The problem is that it’s abundantly clear that there is no possible way they’re in the same room with the lab tech! Next, while the characters are interesting and engaging, there are still issues with them. For instance, Det. Davidson is initially so far unhinged and rogue that it stretches the limits of believability that he’s even employed by the police force. Alice, his sort of-kind-of love interest played by Amy Searcy, also never really develops beyond the characteristics of Helena Bonham-Carter’s character in Fight Club. Finally, while the villain is sinister enough, he’s also a little too unintentionally funny. His performance is a bit too far over-the-top, and his “war veteran” past and attire kind of lead to unwelcome visual comparisons to a certain The Big Lebowski character. Also, speaking of that “veteran” past, The Eleventh Aggression has an interesting angle in it about the treatment of returning war veterans and the horrors of war that, while unique, doesn’t exactly seem necessary in this story.
Overall, though, The Eleventh Aggression overcomes those flaws to be an entertaining crime thriller story. It’s raised above the rest of the pack by the brutality and nihilism of its kills and interesting character arcs. However, it also slips up on mild other character issues and unavoidable comparisons to a much better film. Still, it’s definitely a well-done indie effectively telling a well-known story and is definitely worth a look.
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