In Netflix's POINT BLANK, Joe Lynch has smartly remade the crackerjack French thriller

Back in 2011 we were extremely impressed with a little French thriller called Point Blank, directed and co-written by Fred Cavayé. Now Netflix is releasing a very-close-to-the-original remake of this film, again titled POINT BLANK, and I am happy to say that it is almost in every way a comparable feat.

Considering the 1967 John Boorman film of the same title (but leaving out the not-so-hot Mickey Rourke bomb from 1998), it would seem that Point Blank movies are very much worth seeing.

The new film, with a screenplay adapted from M. Cavayé's original by Adam G. Simon, has been directed by one of my favorite action directors, Joe Lynch (pictured at right), a fellow about whom -- given his achievement with Everly and Mayhem -- it might be safe to say that nobody has given us a more gleeful array of over-the-top violence and anarchic bedlam.

Mr. Lynch tones down the gleeful here, if not the violence, as the story involves a very pregnant woman held hostage and even knocked around a bit more that might seem righteous or bearable.

The movie begins with a bang (several: yes, gunshots), as a figure crashes through a window and runs away pursued by others. Who's bad and who's good will not shake out for some time yet, and so much happens in the first few minutes without our quite knowing exactly what, why or even how, that we must simply take it all in and trust that an explanation is on offer.

It is, and it leads to a lot more violence, surprise and fun as a male nurse (Anthony Mackie, above, right) taking care of that initial run-away man (Frank Grillo, above left), who's now in hospital, is forced to get that man out of the hospital and away from the police before his own pregnant wife comes to harm.

To tell much more of the plot would create spoilers, so I'll just say that along the way we meet a hard-boiled policewoman (Marcia Gay Harden, above, left) and a bunch of cops, not all of them as devoted to "protect and serve" as you might prefer. The movie's most emotional performance, and the one that finally grounds it to some kind of reality is given by Christian Cooke (below), as the frightened, angry and helpful/helpless brother of the Grillo character, caught between rescuing his bro and doing the right thing.

The other crack performance comes from a character we meet only late in the movie, though we've been hearing about him -- Big D -- for most of the film. As played the very scary, funny and surprising Markice Moore (shown at bottom), Big D turns out to be a not unsophisticated movie lover sporting a jones for the work of William Friedkin. Seems to TrustMovies that Big D and his scenes are where the movie differs most from Cavayé's original. This, and the fact that the French version offered, even later in the game, a bit more welcome surprise about the identity of the good guys and the bad.

Otherwise both films are absolute delights of their hostage-thriller genre, offering plenty of action, fun, and sure, violence, betrayal and other assorted naughtiness. Lynch's pacing, as ever, proves on the mark, and he gets good performances from his professional and well-chosen cast.

Streaming as of yesterday, July 12, on Netflix, Point Blank is certainly a shoo-in for action fans smart enough to follow and stick with a plot that has more in-and-outs/ups-and-down than the spoon-fed pablum we're usually offered, or the at-least-one-hour-too-long super-hero movies audiences still seem willing to sit through and discuss as though these were remotely intelligent or worth our nearly-end-of-times time.

Joe Lynch's very violent MAYHEM goes gleefully and crazily over the top

Ah, the workplace. Isn't it fun? We've just seen the French version, Corporate, via Nicolas Silhol, which gets a one-time run today in NYC at FIAF (until some smart distributor picks it up for further attention). Best of all, maybe, would be Joe Johnston's little gem from 2014, Not Safe for Work, a B-movie workplace thriller that gets everything right. Add now to your list of workplace goodies, MAYHEM, from Long Island filmmaker Joe Lynch, who a few years back gave us the the very tasty and so politically incorrect vengeance thriller, Everly, in which Salma Hayek strutted her very impressive stuff.

Now Mr. Lynch (shown at left) turns his attention to the corporate world and all (or much) of its malfeasance with his usual grin and copious squirts of the red stuff. Mayhem arrives at its titular state rather quickly, but prior to that it provides a bit of exposition regarding a new virus that has arrived to give humanity ever more problems. Thankfully (and a good deal more creatively) this virus does not turn folk into zombies.

Rather, once infected, the host's eyes turn red and he (or she) loses all inhibitions, becoming ultra-violent, ultra-horny and ultra-, well, just about any naughty thing you might be able to imagine. (One of the film's funnier moments has to do with emptying wastebaskets.)

So when our hero, Derek (played by a fine and feisty Steven Yeun, shown above and below, pre- and post-mayhem), who has risen to a higher rank in the corporate world by becoming an ever-better shit-heel, even if (as we note in an early scene) he has not yet lost quite all of his humanity, is suddenly made the fall guy for the mistakes of others, he plots revenge on his "horrible bosses."

Along for the ride is a pretty young woman named Melanie (Samantha Weaving, above, right, and below), who has come to the corporation to plead with it not to evict her from her family home -- the mortgage of which the corporation now owns. When the virus infects the building, including our sort-of good guy and gal, and the corporation headquarters is quarantined, the opportunity arises to redress certain grievances.

Among the numerous villains are some very fine actors playing people who've been given just enough specific and nasty qualities that each is enable to endow his/her character with some lip-smacking fun via a clever, on-target performance.

These would include the estimable Kerry Fox (at extreme left, above) as the corporate dragon lady, and Stephen Brand (above, front and center) as the would-be fellow in charge. Ms Fox is always a treat to see, and she nails it once again in this juicy supporting role.

