What's in a Title? Revenge in Films Quiz

Answer: The Searchers

The title obviously refers to the quest to find the two girls which Ethan (Wayne) embarks upon. The massacre takes place at Ethan's brother's homestead and is probably motivated by revenge. His brother, sister-in-law (with whom Ethan has a very strong bond), and nephew are all slaughtered, but his two nieces, Debbie and her older sister Lucy, are abducted. At first the search party is a posse which includes some Texan Rangers, Lucy's fiancé, and Debbie and Lucy's adopted brother, Martin Pawley. By the time they actually find Debbie, it's just Ethan and Martin. Many things drive the men, not least revenge.

Ford biographer and renowned film critic Peter Bogdanovich has said of "The Searchers" that although on its release it wasn't a huge success critically, "time is the best critic and The Searchers has grown in esteem because it's undeniable, it's so powerful, an American epic about a loner, a racist, about a way of life, the reverberations of which we are still living with."

Answer: Kes

15-year-old Billy trains a young kestrel he names Kes and although he has previously reared various other animals, Kes is "streets ahead of any of them".

Billy's family life is anything but nurturing, and school fails to inspire him, so the only thing he has is Kes. His older brother, Jed, is as unsympathetic a character as one could imagine, and their selfish, unloving mother is not much better. She half-heartedly chastises Jed for his cowardly act of revenge, but at the same time belittles Billy's sorrow.

Billy endures rather than enjoys school and even when Mr Farthing, one of Billy's teachers, attempts pastoral care, Billy is hardly enthused.

"Kes" was Ken Loach's second feature film and is amongst his most popular. In fact, "Kes" is frequently cited as one of the greatest British films of all time, and as being at the apex of social realist cinema.

Answer: The Big Heat

The cop in question is Sergeant Dave Bannion, played by Glenn Ford. However, the real star of the film is Lee Marvin as the utterly repulsive Vince Stone, the local mob head honcho's number one henchman.

Regarding the film's title, in the indispensable book "Film Noir: The Encyclopedia", Eileen McGarry states "at one level of the film, Bannion is the avenging angel and must be admired: his vendetta puts in motion the title's "big heat" upon the criminal syndicate and its lackeys."

There was a whole slew of film noirs with big in the title, probably influenced by Howard Hawks' 1946 classic adaptation of Raymond Chandler's novel "The Big Sleep". Titles include "The Big Clock" (1948), "The Big Combo" (1955), "The Big Knife" (1955), "The Big Night" (1951), and "The Big Steal" (1949).

Answer: Santa Sangre

The title "Santa Sangre" refers to a religious cult led by Fenix's mum. They venerate a young girl who had her arms chopped off by her brothers.

Although director Alejandro Jodorowsky talks at great length about the film on the DVD audio commentary, his insights not only avoid throwing light on the film's nebulous meaning, they actually add to its mystique. In fact, film critic Alan Jones is constantly frustrated by Jodorowsky's ambiguous replies to his searching questions in a hilarious game of cat and mouse. In the end, Jodorowsky states unambiguously "you (Jones) are always asking why. There is no why." However, he does give a straight answer when asked why he casts unknown/amateur actors in his films: "I hate actors. I hate stars. They are the virus of movies." He then expands and goes on to criticise one star of "Santa Sangre", Guy Stockwell (Orgo), for his drunkenness, and would-be lead Dennis Hopper who allegedly turned the part down due to the low fee on offer.

Apparently, ever-enigmatic Jodorowsky purposefully wanted the actors to speak English with heavy Spanish accents and embraced the resulting stilted delivery of lines. Jodorowsky has also said "I don't like normality", a statement that explains more about this fascinating director's work than any lengthy, verbose analysis ever could.

Answer: Straw Dogs

The title "Straw Dogs" comes from a verse in the ancient Chinese canonical text Tao Te Ching. In ancient China, straw dogs were used at sacrificial ceremonies and the text says "Heaven and Earth are heartless, treating creatures like straw dogs".

