An Acceptable Vigilante Film

Bruce Von Stiers

One of the vigilante films that first made an impression on me was Death Wish. It starred Charles Bronson as a man who becomes a vigilante after his wife was murdered by street thugs. That led to several sequels and then a whole bunch of films that followed in the same vein.

One of the latest vigilante films is titled Death Bitch. Which I assume is a bit of homage to Bronson's Death Wish.

The film starts with a prostitute named Candy. She declines a potential customer only to have someone kidnap her. Along comes a woman who kills the abductors and frees Candy.

Then there is a guy and two women closing a bar. The guy gives one of the women a ride home, while the other wants to walk home. But you just know that the woman walking home is going to be attacked.

Shane's a homicide detective who seems to not be very good at his job. His captain puts him with Schoey Schoefeld, who apparently has a great case clearance record. Right off the bat, she finds a clue at the scene of the abduction murders. That clue would lead them to Candy, who just might be able to help them solve the murders. At the same time, the captain orders two detectives, who'd been giving Shane a hard time, to get back to their case, a serial slasher.

As the film moves along the viewer finds out that the vigilante has an axe to grind with a gang leader named Dante. Members of Dante's crew did a home invasion and killed Alexis Walker's mother and brother and left her for dead. So, she's out for revenge, more than willing to kill creeps and crooks along the way to get to Dante.

Intermixed with the vigilante storyline is one about the slasher. Rodriguez and O'Brien are the two cops working on that case. They aren't having any luck. But, before the end of the film, their case slithers into the vigilante case.

Tying things together a bit is on-the-scene reporting from a local news reporter, Kimberly Wells.

The cast is a bit interesting. Josi Kat played the prostitute, Candy. She played a roller derby cheerleader in Whip It and a vampire in From Dusk To Bong.

Traci Burr played Schoey Schoefield. She co-starred in Space Sharks, Zombie Rage, Mega Ape and Cobra Strike Force.

Doug Waugh played Shane. He's been seen in films such as Trash Juice, Zombie Rage and Chainsaw Grandma.

Linnea Swanson played Alexis, the vigilante. She co-starred in Zombie Rage and Like Father, Like Daughter.

Ken Brewer played Dante. He also directed the film and co-wrote the screenplay. He directed the Death Park film franchise along with films such as Zombie Rage and Slaycation.

Tom Grindle played detective O' Brien and Al Zuniga played detective Ramirez.

Meri Gyetvay, also known as Meri Death, played both a bartender and a prostitute. She also co-wrote the screenplay with Ken Brewer. And she has produced, acted in and done special effects for over a dozen horror films, including Zombie Rage and Like Father, Like Daughter.

Alana Dro played Harley, Dante's girlfriend. She has been in several horror films, including Zombie Rage and Desert Fiends.

One interesting cast member is Bridget Powers as one of Dante's crew. Having been in numerous films, she is known as Bridget the Midget from the Howard Stern Show.

August Kyss played the reporter Kimberly Wells. She has appeared in many horror films and co-starred in one I recently reviewed, Flesh of the Unforgiven.

One cast member who was a bit underused was John Ozuna. He played a badass member of Dante's crew who gets into a fight with a rival drug dealer. Ozuna has some good martial arts skills that could have made for a major fight scene. But he wasn't a central character to the story, so that might be why his role was limited. Last year I reviewed his film, The Bouncer, where he utilized a lot of his martial arts skills.

Death Bitch is an acceptable thriller vigilante film. The plot is decent, more or less paying homage to Charles Bronson's Death Wish. But some of the acting could have been a bit better. And the dialog at times seemed a bit stiff and not fluid like a normal conversation would be. The reporter had some of the most articulate dialogs in the film. A long gun battle between Dante and his crew and the cops and the vigilante seems to provide unlimited ammo. It might have been more realistic to see the shooters fumbling around trying to reload.

But, overall, Death Bitch was fun to watch. It took a vigilante story, added a slasher element and made an okay film on a very limited budget. In fact, the film won an award a while back for just that reason. It won the award for the Best Indie Film Under $100,000 at the Film Threat Awards.

Death Bitch is streaming on for free on Fawesome and is available on a few other platforms.

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© 2025 Bruce E Von Stiers