Retribution
Tags: paranormal, cult, murder, flashback

Plot synopsis:
Yoshioka, an experienced detective, investigates the murder of an unknown woman in a red dress. She was drowned on the Tokyo waterfront, but an autopsy reveals that her stomach is full of seawater. Moreover, all the clues he finds relate to himself: A button found at the murder scene matches one that is missing from his own coat, and fingerprints found match his own. Yoshioka realizes that the only viable suspect is himself; but he doesn't remember a thing.
A ghost in a red dress soon starts appearing to him. As these apparitions become more intense and bizarre, similar murders occur with people killing loved ones for small infractions. All the perpetrators are found by Yoshioka as he searches for clues about the original murder. Eventually the drowned woman is identified. Yoshioka visits her parents, only to find she had a boyfriend who was extorting her parents, who happens to visit the house at the same time. He quickly confesses to the crime.
Yoshioka is visited by the ghost again who reveals that she is not the murdered woman, but a ghost of a woman whom he saw in the window of an asylum fifteen years ago who has died. All of the murderers took the ferry past the same asylum. Yoshioka sends his girlfriend away, afraid of what he might do to her. He goes to the asylum, where the woman in red agrees to forgive him for not helping her 15 years ago. He goes home, only to discover that he murdered his girlfriend 6 months ago. Going insane, he tries to forget. He collects the bones, and goes to the asylum to pick up the ghost's bones. His partner arrives at his apartment like the bowl of water, which was used to commit the murder, empty as the ghost menaces him in the background. An earthquake occurs as the bowl is refilled. The ghost suddenly appears and drags him into the bowl. The film ends with Yoshioka walking in the street holding a bag containing his girlfriend's and the ghost's bones, with the ghost repeatedly saying: "I am dead. So please, I want everyone to die too".

Review: Manic depressive artist George Miller snaps one Halloween night, decides he wants to end it all and jumps from the top of the inner-city fleabag motel he calls home.
Across town, small-time gangster Vito Minelli finds out the hard way, what happens when you don't pay off your gambling debts, as his vengeful cronies blow out his kneecaps, then douse him in gasoline and set him on fire.Somewhere between life and death, George's and Vito's lives intersect, and both will be changed forever.
This is not a good thing for George, and even worse for Vito's assailants, as they will each discover to their horror and dismay...As low-budget supernatural thrillers go, RETRIBUTION manages to strike a nice balance between the yen of those horror fans who like character-driven stories, and the gorehounds who like to see "folks git blowed up real good." TV and movie vet Dennis Lipscomb, who very rarely gets to carry a picture, delivers a scary and sympathetic performance as the troubled George.
They make it look so easy, most people don't even consider what they do to be "work," and that's the trouble.Another out-of-print, hard-as-hell-to-find but worthy entry into the B-movie hall of fame..
Retribution may look a little bit dated compared to up-to-date films, with it's cheesy 80's feel, but that was just the sign of the times.Dawn of the Dead by Romero, is just the same in the out-dated department-but anyone who's seen it will agree it's still one of the best Zombie films to date!
If you enjoy the horror genre, and have not yet seen this classic- try and get a copy.
Everyone i have shown it to was well impressed.It's a treat-especially with todays appalling excuses for Horror films.
I really do highly rate and recommend this film, and so does everyone i know..
The plot centers around introverted artist George Miller, wonderfully portrayed by Dennis Lipscomb, who reminds me of a good friend in the military, and his failed attempt to commit suicide.
This dampens George's new lease on life, with a courtship of a friendly prostitute, played by B-Movie Queen Suzanne Snyder.
Every time George falls asleep, the tortured spirit tales control of his body, and exacts revenge on the people who killed him.This is a very entertaining film with believable everyday characters.
Dennis Lipscomb does a splendid job transforming himself from bumbling loser George to a possessed force of destruction.Night of The Creeps and Killer Klowns From Outer Space star Suzanne Snyder, who owns the sexiest smile in cinema history, was sensual and caring all at the same time.
This role allows Suzanne to wear some crazy looking, yet rather revealing hooker outfits.I recommend this film to people who like a little substance with their horror, but keep in mind, there is plenty of gore to go with the superior genre acting..
