Shevenge

 

Name: Shevenge

Directed By: Various--check the IMDB page linked below, as each of the segments in the anthology were directed by a different director.

Subgenre: Anthology

Series: Spooktober 2019 entry #10; review #41

Review: Shevenge is an anthology of horror shorts entirely directed by women and centered around the central concept of women seeking out vengeance against those that have wronged them in some way--shevengeance, if you will. The film is broken up into 12ish stories (if we include the sign off from the mostly unnecessary Hostess character leading us through the various entries and segments) that are loosely tied into four over-arching themes: Kiss and Kill, Murderous Moms, Anger Management, and Love You to Pieces. After watching the similarly titled and themed Prevenge, I knew I had to check this one out. Now, that motivation was also spurred on by the fairly glaring reviews against the film that, frankly, come off as a notably misogynistic--curiously though, looking back at the reviews now, they're almost entirely glowing, so much so that they come across as a bit disingenuous. I was really hoping those (older) reviews were wrong. And, well, they were--of a sort; women CAN make great horror movies (Prevenge, American Mary, Pet Semetary (1989), Goodnight Mommy, and Raw to name a meager few examples), but the shorts in Shevenge range from hot garbage to basically forgettable. The best short (Metamorphosis, a solid 3/5 by itself) is also the last--a real diamond in the rough that, while not terribly unique by itself, managed to best captures the themes in such an emotionally raw way that the previous films lacked (intentionally or not)--but it's preceded by a sequence that tells the exact same story but worse. If you're looking for horror shorts with plots that stand on their own depth and merit, then you will likely be disappointed with this anthology. There is value in the themes presented, especially in light of the #MeToo and #TimesUp era; women seeking empowerment and brutally overcoming oppression and marginalization is a great thing, but the execution, here, resulted in a mixed bag of mostly flawed films. That being said, if you can look past the technical hurdles (the films were made with a shoe-string budget and it shows, not to mention the ranging level of special effects) and are interested in an unabashedly indulgent anthology where women are badass and kill some dudes in a variety of ways, then look no further.

Overall Score: 2 out of 5 Chads virtue-signaling into the void. Did Shevenge scare you? Let me know your thoughts in the comments below!

IMDB: Here

How to Watch: Shevenge is available on these platforms.

Official Trailer

Welp, this is awkward. I can't seem to find any trace of this film on YouTube or similar streaming sites, as all searches lead back to a similarly-themed, identically-named, but different film from 2015. Sorry, folks!