"Straw Dogs" has been controversial since its release, principally for a rape scene. Further fuss has been made of the extreme violence employed not just by the baddies, but also by the good guy, David Sumner, played by Hoffman. While Sumner is defending his home, he is also providing a safe haven for a man thought to be a child molester. It seems Peckinpah wasn't as afraid of controversy as he was of wallowing in moralizing platitudes and he was unaplogetic about the difficult questions his films, including "Straw Dogs", posed audiences and critics.

Answer: Southern Comfort

The title "Southern Comfort" is clearly an ironic look at supposed southern hospitality. Powers Boothe plays the part of a college-educated Texan who clashes with the Louisianan rednecks immediately, although he and Keith Carradine's character do bond, albeit reluctantly. Indeed, one of the striking, and to my mind refreshing, things about the film is its cynical anti-buddy stance.

The Cajun hunters don't develop as characters and we are never really sure if they just wanted their canoes back or would have hunted down the soldiers trespassing on what they see as their property anyway. Things rapidly escalate and spiral out of control, resulting in both sides being hell-bent on revenge.

"Southern Comfort" is beautifully shot and the atmosphere created by the cinematography is enhanced by Ry Cooder's eerie soundtrack.

Director Walter Hill has always played down the idea that "Southern Comfort" is about the US's involvement in the Vietnam War, but at times the analogy is unavoidable. In one scene the Guardsmen are splashing around in swamps and Powers Boothe's character shouts desperately "I'm not supposed to be here!"

Answer: Shogun Assassin

The samurai is Ogami and his son is Daigoro. Daigoro narrates a flashback in which his mother, Ogami's wife, is raped and murdered by a band of ninjas. Apparently, they are employed by Ogami's employer, the evil Shogun.

"Shogun Assassin" is a very odd film since it is actually bits of two Japanese films directed by Kenji Misumi ("Lone Wolf and Cub: Sword of Vengeance" and "Lone Wolf and Cub: Baby Cart at the River Styx") spliced together by Robert Houston. All this was done to capture the US and UK market, so "Shogun Assassin" was also dubbed (badly). Nevertheless, what came out of this brutal mangling is something of a cult classic, arguably partly because of the outlandishness, however inadvertently it was created.

Answer: Death Wish

"Death Wish" is based on a novel of the same name written by Brian Garfield. I would suppose the title refers to the fact that Kersey acts as bait to hoodlums by going to notoriously dangerous parts of the city, or flaunting lots of cash amongst dubious company, thus seeming to have a death wish. However, maybe it refers to the hoodlums themselves who live precarious lives.

Apparently, the producers, in their infinite wisdom, weren't keen on the title and favoured the title "The Sidewalk Vigilante" since it was thought that cinema-goers would be put off a film with "death" in the title. Despite getting panned by the critics, "Death Wish" has been a popular classic since its release.

Also worthy of note is the top-notch soundtrack by Herbie Hancock.

Answer: Dead Man's Shoes

The expression "dead man's shoes" turns up in several idioms and proverbs, such as "it's ill waiting for dead men's shoes". In "Dead Man's Shoes", Richard is settling debts for his brother Anthony. Anthony is with him for much of the film although he doesn't actively take part in any acts of revenge. The title takes on a whole new meaning right at the end of the film when Richard reveals his complex feelings towards Anthony and his intellectual disability.

"Dead Man's Shoes" was Shane Meadows fifth feature film, and the one that brought him to the mainstream cinema audience. Richard is played by Meadows' long-term associate Paddy Considine, who also co-wrote the script. His performance won him a much-deserved Empire Award. The demanding role of Anthony was played impeccably by previous unknown Toby Kebbell, a role for which he inexplicably didn't win any awards.

Answer: Oldboy

Oh Dae-su (played by Choi Min-sik) is in need of an explanation as much as revenge. He eventually gets the former but would probably have done better not to delve.

The title "Oldboy" refers back to Oh Dae-su's school days and his one and only friend, after 15 years in captivity, is No Joo-hwan, an old school friend. Oh Dae-su's wife is murdered while he is imprisoned and his captor has set things up so Oh Dae-su is the prime suspect. Oh Dae-su is told that following the murder, his daughter was adopted and shipped off to Sweden.