Solid 80s horror film.
Starving artist George (Dennis Lipscomb) decides to end his life by jumping off his apartment building on Halloween night.
As he lays dying, his body receives the spirit of a man who shares his birthday and is killed at the exact same time (confused?).
He lives and the spirit takes over when George goes to sleep and seeks retribution on folks who burned him alive (Freddy who?).
This is a pretty solid horror flick that I liked even more watching it now than back in the 80s.
You can hear the filmmakers whisper, "It is like ELM STREET, see?" (the burned villain even looks like Freddy), but writer-director Guy Magar does enough to make it stand apart.
Lipscomb, looking like a nerdy Christopher Walken, is an interesting choice for a leading man and I like that casting.
On the technical side, there is lots of great camera work and some interesting use of lighting.
Solid B-movie with OK performances and slam-bang special effects.
This is one of those neglected little thrillers that set out not to offer anything new to the genre, but at least to give fans of those movies their money's worth.
And this one generally seems to know its business (although it does get a little too loud near the end).
very well done death scenes, and an unusual lead actor.
Surprisingly good!A plain, somewhat overweight, nerdy-looking man stands on the edge of the roof of the Don Hotel (no "tiny bubbles" jokes in the movie, though).
The people in the Don Hotel, a somewhat strange bunch, are sympathetic, as is a neighborhood hooker he's friendly with.
Additionally, while he paints blood appears out of nowhere, and does at other times too and isn't just a hallucination it seems.In the nightmares, he visits people and brutally kills them with some sort of telepathic abilities while his eyes glow.
Though there aren't a lot of murders, the scenes are pretty strong.
The way a man dies there is quite memorable.While a Catholic priest works at the hospital, and the main character visits a church, the one attempt at exorcism is done by a "Dr. Rasta"!
A solid little horror flick.
Dennis Lipscombe is a depressed artist who throws himself off the roof of the hotel he lives in on Halloween.
He survives, but starts having visions of a small time gangster who died the same night.
Soon he is having nightmares about stalking and killing strangers, and the murders he dreams of are really happening.
His psychiatrist and his hooker girlfriend try to help him figure out what is going on, while cop Hoyt Axton investigates the murder spree.
This is a pretty solid mid-80's horror flick with colorful photography, creative, gory deaths, and a really solid cast of recognizable character actors..
i watched this film years ago, and was pleasantly surprised how effectively scary it was because i'd never heard of it.
i can remember the lead character with scary eyes at the end, and a sexy suzanne snyder as prostitute i think.
i would love to watch this movie again, just to see if it has the same effect now as it did then.
i doubt it though as most of these eighty's films usually age badly, it would be good to know if i can own this film on DVD.
this film if i remember rightly does not deserve to to b washed up and never seen again like a lot of the mindless tosh being produced at the time.
Great at Times But in the End Falls on its Face.
I first saw this movie years ago when it was released on Virgin Video and I seem to remember that it was a pretty scary movie.
Years later, in 2006, I finely get to see it again and unfortunately it wasn't as good as I remember it.
The premise is a man called George (Lipscomb) decides to commit suicide on Halloween night.
After spending 3 months in a hospital, George has a new lease on life and kind of starts off with a fresh new start.
The problem is when George falls asleep his body is taken over by a spirit with demonic powers and the spirit is out to kill the people who murdered him in life.
This is actually a well directed movie with some great acting and good cast.
The problem I had with the movie was for one, it is a very dated film.
For instance, the music for the movie was so typical of the era it takes away from the seriousness of the story.
This movie runs almost two hours with some great build up to the climax but in the end the movie falls on its face.
It is to bad because this really had some great potential and the makers of the film probably could have easily made this a 2 and a half hour movie and still keep your attention.
I do, in the long run, recommend this movie because it is still an enjoyable experience.
One really good episode of TALES FROM THE DARKSIDE that I remember is "Dead Man's Shoes," where an average Joe finds a pair of shoes and decides to put them on.
