Dead Man's Shoes (2004, UK)

For a film that’s awfully derivative (it recalls Taxi Driver, Straw Dogs, and I’ll Sleep When I’m Dead, to name just a few), Shane Meadows and Paddy Considine have crafted a taught little horror drama with Dead Man’s Shoes. Considine (who co-wrote with Meadows) stars as Richie, an ex-Special Forces soldier who returns to his small hometown to exact revenge on the local drug thugs who once terrorized his little brother. Simple enough, and Considine’s presence, his character little more than a ruthless force of will, drives the first two-thirds of the movie, leaving no need for extraneous devices or subplots. The final third loses its way a bit, and the “twist” is fairly obvious early on, but neither does much to harm the impact of the movie as a whole.

Adding to the sense of atmosphere created by the spare plot and setting are Meadows’ and D.P. Danny Cohen’s surprisingly simple and lovely compositions – one doesn’t normally expect to see such graceful framing in a bloody revenge film, but it ends up heightening the movie’s stripped-down feel. And in some of the best set pieces, the filmmakers have set up an almost playful reversal of Straw Dogs’ final confrontation – this time, the villains wait nervously inside a country house, waiting for the hero to appear and wreak havoc. Dead Man’s Shoes may be derivative, but it’s learned its lessons well, and has the benefit of having Considine at the center of everything.