Ask Me a Question: The Victim

Tuesday, May 11th, 2012 was a good day.  I won a copy of Jean-Claude Van Damme's latest, 6 Bullets as well as tickets to Michael Biehn's new movie, The Victim, playing at The New Beverly.

Of course, with how small the crowd was that night, I doubt they had many entries but hey, free tickets are free tickets.  The flick had been playing all weekend and director/star Michael Biehn (if you don't know how he is by now, GTFOOH!) and his actor/producer wife Jennifer Blanc were to be on hand following the film to discuss with one Mr. Beaks from Ain't It Cool.

The Victim is not a good movie.  It's awkward to watch and cheaply made yet funny in a "what the fuck" kind of way and the final minutes where you're left pondering if Biehn's character is a serial killer display glimpses of his acting prowess that made me such a fan in the first place.  Oh yeah, it's about two chicks hanging with dirty cops, an accidental death, a loner in the woods and a fight for survival.  What I wish every viewing of the film had was an appearance by The Biehn after.  The credits hadn't even finished yet and a voice screamed out "without him this woulda been a real piece of shit!", the voice of course, belonged to the star of Terminator, Aliens, Timebomb and American Dragons, Michael Biehn.

What followed was a funny, insightful and passionate look at the movie business.  Basically, Biehn had encountered a script by Reed Lackey, using that as a base, Biehn rewrote the film while wife Jennifer drummed up financing and crew.  They prepped for, not very long, then shot the flick around Los Angeles in 12 days.  They took it on the festival circuit around the world and were eventually picked up by Anchor Bay.  A handsome DVD complete with commentary and making of would be released later that summer.  Now they're producing movies left and right.  I actually ran into the Biehn's again at San Diego Comic-Con but it wasn't quite so happy an experience...