The shoes, however, belonged to a recently deceased mobster, who decides to possess the man and seek revenge on those who sent him to his grave.
RETRIBUTION is just like that, only a lot bloodier.George is a depressed painter who's had it with life.
On Halloween night, he jumps off the roof of his apartment building and dies.
Whenever he falls asleep, he has dreams of killing people in gruesome ways, and when he awakens, these people are actually dead.
You see, he is now possessed by a mobster who not only shared his birthday, but he was gunned down at the same time George realized he can't fly, so now, the mobster is killing those who killed him.
Can George stop him before the killing begins again?
RETRIBUTION is a decent enough watch, but it could have been a whole lot better.
Considering this was released in the trash-tastic year of 1987, they managed to have a really intriguing plot, great actors, and good gore effects.
Unfortunately, they underplay everything except the actors.Yes, there is a lot of talking and a lot of character building, which is both a good and a bad thing.
Good, because we actually begin to like and connect with the characters.
Bad, because it keeps us away from the good stuff.The kills in RETRIBUTION are all gory, all inventive, and there aren't many of them.
There are only four people who gunned down Vito (the mobster), and he doesn't even get his revenge on all of them.
There is some great build-up and suspense with the deaths and the "possessed George" is frightening enough to work.There are a lot of scenes where George's possession takes hold, like when they go to a spiritualist, or when he paints several portraits of the charred Vito (which looks eerily similar to Freddy).Don't get me wrong; RETRIBUTION is from being a bad movie, it's just not all that great.
I liked all the characters, I liked the gore, and the scares were good, it's just that each of these is either underplayed or overplayed.
It's "technically" a lot better than most late-eighties direct-to-video garbage; it's just not as entertaining as it should be.Still, it's worth watching..
Depressed painter George Miller (Dennis Lipscomb) chucks himself off a hotel roof, his suicidal act most likely prompted by either his terrible haircut (I'd want to die too if I sported that style) or his complete lack of artistic talent.
As medics bring him back from the brink of death, George is possessed by the vengeful spirit of gambler Vito Minelli (Mike Muscat), who was shot and burnt alive by the men to whom he was in debt.Retribution could have been a fairly reasonable supernatural potboiler, but George Miller is such a dour, whiney loser that it makes for seriously hard going.
I found myself increasingly irritated by the man's persistent hang-dog expression, so-much-so that I began to wish that the emergency team who revived him had been held up in traffic.The film does deliver one or two reasonably well-executed scenes of violence-the brutal demise of Vito, the manager of an abattoir being cut up the middle by a circular saw, a guy having his hand removed with an acetylene torch-and there is an impressive sense of style throughout, director Guy Magar making particularly good use of colour and lighting.
However, the unbearable protagonist and an overlong runtime of 107 minutes means that the film as a whole is far from great..
George Miller is possessed by vito Minelli who has homicidal tendencies.
ONE GOOD ONE EVIL ONE BODY.
George Miller is a timid, gentle man whose failure as an artist drives him to attempt suicide by leaping off the roof of his seedy hotel.
Vito Minelli is a small time crook whose treachery results in his brutal execution at the hands of his underworld associates.Being a true horror fan i have come to know whats the difference between a good horror film and a bad one, and this is a great horror film.
A real rare gem of a film.
Probably one of the best horror films i have seen and delivers frights and gore at the barrel full.
A pretty rare film now and just as hard to get hold of but i recommend anyone who enjoys this genre as much as me to do what you can to get hold of a copy..
RETRIBUTION is a low budget and rather gruesome horror film of 1987, given a splendid DVD presentation by the team at Code Red. The story is nothing special and sees Dennis Lipscomb's mild-mannered protagonist being possessed by the spirit of a gangster which causes him to go on a supernatural killing spree.
It's one of those films where you end up twiddling your thumbs in between the kill scenes, but the gory special effects are imaginatively used and there are some bizarre highlights here, which I won't go into.
I did find Lipscomb to be a rather creepy character even before the supernatural stuff takes place and the budget isn't perhaps quite up to the job at times, but this is reasonable fare for horror fans..
It's creepy Miller Time!.
