Bruiser

Plot synopsis:
Henry Creedlow (Jason Flemyng) is a businessman who lives a unhappy life; his high-strung, contemptuous wife Janine (Nina Garbiras) is indifferent to him which leads to him having fantasies about suicide. Henry drives to a local train station where he meets with his best friend, Jimmy Larson (Andrew Tarbet) to go to work downtown. Apparently, Jimmy has invested some money for Henry, and Henry's return is much lower than he thought. While trying to board the train, an unsettled Henry imagines himself pulling away a pushy lady and struggling with her until he puts her head under the railroad tracks, allowing a passing train to crush her head. Waking up from his fantasy, Henry boards the train with Jimmy.
Henry works at a local magazine company called Bruiser. While at the office, everyone is at a conference meeting deciding on which model should be on the magazine's latest issue. The sleazy and reprehensible boss, Miles Styles (Peter Stormare), mocks Henry's choice in front of him and his co-workers. Later that day, Henry talks with Miles' artist wife Rosie (Leslie Hope), who works at the lead photographer, and there appears to be an attraction between them as she is the only person who is casually nice to Henry.
That Saturday, there is a party for the workers at Miles and Rosie's house. The cynical Janine goes off not wanting to speak to the weak-willed Henry, who is sitting for a plaster mold to be made of his face by Rosie whom also designs masks in her spare time. Rosie finishes the mask and adds it to her "garden of lost souls" in the backyard. She asks Henry to paint a design on the featureless mask, but Henry cannot think of anything to draw. Henry sees Miles and his wife across the pool in a very intimate moment.
While driving home later that evening, Henry confronts Janine about what he saw as her making the moves onto his boss. Incredibly, Janine hardly seems to care and she tells the distraught Henry that he is so weak-willed and a pushover, she despises living with him and firmly wishes that he were dead. Janine tells Henry: "You're going no place! You're nothing! You're nobody!" When they arrive home, Henry then has another fantasy about Janine pulling the car into the garage, and him getting out and killing her with an axe to her head. Janine gets back into the car and drives off into the night, leaving Henry all alone.
After drinking all night at his house, Henry awakes up the next morning as usual, and here is where the supernatural element of the film really begins; when Henry goes to the bathroom mirror to shave, he is shocked when he sees a white-faceless mask staring at him. Henry's entire face has inexplicably transformed into a faceless image. When Henry tries removing the "mask" he cuts himself. Henry hides when Katie, his once-a-week maid, arrives to clean the house. Henry watches the maid as she fills her purse and bag with silver and other items from his house. When Katie begins taking cash out of Henry's wallet that is left on a counter, Henry reveals himself and confronts his kleptomaniac maid about stealing from him. Henry attacks and beats her to death with the bag filled with stolen silver items. He wraps the body up in plastic and hides again when Janine comes home. Henry overhears a phone conversation in which Janine tells the person on the other line that she is going to leave Henry.
Henry follows his wife to the office which is closed for that Sunday where it is revealed that she and his boss, Miles, are having an affair. But it is Rosie who catches them first by bursting into a conference room and photographing Miles and Janine having sex on the conference table. When Miles chases his wife out of the building where Rosie tells Miles that she intends to leave him, Henry sneaks into the conference room where he reveals his new blank face for his wife. Frightened by Henry's faceless appearance, Janine attacks him, but he wraps her neck around an extension cord and pushes her out a window where she hangs to death.
Miles is distraught over his wife leaving him and of Janine's death. While giving a statement to Detective McCleary (Tom Atkins) whom is the first policeman on the scene, Henry eludes the police and goes home. He hides from the cops again when they come to his front door to look for him to deliver the news of his wife's murder. While looking through his business files, he discovers that his friend, Jimmy, has more than likely been taking Henry's money for himself. After making it appear that he possibly killed himself and disposes of the maid's body by burying it in the back of his house, Henry phones Rosie and tells her not to go out of her house because he overheard the police who think that she might have killed Janine.