"Oldboy" sports stylish visuals and an array of camera tricks. At times it borders on rock video territory, and the influence of so-called Beat 'em Up computer games might detract from the story for traditionalist cineaste. However, the thrilling finale and numerous plot twists save the day.

Answer: Cape Fear

Most of "Cape Fear" takes place in a unnamed Southern coastal town and its environs, but the climax comes when Sam Bowden (Peck) moves his wife and daughter away to their holiday-home houseboat on the Cape Fear River.

Max Cady is played by Robert Mitchum who, despite being from Connecticut and growing up in Delaware, pulls off a convincing (well, to a Yorkshireman at least) Southern drawl. He's a frightening character even when he's not doing much thanks to his over-confident gait and weird blend of nonchalance and dogged persistence. When we do actually find out how sadistic he can be, even without any gruesome visuals it's wince inducing.

What's really interesting about "Cape Fear" is that although Cady is an utterly despicable character, Bowden's methods aren't to be applauded either.

"Cape Fear" was remade by Martin Scorsese in 1991, but to my mind Nick Nolte is no match for Gregory Peck, and Robert De Niro as Max Cady lacks the subtlety of Mitchum's performance.

Answer: La Cérémonie

According to Charles Derry in his fabulous book "Dark Dreams 2.0: A Psychological History of the Modern Horror Film from the 1950s to the 21st Century", the title "La Cérémonie" comes from "the term associated with the ritual of the guillotine during the French revolution", and Chabrol "has described his film, made after the fall of the Soviet Union, as "the last Marxist film"." The plot is actually taken from Ruth Rendell's novel "A Judgement in Stone", and apparently she was very pleased with the way Chabrol did it.

The film was a huge success, critically and commercially. Isabelle Huppert was lauded for her frighteningly recognizable performance of a loose nut and Sandrine Bonnaire's portrayal of an disturbingly blasé misanthrope also won her much-deserved praise at film festivals.

Answer: For A Few Dollars More

"For A Few Dollars More" is the follow-up to Leone's surprise success of 1964, "A Fistful of Dollars". Apparently, the pressure was on to get a film made to cash in on the first film's popularity. The first half of "For A Few Dollars More" is so packed with cartoonish gags, silly scenarios, and homages to American westerns that it verges on the ridiculous, but then it turns into a nasty tale of brutal violence.

The two bounty hunters are played by Clint Eastwood and Lee Van Cleef, as Manco and Colonel Mortimer respectively. El Indio is played by Gian Maria Volonté. Although Lee Van Cleef was a veteran of Hollywood westerns, he'd never really become a huge star. However, Leone remembered him from the films he'd enjoyed so much, and tracked him down. Many fans of the film focus on Eastwood's performance, but to my mind Gian Maria Volonté steals the show. Subtlety isn't in Volonté's vocabulary, but he makes up for this lack with verve and gusto.

Answer: Ms. 45

Thana, aka Ms. 45 due to the pistol she uses, is played by Zoë Tamerlis Lund in what became a career-defining role. Lund handles the transformation from the timid victim into a fearless femme fatale brilliantly and is believable as both personas. Sadly, Zoë Tamerlis Lund's heavy cocaine use sent her to an early grave. She died in 1999 aged just 37.

Abel Ferrara is equally masterful at the helm and contrary to what some critics at the time claimed, I reckon he manages to avoid sensationalizing either the sexual abuse or vigilantism, and even brings off an element of unexpected comedy.

Answer: The Fog

The town is enveloped in fog on the eve of the town's centennial celebrations and it brings the ghosts of the sailors with it. Although most people are at a loss as to why the seamen have come back from the dead in search of vengeance, a local priest has the answers.

"The Fog" was John Carpenter's fourth directorial feature film. He was on an incredible run and he couldn't seem to put a foot wrong. His debut was the quirkily creepy comedy sci-fi film "Dark Star", which was followed by the tense "Assault on Precinct 13", and the hugely successful (both critically and commercially) "Halloween".

"The Fog" is classic revenge horror at its best. There's no social comment lurking behind the frightening events, it's just Carpenter's take on the age-old adage "the evil that men do lives after them".