Also on tap is the very hot actress, Caroline Chikezie (center left), as the firm's lower-level dragon lady known as The Siren, who provides a lot of nasty, sexy fun. As the violence escalates (it's all pretty cartoonish, from which the recipients keep rising up again and again) and our heroes make their way to the "top," things get dicier, funnier and ever more actionful.

It may seem odd to describe a movie this bloody and violent as an enjoyable romp, but given what keeps unfurling in the real world about our corporate culture and its negative impact upon us all, I suppose we can be forgiven for indulging in a little fantasy payback now and again, especially when it is this inventively staged. So thank you, Mr. Lynch. And keep up the good work.

From RLJE Films and running a swift 86 minutes, Mayhem opens this Friday, November 10, in theaters, via VOD and digital high def. In Los Angeles you can view it at Laemmle's Monica Film Center, in New York City at the Cinema Village, and at the other eight cities/theaters listed below: Atlanta/AMC Conyers Crossing 16, Dallas/AMC Hickory Creek, Houston/AMC Yorktown, San Francisco/AMC Deer Valley, Phoenix/AMC Arizona Center, Chicago/AMC Woodridge, Detroit/ AMC Gratiot and Tampa/AMC Sundial. 

Cool--in a gory/crazy/funny/action-heavy way! Ms Hayek stars in Joe Lynch's fabulous EVERLY

Looking for the kind of wild, bloody, all-stops-out, fun-and-fetish-filled action movie they just don't make anymore (maybe they never did)? If so, we've got a tip for you: EVERLY, the new action film from director Joe Lynch and screen-writer Yale Hannon. It's a hoot and a half, and it gives Salma Hayek the kind of super-heroine role that Scarlett Johansson could only manage with those special-effect sci-fi powers in Lucy or the Avengers movies. Of course Everly is not one bit believable. But in this kind of non-stop action film, do you really ask for truth?

Of course not. You just want a bloody good time and maybe some pulchritude tossed in for extra measure. Misters Lynch (at right) and Hannon provide the fun and frolic, while Ms Hayek (above and below), in a role that shows that the lady's still got what it takes, offers up the beauty and charisma. Theres' a lot of the last two on view.

The movie begins in the dark, so to speak, because all we see is a black screen as we hear what sounds like a woman being hurt, maybe tortured. Oh, gosh. Not to worry. Within moments, the screen lights up, we're looking down into a bathroom where a nude woman (our titular Everly), clearly hurt, appears, locks the door behind her, and....  Nope: I'm not telling. We do hear a gun shot, however, and from that point onward, for some 92 minutes, there is simply no let-up to the suspense, action and good, gory fun.

We're in the naughty land of nasty sex traffickers once again, this time with an Asian slant. Everly, it seems, has been commandeered, over some years now, to do the bidding of the head trafficker, but the lady has had, as they say, enough. However, head baddie knows the whereabouts of her mother and daughter, so soon we have three generations of women hiding out together in a very odd hotel.

The film was shot mostly, perhaps entirely, in Belgrade, Serbia -- which should be enough to scare the pants off you already. If not, the odd assortment of villains, all working for Mister Top Guy, certainly will. Our head man, whom, yes, we eventually do get to meet, seems to have a small army of thugs on tap to do his bidding.

So how do Hayek and crew manage to hold out so long? Through all kinds of shenanigans, Salma leads them ever onward, using her amazing knack for firearms and fighting to get through it all. There are some ups and down, and for awhile it seems our heroine is toast. But soon she's back to buttered bread -- bloody and battered as that tasty loaf soon becomes.

The most enticing and original of these villains is a quintet of sadist (the great Togo Igawa, from The Hedgehog), masochist and three large acolytes who go at our gal something fierce. The actress who plays Everly's daughter is one of the most beautiful little girls seen on film in ages (newcomer Aisha Ayama), while mom/grandma is played with comedic smarts by Laura Cepeda.

The sweetest of Ms Hayek's hits is delightfully performed by Akie Kotabe (above), who sticks around long enough to kibbitz and bleed, while Everly's chief nemesis is given quite a impressive performance by Hiroyuki Watanabe, two photos below, who proves as lean, lithe and sexy as he is dangerous.

Mr. Lynch has directed the film to within an inch of its life, and he's managed, though it stays completely within that one hotel setting, to make each minute easy to sit through. Everly, the movie, looks every bit as good as does Everly, the character, with sumptuous production design by Ondrej Nekvasil (Snowpiercer) and crack cinematography from Steve Gainer (Mysterious Skin).

There are also a flock of call girls on tap -- most of whom would be just as happy to see Everly breathe her last, and some of the fun provided is at the girls' expense. (This is not exactly what we would call a feminist tract.) But that's OK, too, because Hayek acts and actions her way through it all with real aplomb. If the film is a success -- and it certainly should be at least a minor one -- I could see a sequel or two soon in the works, perhaps next time with Latins, Blacks, Arabs or, gosh, maybe just a bunch of rich and uber-entitled bankers and Wall Street white guys playing the villains. Many of this set are no doubt already dick-deep in the sideline trade of sex trafficking.

Meanwhile, if you're a fan of this kind of thing, don't miss Everly, from Radius/TWC, which opens Friday, February 27, here and there around the country -- after its iTunes digital debut last month. (Here in NYC, it'll be opening at the Village East Cinema.) If you miss it in theaters, the film should be available on VOD and/or digital again soon, as well as on DVD and (I hope) Blu-ray, for this is one good-looking movie.