That afternoon, Henry visits Jimmy at the tennis club where he points a gun at Jimmy in the deserted locker room and reveals the business account papers which show that Jimmy has been pilfering money out of Henry's bank accounts and mutual funds for two years now. Jimmy tells Henry that it was Janine's idea to steal Henry's money so she could squander it for herself. Jimmy reveals that Janine has been cheating on Henry with him too. Jimmy offers to write Henry a check for the entire amount of $30,000, but Henry politely refuses. Then, Jimmy suddenly breaks character by pulling out a gun from his briefcase and tries to kill Henry. Henry fires back, fatally wounding Jimmy in the chest. With his last breath, Jimmy expresses no guilt or remorse for his betrayal (just like Henry's wife Janine, and the housekeeper Katie). Henry hides Jimmy's dead body in the trunk of his car and pushes it into the nearby lake.
The next day, still in the featureless mask, Henry goes to visit Rosie at her home to tell her what's been up lately. Rosie is also surprised by his white faceless image with some flesh-colored paint that he added on claiming that he has been working on his image. After he leaves, Henry calls 'The Larry Case Show', a popular radio program, and tells the host that he is 'Faceless' and has murdered three people. After listening to some advice by Larry Case, Henry decides that he needs to eradicate all the people from his life who wronged and betrayed him if he is to get his face back.
The following night, Henry goes to attend Miles' Halloween costume party, dressed as Zorro wearing a black cape along with his white mask which he blends in perfectly. Rosie is also there who is being tailed by Detective McCleary whom still thinks that she either killed Janine, or had it done. Henry assembles a group of men from the office where they lure Miles to a second floor balcony where Henry tells his mean and ungrateful boss that he has set him up for a "grand finale". With the crowd of partygoers underneath, Miles is raised overhead on wires, which people have doing throughout the party. Henry aims a strong laser at Miles (intended for exploded the heads of confetti-filled dummies), and kills him, while the crowd cheers. As Henry walks away, he removes his black cape costume and hat, and his face suddenly returns to normal. Henry realizes that he has his face back when someone walks by and calls his name out. But he is also spotted by Detective McCleary who moves into apprehend him. However, Rosie shows up in a Zorro costume with a white mask on and yells at McCleary that she's the killer. Rosie tells Henry that she made a plaster of her own face and it was blank, just like Henry's. Now that his revenge is complete, Henry has his face back and he can start a new life for himself. Henry is then lost in the crowd and McCleary cannot get to him. Henry bids Rosie farewell and escapes into the crowd.
Some years later, a long-haired Henry is now working as an office messenger in another city. Henry passes by an office where an angry and loathsome executive is yelling at several people. After the man screams at the overly curious Henry who walks by, the mean executive tells him to come back to his office for he has a job for him. "Coming sir", says Henry in an angry tone who turns around... and his blank, anonymous, faceless white mask has returned.

Tags: revenge, satire, murder

Review:
And even though "Bruiser" is not a very spectacular or action- and goreloaded picture, it undoubtedly is Romero's finest film since his third zombie-epic "Day of the Dead" back in 1985.It's a unique movie, rather quiet and sensibly developed: something You've see far too rarely in the last few years.
Peter Stormare is once again delicious, this time as the eccentric, sex-mad publisher of the "Bruiser"-magazine (you never really get to know what the magazine is all about, but it is obviously kind of a lifestyle magazine) and therefore Flemyng's character's boss.
The humor doesn't destroy the melancholy touch, though, that makes all of Romero's pictures so unique.An audience who expects to see another "Dawn of the Dead" or "Creepshow" surely will be disappointed at first - but who ever said that "Bruiser" is a pure horror movie?
One thing that's out of question is that Romero proves himself to be a real auteur, and it's always good to see new films from him - especially after an eight-year hiatus!Highly recommended..
He is set to murder those who have betrayed him like his wife, a close friend and especially his boss.This was Romero's last film until the upcoming long awaited Zombie film "Land of the Dead".
The film's protagonist, Henry, weakly worms him way through life until the morning he awakens to find a blank, white mask where his real face once was.
The instant Henry understands that the mask is truly HIS face is a great moment, and there are moments in BRUISER that stand up well with the best Romero has done.
