Shattered
Lovers of extreme violence, raw sex and filthy language are in for a treat when they watch SHATTERED, the action-thriller directed by Luis Prieto and written by David Loughery. Starring in the gore fest is Lilly Krug, who plays Sky, a blonde nymphet and sociopath who takes lonely tech-millionaire Chris (Cameron Monaghan) to bed in order to rob him of his money and his life.
Chris is no easy mark. He’s smart as well as rich, but his intelligence is no match for Sky’s cunning. A grifter from a young age, Sky and her mentor (Frank Grillo) come up with an elaborate plan to fleece the newly-divorced, emotionally-vulnerable businessman. First she takes a waitress’ job in the diner where Chris regularly eats, so that she can flirt with him. Then she pretends to risk her life when a mugger (Grillo) confronts him. Sky throws herself at the hood, who reacts by knocking her down and attacking Chris with a tire iron.
Chris ends up with a broken leg and spends the rest of the film in a cast (shades of “Rear Window”). Sky, feigning remorse for having provoked the attack, offers to help nurse him back to health. This gives her access to his house–-and, ultimately, to his bedroom, where she shows off her remarkable sexual prowess.
Observing
all this hanky-panky is Ronald (John Malkovich), the owner of the motel
where Sky lives with her female lover (add bi-sexual to the list of her
exotic attributes). Ronald is a voyeur who delights in spying on Sky through
his telescope, which is powerful enough to capture her seducing Chris
in his hilltop mansion. Ronald also discovers that Sky’s girlfriend
is dead, a blood-splattered murder victim.
Instead of calling the police, the sleazy Ronald confronts Sky and tries
to blackmail her. Because she hasn’t yet managed to get her hands
on Chris’ cash, she tries to buy him off by offering him one of the
latter’s many valuable artworks, a Picasso painting. Ronald’s
joy at having copped a masterpiece is short-lived; on his way out of the
mansion, Sky’s mentor cuts him down-–literally–-with a
sword.
And so it goes in SHATTERED, which portrays humankind as a loathsome breed,
motivated at all times by greed, betrayal, deception and lust. The only
two normal, sympathetic people in the film are Chris’ ex-wife and
his young daughter. They figure significantly in the final minutes of
SHATTERED, bringing the story to a brutal but satisfying end, when bad-girl
Sky finally gets her comeuppance.
SHATTERED offers slick acting, directing and cinematography (Juan Miguel
Azpiroz). It might be a B-movie, but it does manage to keep you watching.
And wincing.