The Tortured (2012)

6% of critics liked it
(17 reviews)
35% of users liked it
(2,179 ratings)

Craig and Elise had all the ingredients for an ideal life: a great marriage, a wonderful five-year-old son, a charming home and a bright future. Then, on one sunny day, their perfect world is irrevocably shattered . Leaving their five year old son, Ben, alone for only a moment, Craig is horrified to… More Craig and Elise had all the ingredients for an ideal life: a great marriage, a wonderful five-year-old son, a charming home and a bright future. Then, on one sunny day, their perfect world is irrevocably shattered . Leaving their five year old son, Ben, alone for only a moment, Craig is horrified to see him being abducted from their own front yard. Sadly, the desperate police search for the kidnapper proves to be in vain when the child is found dead. Months later, a chance tip leads police to the suspect's door, catching him red-handed with another victim. Although Ben's murderer is soon brought to trial, the grieving parents are stunned when his sentence is considerably reduced by a plea bargain. Together they decide to seek their own retribution, hatching a plot to kidnap the man and subject him to the same monstrous acts he perpetrated against their helpless son. -- (C) IFC

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Directed By: Robert Lieberman
Genres: Mystery & Suspense, Horror

In Theaters: Jun 15, 2012 Limited
Studio: IFC Films

Critic Reviews

Kyle Smith, New York Post
Its clichés grow slightly funny. But not funny enough to make the endless torture scenes bearable.
Jeannette Catsoulis, New York Times
[It] suggests only that ferreting out new ways to inflict pain requires more imagination than anyone on hand realized.
Elizabeth Weitzman, New York Daily News
Ugh.
Rex Reed, New York Observer
It's a revolting horror film that wastes the talents and good looks of Erika Christensen and Jesse Metcalfe in favor of severed penises and other violent atrocities performed on a kitchen table.
Joshua Rothkopf, Time Out New York
The flick gets off on surgical slicings and an overall Fincheresque gloominess, the latter becoming an unwitting joke.
Benjamin Mercer, Village Voice
Lean, nasty, and patently absurd, The Tortured plays like one long scream of agony.
Brent Simon, Shockya.com
A stupendously inane and pointless slice of revenge-based horror whose title might as well describe the audience watching it.
Todd Jorgenson, Cinemalogue.com
The title is an apropos description of audiences who sit through this inept low-budget psychological thriller, which would be considered tasteless if it weren't so incompetent.
Scott Tobias, AV Club
The torture-porn label would stick if wasn't so hard to imagine anyone getting much out of it.
Ed Gonzalez, Slant Magazine
Robert Lieberman's Perverted Justice advert spins its wheels with scene after scene impatiently cut like a montage sequence.
Brian Orndorf, BrianOrndorf.com
It's an angry picture, but that dependable sense of rage doesn't carry through to the end. Instead, the effort dissolves into a strange genre predictability.
Scott Weinberg, FEARnet
No amount of plucked-off fingernails are going to fill this empty vessel with any semblance of a point.
David Nusair, Reel Film Reviews
A serviceable genre entry that is, admittedly, destined to leave non-horror fans absolutely cold.
James Luxford, The National
a film more suited to the bottom shelf of the DVD rental store, not the multiplex.
David Nusair, About.com
...a passable horror effort that remains a marginal cut above its direct-to-video brethren.
Felix Vasquez Jr., Cinema Crazed
A sick abomination, an excuse to squeeze in an hour of torture between eighteen minutes of melodrama and schlock...
Anton Bitel, Little White Lies
while it may cover a range of thorny issues surrounding crime and punishment, few would accuse this film of subtlety... from its tell-you-how-to-feel soundtrack to its in-your-face editing....

Read all 17 critic reviews

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Featured Audience Ratings

Jeff "

Director Robert Lieberman crafts a torture porn revenge flick that has some sketchy but at times pretty decent performances. As far as the film is concerned, it's a decent low-budget horror outing that could have been so much better than what it turned out to be. There is so many… More
Director Robert Lieberman crafts a torture porn revenge flick that has some sketchy but at times pretty decent performances. As far as the film is concerned, it's a decent low-budget horror outing that could have been so much better than what it turned out to be. There is so many ways that they could have made a powerful revenge horror film with these ingredients, however there's something not quite right with the way the film was executed. If the film's script could have been rewritten a bit, and its structure been refined, then you'd have a compelling and memorable horror yarn. What you have here is a film that doesn't take enough risks, while trying g to shock as much as it can. Considering the film's premise, you'd expect something exciting, thrilling and ultimately unforgettable. The Tortured in the end is just like every other Torture Porn horror film out there. Although the film's idea is very good and interesting, there's no real pay off in the end. Overall this is a decent and at times entertaining film, but it leaves a lot to be desired out of its plot. The film doesn't do anything different or refreshing in this genre of horror, and it's clear to see that this genre has run out of ideas. If you want a great revenge flick similar to this one, but that is not a horror film, watch Law Abiding Citizen. However in the end, The Tortured is a film that is just worth seeing once, and doesn't necessitate multiple viewings.
Lady D

Compared to films such as "Saw" and "Hostel" as it is, this one is a hard film to judge. The acting from the off wasn't great and the immediate reaction here is that it's a film with pretty people in it. As the story unfolds, it really questions all… More
Compared to films such as "Saw" and "Hostel" as it is, this one is a hard film to judge. The acting from the off wasn't great and the immediate reaction here is that it's a film with pretty people in it. As the story unfolds, it really questions all parents out there, what would they do in this situation and where would you draw the line? Graphic in it's torture, it's not a film for everyone, the torture itself is pretty realistic. Like the twist though - didn't see it coming.
Daniel P

A wretched, hyper-edited, hysterical mess, put together in such a way that every artifice jumps out of the screen.

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Cast

Erika Christensen
as Elise, Elise Landry
Jesse Metcalfe
as Craig, Craig Landry
Bill Moseley
as John Kozlowski
Fulvio Cecere
as Detective Berger
Bill Lippincott
as Galligan
Thomas Greenwood
as Ben
Chelah Horsdal
as District Attorney, Liane
Aaron Pearl
as Father
Viv Leacock
as Officer Patterson
Yee Jee Tso
as Dr. Scanlan
Darryl Scheelar
as Officer Alvarez

See more (11)

The Tortured (2012)

Critic Reviews

Featured Audience Ratings

Jeff "

Lady D

Daniel P

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