Jason Flemying is excellent as Henry, and Stormare surprised me incredibly as the flamboyant, bad-ass publisher of the in-movie magazine, entitled (what else?) "Bruiser."I've grown used to seeing character actor Stormare in character roles, usually benign or slightly creepy (Dancer In The Dark, Million Dollar Hotel), and Flemying as vaguely menacing (Lock,, Stock; From Hell), but here both actors play against their normal image to reveal great depths of skill...both are totally believable in their roles, which adds a lot to the film.For those who know nothing about it...Flemying plays a mag exec who is downtrodden and stomped on by nearly everybody...Romero really makes you feel the depths of Hell this poor guy's in.
Jason Flemyng plays Henry Creedlow, the peon poster child, in this unusual film from George Romero.
The young executive of a publicity agency Henry Creedlow (Jason Flemyng) is a man that has repressed morbid thoughts and is walked over by most of his acquaintances: his wife is cheating him with his boss and stealing money of his investments with his best friend; his housemaid is frequently stealing his house and offending him in Spanish; even his annoying poodle does not respect him.
On the next morning, he wakes up with his face covered by a white mask, changing his personality and seeking revenge against those that have humiliated him."Bruiser" is a very weird and one of the worst (if not the worst) movies of George A.
The theme about a man that has a breakdown after years of failure and bad treatment, causing the loss of his identity and making him faceless to murder those that have somehow damaged his life is original, but something does not work well in the screenplay of this movie.
Aside from this being another well written and well directed film by Mr. Romero, having Tom Atkins (Night of the Creeps, Halloween 3) and The Misfits (The Michale Graves Era Misfits) makes this movie so much more cooler.
Call it a revenge film if you want, I call it fun.If you watch the DVD of Bruiser, be sure to watch the music video Romero directed for The Misfits.
It releases his inhibitions and he starts taking revenge on people who abused him.George Romero's first film since his underrated 1988 "Monkey Shines" is just OK.
Don't need a 1,000 words...Bruiser is one of the worst films I've seen, pathetic story, pathetic acting...More like a c class TV movie.
A man who cannot stand up for himself-not to his foul boss,nor to his adulterous wife-wakes up one day to find an irremovable mask over his features.His human face hidden even from himself,he begins to exact bloody revenge."Bruiser" by George A.Romero is a revenge fantasy in the E.C. horror comics tradition.Romero is a great horror director-unfortunately he's just not doing anything worth mentioning."Bruiser" is an extremely weak horror flick.After about 40 minutes it turns into yet another slasher film(with only slightly more panache than the usual fare).The most disappointing thing about "Bruiser" is that the film just doesn't feel like a horror movie,or at least a horror movie made by the great George A.
If you want a movie that will make you think about your life this will do it.Directing - Great Acting - Mediocre Cinematography - Great Psychology -Great Story - Mediocre Soundtrack/Sound - Good (Especially the Misfits) Overall, I highly recommend this movie to Romero fans and psychology majors..
The whole concept was very silly, i would have thought someone who directed Day of the living dead would make something equally as good...Well prepare for the ultimate dissapointment...BRUISER!ACTING: Below Average, main character was very dull and boring to watch, even during his evil terms, he was laughable, pretty bad in this compartment.ACTORS: Is this what led this movie straight to video?
But I rented it anyway, hoping for the best...after all this is a film by one of my favorite directors, the wildly uneven George Romero, maker of the fantastic "Night" and "Dawn of the Dead" movies.
Director of the very good "Martin", "the Crazies" and Monkeyshines." Unfortunately, while Romero has made his share of classics he has made more than a few terrible films -- "Day of the Dead", "Two Evil Eyes", "Creepshow" and "Season of the Witch" all come to mind.
It's abit like American Psycho or reminded me of that film anyway as the main guy Jason Flemyng in a good performance as a bored frustrated business man who fantasizes about killing people & standing up for himself,these are people that piss him off or anger him & that is all ok & fun but what really stands out here is the end part the 3rd act at the big fancy dress Party that is all Awesome & fun, but TOM ATKINS is why i brought this film on dvd that is why i tracked it down lol as always TOM ATKINS the icon of cult movies & Horror is perfectly cast as a rugged tough cop (he was born to play that part lol) & once again like he always does,tom steals the show & the film is so much BETTER just by having his presence in it other wise the movie would be abit boring!!!
