Latest in the ‘woman-in-a-man’s-world’ as pioneered by James Cameron with ‘Aliens’ is ‘Duchess’ from Neil Marshall and starring Charlotte Kirk who have co-written the script. It’s blood spattered credentials are set out right from the start with Kirk in lingerie draped across a red neon hued bedroom as a swarthy East European leers over her and quickly finds himself facing a pump action shotgun blasting away at his bollocks in a scene of emasculation not seen since Prince Harry got married to a race baiting dog biscuit seller. Leaping out the window to safety it gets worse only to find Kirk replete in Ann Summers finest strutting through the hotel lobby towards him clutching her pump action. It’s an image that’s likely to have most 14 year old boys also clutching their own personal issue pump action and the freeze frame sees her introduced as the Duchess of the title.
This opener is a precursor to later in the film with the film spooling back to Duchess aka Scarlett Monaghan in a night club with her friend and both on the take as they swift wallets from amorous males on the dance floor. It’s all watched by Tom (Phillip Winchester) and before long they bond. But he’s no angel either involved in the dodgy underworld types led by Charlie played by Stephanie Beacham in spectacularly potty mouthed style and ripping out throats that you never saw her do in her Dynasty days. But with Tom offed in Tenerife and with Scarlett lucky to escape with her life it’s not long before vengeance is the order of the day in a series of bloody twists and turns on the island of death.
Part Rise of the Footsoldier, part Guy Ritchie, part Luc Besson female assassin films, Duchess is an amalgam of all and is something of a move away from Neil Marshall’s usual horror themed films. This is the third film from the Marshall-Kirk writer-director-producer-star combo and it’s a very different from their previous medieval horror ‘The Reckoning’ and sci-fi horror ‘The Lair’. Duchess is not without it’s moments but doesn’t have the gleefully twisted narrative of Guy Ritchie’s best films and Luc Besson’s scripted female led actioners La Femme Nikita, Kiss of the Dragon, Angel A, Columbiana & Lucy each of which worked their way towards gleefully daft face offs with seemingly increasingly insurmountable legions of bad guys. Duchess could have done with that here. There’s some breathtakingly brutal moments ( although the music score is distractingly jaunty in several of the set pieces) with nods to Driller Killer. There’s also the use of a hot iron will have the men in the audience wincing but at two hours the pace is a little sluggish.
Duchess is one of those Saturday night pizza and a six pack movies and there is certainly the seeds of a potential franchise here with Duchess’ move towards potty mouthed Queen of mean and has the potential to be a female counterpart to the Footsoldier films.
related feature: director Neil Marshall talks ‘The Lair’ plus news on Dog Soldiers 2
related feature : Director Neil Marshall & actress Charlotte Kirk tell us about, ‘The Reckoning’
We chat with Charlotte Kirk about the making of, ‘Duchess’…..
Here’s the Duchess trailer……