"Retribution" is odd and unusual 80's horror, but it's often very scary and you got to admire how director Guy Magar breaks with all the dreadful clichés and stereotypes that marked the decade.
The filming locations are hideous, the violence is raw & explicit and the characters are extremely anti-Hollywood.
Especially our lead actor Dennis Lipscomb is someone who you'd normally NEVER see as the protagonist in a 80's horror slasher.
His character George Miller is an introvert, unattractive and rather pathetic looking loner who lives in a sleazy hotel room and paints macabre stuff for a living.
The movie opens with George ready to take a dive from the hotel roof top to end his sad life with suicide.
He survives the attempt because, at the exact same moment, his body becomes possessed by the furious spirit of a murdered gambler.
When George returns home from the clinic, everyone is very caring and concerned (he even scores with a warm-hearted prostitute that's way out of his league!), yet the homicidal spirit homing inside him makes him commit repulsive murders when he sleeps.
"Retribution" is a brave little horror movie, albeit slightly overlong and sometimes focusing too much on the human interest aspects.
The special effects, however, are great and the murders are incredibly gory and sadistic!
The ghost inside creepy George Miller is obviously VERY upset, as he crushes people's heads with elevators, processes bodies with frozen animal carcasses and slices stomachs.
Quite a few sequences in this film definitely aren't for the squeamish!
The flashback scene near the end, enlightening us about the gambler's death, is quite shocking and you immediately understand why he's so angry!
If I were George, I would even have volunteered to complete the murder cycle!
The music and camera-work are also very effective and there are excellent supportive roles for Hoyt Axton ("Gremlins"), Suzanne Snyder ("Killer Klowns from Outer Space") and Leslie Wing ("the Dungeonmaster").
Recommended to fans of solid B-horror..
Co-writer / director Guy Magar offers up a sufficient amount of razzle-dazzle in this low budget revenge saga.
It's got plenty of atmosphere and special effects, plus an always grim feel to its story.
It also gives a rare starring role to Dennis Lipscomb, a veteran of supporting and character parts (in movies like "WarGames", "A Soldier's Story", "Crossroads", and "Under Siege") who'd previously headlined the independent productions "Union City" and "Eyes of Fire".
He plays George Miller, a wimpy, depressed painter who survives a suicidal jump off a building only to find out that there's a scary reason that he survived.
Somebody else who perished at the same time (on Halloween night, no less) is determined to get back at those that messed him up, using George's body as his instrument of revenge.
Magar makes this a visually arresting experience at all times.
For one thing, staging the opening sequence on Halloween night is great because it's a weird image to see a bunch of Halloween masks taking in the spectacle in front of them.
Some strong violence is suggested without being shown in any great detail, which could understandably frustrate and disappoint some genre fans, especially as there's a little bit of invention here: one victim is shoved inside an animal carcass and sawed up.
Better performances than usual for this sort of thing help, with Leslie Wing as a caring psychiatrist, Suzanne Snyder as your friendly neighbourhood hooker-with-a-heart-of-gold, and singer / actor Hoyt Axton as an investigating detective.
(However, if you're an Axton fan, be advised that he doesn't get to do all that much and doesn't even show up until over an hour into the movie.) You may also recognize George Murdock ('Barney Miller') and Harry Caesar ("The Longest Yard" '74) among the supporting cast.
At an hour and 49 minutes, this does go on longer than your typical horror movie, but it's nice that Magar actually cares about his characters, making them more than one-dimensional and focusing on adult protagonists and antagonists instead of teenagers.
This is a true horror movie, and a fairly intense one, and deserves another look from devotees of the genre.
This one teeters on the edge of pure cheesiness, and does fall wonderfully overboard into it, but is saved by Dennis Lipscomb's magnetic performance.
I couldn't help myself chuckling at much of this movie- and really, that's a good thing.
The plot of someone being possessed by someone else from beyond the grave to exact revenge is as clichéd as they come, but it's still a fun ride here- and that's what I'd compare this movie to: a fun ride.
The ride could've been quite unbearable if Dennis Lipscomb did not make it worth getting through.
I'll definitely be checking out more efforts by Lipscomb and the director.