But Atkins lifts it up & makes it a good Thriller instead of dull & boring so thank you again TOM ATKINS u tha man & Romero is a good director so Bruiser is actually a fun little Thriller it's very good just not great but it does grow on you if you watch it a few times like i did!!!
Very old style & very much like a pulp crime caper from the 40's it's actually alot of fun & has old school charm,nice to see a Romero film about something different like finding your identity & standing up for yourself & that's what makes Bruiser fun as it's so different & sometimes because of it's pulpy nature feels abit like a vigilante hero movie like The Shadow (1994)!!!
Realizing that his life has crumbled around him, a man awakes one day to find that a faceless mask has become his actual face and begins a rampage of terror against those that have wronged him as the killing spree attracts the attention of a police officer anxious to stop him.This here wasn't all that bad of an effort.
Peter Stormare is great as the bruiser boss from hell, and the acting throughout is good for this type movie.
This sounds like a basic sort of superhero movie plot and, courtesy of zombie-lord George Romero, he adds a bit of horror into it too.Does it work?
As this story develops, he loses his wife Janine (Nina Garbiras), his job at "Bruiser", which is apparently some sort of lifestyle magazine, and his whole identity, his normal face replaced with blank, mask like makeup.
Acting: Jason Flemyng did the best performance in this movie by far the way he change from miserable to anger is great.
So the mask here is awesome and it is mostly it to mention.Music/Sound: The music here is great and Romero actually did make a video earlier in his career for the band who play in this film.
After years of being tread upon and cheated on, a man awakens to find his face has a been replaced by an blank, white mask.I have always appreciated Romero for his non-zombie films.
Bruiser, perhaps George Romero's most bizarre film to date (yes, even stranger than knights on motorbikes or a telepathic psycho killer monkey), is the darkly comical story of Henry Creedlow, a trusting, congenial fellow who allows himself to be treated like a doormat by almost everyone he knows, including his sleazy boss Milo (Peter Stormare), his beautiful wife Janine (the stunning Nina Garbiras), and his supposed best friend James (Andrew Tarbet); in fact, Henry is such a nobody in the eyes of others that he wakes up one morning to find his face completely devoid of character, white and featureless with pin-holes for eyes.
Lacking a visible identity, the now liberated Henry goes a little crazy and proceeds to do what he has only previously dreamt of: stand up to those people who have crapped on him from a great height.As if this concept wasn't weird enough, George's bold treatment of his already unconventional material makes Bruiser even more of an audacious and admirable movie: social commentary, existential musing, witty dialogue, exaggerated characters, surprisingly unrestrained sex, and a truly off-beat, cartoonish finale featuring hedonistic, costumed party-goers at a nightclub, cult horror rock band The Misfits, and a frickin' laser gun, all go to guarantee that, while it might not always work quite as well as intended, Bruiser makes for one hell of a unique viewing experience, and is further proof that Romero is not the one-trick-pony many accuse him of being..
It does have a good concept, but once the novelty wears off(pretty quickly), it just becomes a movie about a guy killing anyone he doesn't like(which could still be good, but it isn't in this film).It's been a long time since the highs of DAWN OF THE DEAD and MARTIN and I don't know that Romero's work will ever reach those heights again.5/10.
But the other element aside from this Kafkaesque look at bureaucracy in the world of everyday work (mixed with Romero's already inherent knack for social satire at the system) is a near film-noir approach to the how he makes it, with many scenes in dark shadows and in hiding, much as his character on the run and taking vengeance.
He also has the distinction of using a couple of really good character actors- Jason Flemyng in the starring role of Henry, who after getting the feeling more and more of his insignificance both in work and in his marriage, finds himself faceless like one of his company's masks.
This performance of Flemying's, calculated, cold, and sometimes with a kind of theatrical kind of acting that is akin to the horror movies of old (more like a certain Phantom perhaps), is the over-the-top turn by Peter Stormare, who is as usual quite dependable in his work here.The film ends on a note that isn't as satisfying as what lead up to it, even as there is a cool musical performance from the Misfits.
But Bruiser is maybe better off as a kind of minor work in the career of the filmmaker, where it's low-key enough in its on-video realm (like its character in metamorphosis) not to get the notice of the more notorious Romero films.
