Vagabond House Picture Show: Sweet Revenge

Ah, vengeance... an often employed motivation for movie characters. You can slap themes of honor and heroism on top of it (as they do in countless chop-socky flicks in which dubbed martial artists scream "why did you kill my master?!" as they unleash a fury of punches that destroys their foe's internal organs) -- but ultimately, it's about redeeming yourself, no? Getting your name cleared, setting the record straight, righting wrongs and getting even. The two films below are sick, twisted explorations on this theme of revenge -- one is a Western that gives you a protagonist who despite being portrayed by Clint Eastwood gives plenty of reasons to distrust him in the first fifteen minutes. The other is a Korean film (part of a vengeance trilogy) with a large cult following -- a stylish modern noir with an incredibly smart and brutal fight sequence involving a hammer orchestrated in one long, uncut shot and a twisted third act that will leave you speechless.

High Plains Drifter

Old Boy