Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #42362 in DVD
• Released on: 2004-01-06
• Rating: R (Restricted)
• Formats: Color, DVD, NTSC
• Original language: English
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 103 minutes

Customer Reviews

NEXT STOP IS HELL
PURGATORY FLATS enters the "Body Heat" territory in this well-crafted, keenly directed femme fatale story. Vincent Ventresca plays Dr. Thomas Reed, a man whose life was cruelly changed when his wife is killed in a car accident in which he was driving drunk. He is sentenced to five years in prison and upon his release he refuses the help of his brother (Jason Brooks), and hitchhikes to a small town called Purgatory Flats. There he meets the seductively sexy Sunny (Alexandra Holden). She is married to a no-good drug addict named Owen who is wounded seriously in a drug deal gone bad. Dr. Tom comes on to the scene and tries to help save Owen. However, Owen's uncle Dean (Gregg Henry) doesn't want two time offender Owen to be put in jail, so he forces Tom to go with him to their house to nurse Owen back to health. There we meet Owen's older brother, Randy (Brian Austin Green), who is AWOL and a brutal redneck himself.
From here, Tom becomes more and more involved and ensuing mayhem, murder and deception run rampant.
A clever script and top notch performances make this sleeper a keeper. Ventresca is excellent as Tom, showing his guilt over the death of his wife, his ineffective attempt at celibacy, and his desperation in his situation. Holden sizzles as the young Mata Hari, combining a teen innocence with an older woman's cunning. Green (Knots Landing) is perfect as redneck Randy, and Gregg Henry gives a solid performance as the treacherous uncle.
PURGATORY FLATS moves along in a quiet ominous mood, and it's plot twist may be predictable, but it still has a punch.

Good Solid Flick
After spending five years in prison, Dr. Thomas Reed, played by the incomparable Vincent Ventresca, exiles himself to Purgatory Flats and winds up tending bar. He soon meets the luscious, angel-faced Sunny (Alexandra Holden). "You are wicked." he tells her. "You have no idea." she replies as she sips her Slo Comfortable Screw and languidly drags on her cig. Reed finds himself entwined in the violent troubles of her family and the femme fatale story unfolds set against the desolation and desperation of the oil-drained western town.

Canny direction. Great performances. Superb entourage work. And some lust scenes that sizzle like the sun in Purgatory.

Now why had I never heard of this before?
This is such a fun movie! I loved it. The actors play it straight, real low-key (except for the Very Angry Brother) and smart. It's so well put together! Loads of grit and such a nicely done ending. So many movies just can't cut it to the end, they turn sour; but this one has a satisfying finish as well as a strong start. I'm so glad I got it.
I just can't understand why I never heard anything about it before I hunted up stuff Vince Ventresca was in. (Ok, so I've started watching movies with specific actors in them, which I swore I'd never do. Sue me. He's good.)

Oh, plot? um, Doctor gets chucked in jail for a few, gets out and doesn't want to go back to LA. Ends up in the little town of the title, Purgatory Flats. Gets caught up in the wake of a shooting... Thing is, you completely understand everyone in the movie, why they do what they do, all the bad decisions they make. It's all the sort of stuff that people do every day, how the little things just slide you right into disaster.

There's a little cheeze (chase scene anyone) - but everyone likes a little cheese, and they don't overdo it.