It's illogical to me at this point without a real explanation - IDC if it's an alien encounter, some weird acid that splashed on his face, a supernatural event - something, anything to explain why a mask one day out of the blue.Well I know it's Romero - and I've liked a few of his films but this one I just could not get into and I was looking forward to a nice surprise of a film since his name is attached to it.2/10.
Romero has created his best horror movie classic since Day of the Dead.
Night Of The Living Dead was a ground-breaking film, and Dawn Of The Dead is my favorite horror flick of all time, but I think i was wrong to give George Romero all the credit.
Making us doubt the goings on in the main character's mind or blending the real with the unreal would have made for a more cerebral and provocative film.I expect much more from Romero, who, in my book, is a virtual master of horror who gave us the always timely cult classic Night of the Living Dead, as well as a few other less prolific, but noteworthy horror movies.
They recently showed this movie here, and since I have a dead serious knack for Romero films, I had to go all the way to the movies just to watch it.Henry is the kind of guy who has the lowest self esteem in the universe.Actually its not even Milo's fault that Henry's wife had an affair with him.
I enjoyed the first ten minutes (my companion shrieked and turned pale when the woman got hit by the train) but I stopped wishing for the best after Peter Stormare's first annoying appearance (damn, I adored the guy in "Fargo").More than thirty years after its release, "Night of the Living Dead" is still the film Romero's best known for.
George Romero has been responsible for some of the greatest horror films of all time (Night of the Living Dead, Martin), and some that are more misunderstood (Season of the Witch, Monkeyshines).
"Bruiser" makes its plot and killer clear from the beginning: Henry is a man who is unable to stand up for himself, and is taken advantage of and ignored by everyone he knows, from his wife having an affair with his boss, to his best friend, who he finds out is stealing thousands from him.
The fact that it isn't a straight horror or thriller film, along with its less-than-subtle commentary on American society, may turn off a lot of people, but it is well directed and competently acted (it doesn't feature any stand-out portrayals; maybe Henry's Euro-Trash boss is a little too annoying), although the finale is so silly that it almost ruins the whole ordeal.
So a guy who makes a career out of figuring new and interesting ways to explain the same exact zombie apocalypse without explaining why it's happening or where it's coming from over a span of more than fifty years decides--what the hey--let's try something different.He should have stuck to zombies.BRUISER, literally one of the worst pieces of moving frames sewn together by people that honestly must have been questioning their own sanity after day two of this tripe, involves Jason Flemyng playing Henry Creedlow, a nice guy stuck in an alternate universe where not only does the nice guy finish last, he finishes so much in dead last that apparently all of planet Earth is going out of its way to $%#& him royally.
So, in the space of twelve long years Romero who was hailed as the greatest horror director of his generation during the late 70's & early 80's after making genre classics like Night of the Living Dead (1968), Martin (1977), Dawn of the Dead (1978), Creepshow (1982) & Day of the Dead (1985) only made one film, this.
At almost 100 odd minutes the film goes on for quite a while & I did start to get bored with the concept well before the end, the supporting character's are all very unlikable which doesn't help & although it tries to be challenging, relevant & meaningful I personally didn't really take much from the film.Those looking at Romero's past films & hoping for some horror & gore will surely be disappointed with Bruiser, there's a brief scene in which a woman has her head squashed by a train although nothing too graphic is shown, a man is shot in the chest, there's a dream sequence in which Henry commits suicide by shooting himself in the head, a woman is hanged & that's about it.
The acting is pretty good from a decent cast although Peter Stormare as the annoyingly obnoxious Milo Styles was a little OTT for me while genre favourite Tom Atkins has a fun role as a cynical cop.Bruiser is certainly something a bit different although while I did like the concept I don't think enough was done with it & to be frank Romero is better than this & should stick to straight horror which he thankfully largely has..
"Bruiser" is George Romero's worst film to date.
There's little excitement or tension to be found, and at times, one actually forgets this is meant to be a horror movie instead of a standard revenge pic.Peter Stormare, as Flemyng's boss, is trapped in the most thankless role in the film.
Losing your face, your identity, in turn, causes Henry to lash out at those who have victimized him, saving the boss for last.George Romero's "Bruiser" (the film's title comes from the name of Milos Styles' magazine company) has another message that is less-than-subtle and has been considered the director's worst film by many of his fans.