BULL (2021)
Label: Second Sight Films
Region: B
Rating: Cert 18
Duration: 88 mins
Audio: Uncompressed English with Optional English Subtitles
Video: 1080p HD Widescreen (2.39:1)
Audio: Uncompressed English with Optional English Subtitles
Video: 1080p HD Widescreen (2.39:1)
Director: Paul Andrew Williams
Cast: Neil Maskell, David Hayman, Tamzin Outhwaite
Paul Andrew's sinewy, supernatural-tinged revenge-thriller Bull (2021) stars Neil Maskell (Kill List) as the titular heavy who carries out strong-armed acts of violence for low-key neighborhood crime boss Norm (David Hayman, Sid & Nancy). Bull is also married to the bosses daughter Gemma (Lois Brabin-Platt) with whom he has an adolescent son, Aiden (Henry Charles). When Bull catches on that his heroin-junkie wife's been cheating on him with another one of Norm's lackeys she asks for a divorce, but Bull wants custody of the kid, and that doesn't sit well with her, or more importantly, Norm, who decides that the uncooperative Bull needs to be put down for good.
Ten years later Bull unexpectedly returns to the neighborhood, much to the surprise of all involved with dispatching him years earlier. The vengeful Bull wastes precious little time laying waste to those who betrayed him a decade earlier, making good on his dying promise, to kill every last one of them. Bull is a powerhouse of a revenger, told in a non-linear fashion, it fills in the gaps as we go along, feeding us morsels about what lead to this potentially beyond-the-grave kill-spree. We bare witness to the vengeful force of nature that is Bull as he just obliterate all obstacles and opponents who get in his way. As he closes in on his ex and her crime boss daddy, in search of his son, the bodies begin pile up.
Norm and his crew are no kind-hearted thugs, they're ruthless, violent people, particularly Norm who will do just about anything to keep his fucked-up daughter happy, including murdering old ladies. Nor is Bull a kind person either, we've seen him cut off fingers and pulverize people, he's no hero - he's vengeance, and quite bloody vengeance at that. His true nature is a bit at odds with his look; on the surface he seems like an affable, schlubby, bearded dude, but cross him and you might regret it, that is if you live that long enough to have regrets.
Maskell's performance is showcases a sneakily calm exterior that just barely masking extreme violent tendencies that are seething just below the surface, he's such a scary, intense character. When that veneer gives way, often explosively, someone's losing a finger, a hand, or a leg shortly before forfeiting their lives completely. The brute is not without sensitivity though, when it comes to his son Aiden he's a passionate father to the boy, protective, and willing to brave the torments of Hell to save him, and unleash Hell's fury on everyone else.
Audio/Video: Bull (2021) arrives on region-B Blu-ray from Second Sight Films in 1080p HD widescreen (239:1). Shot on digital it looks fantastic with crisp visuals and a solid, and an impactful, uncompressed audio mix. Second Sight Films compliment the feature presentation with an Audio Commentary with Writer/Director Paul Andrew Williams & Actor Neil Maskell, Kindness and Rage; and new interviews with Director Paul Andrew Williams, Producers Dominic Tighe and Leonora Darby, and packaged in a limited edition rigid slipcase with a softcover book and art cards.
Special Features
- Audio Commentary with Writer / Director Paul Andrew Williams & Actor Neil Maskell
- Kindness and Rage: a new interview with Director Paul Andrew Williams
- Funfairs, Abattoirs and Burning Caravans: An interview with Producer Dominic Tighe
- Dealing with Fear: An interview with Producer Leonora Darby
Limited Edition Contents
- Rigid Slipcase with new artwork by James Neal
- Soft Cover Book with New Essays by Andrew Graves, Elena Lazic & Megan Navarro
- 6 Collectors' Art Cards
Bull (2020) is an unsettling, high-impact and very lean revenger chock full of stomach-turning violence, and at the center of it all is an incendiary performance from Maskell whose one-man kill-spree will blow your hair back with it's unrelenting strength, its potent stuff, and alongside Williams' taut direction, it makes for a potent and unforgettable revenger.
