Australian director Jon Hewitt comes on like some repentant, social-realist Russ Meyer with this jolting, jittery exploitation flick about two prostitutes in peril. Holly (Viva Bianca) is a high-class pro with dreams of flying out for a new life in Paris; Shay (Hanna Mangan Lawrence) a terrified ingenue in need of a dollar. Together, these two lost souls find themselves pursued by cops and killers after witnessing a drug deal gone wrong, scurrying hither and thither beneath the full moon of Sydney's red-light district as the script clanks and grinds worryingly at their backs. Hewitt's pungent early scenes of Oz's underbelly have a certain crystal-meth intensity, but the buzz can't last, and the film starts to wilt.
X: Night of Vengeance – review
This Sydney-set exploitation flick has a certain intensity, but the buzz fades, writes Xan Brooks