Bad Samaritan has David Tennant and serial killers and you probably haven’t even heard of it. Swept under the rug this film is underrated and overlooked. The serial killer here is played by David Tennant and if you want to see a mean-spirited Tennant in a movie about petty criminals in the wrong place at the wrong time, you’ve come to the right place. The performances in the Bad Samaritan movie are good and the creepy serial killer character is solid.
First of all, the run time for Bad Samaritan is a neat 111 minutes, or 1 hour and 51 minutes to be exact.
- Director: Dean Devlin.
- Writer: Brandon Boyce.
- Bad Samaritan Cast: David Tennant (Dr. Who), Robert Sheehan (The Mortal Instruments of Bones 2013), Kerry Condon (Rome 2005), and Carlito Olivera (East Los High 2013.)
- Released: May 2018 USA and August for the DVD.
- Production from Electric Entertainment.
What is Bad Samaritan About?
Sean Falco is a photographer by day and a valet with his best mate, Derek, by night. Sean and Derek have a bit of a side-hustle going on. While the patrons are dining in the restaurant they work in, their homes are being robbed.
One night, Sean discovers a locked door on one of his heists and decides to find out what’s in there. He doesn’t find the payday he hoped for and instead finds a woman tied to a chair, bound and gagged. In his bid to try and release the woman, the homeowner (David Tennant) has other plans in mind.
Where to Stream Bad Samaritan
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Bad Samaritan Movie Review With Starring David Tennant, Robert Sheehan & Carlito Olivero
Sean and his best mate are personable, both in a frat-boy type of way. Their presence eats up the screen and the first quarter of Bad Samaritan is pretty exciting.
Performances from the cast of Bad Samaritan are solid and the story captures your attention if you like serial killer movies. I do enjoy films with serial killers, and they rarely involve valets like this one does. Sure some of the story about why the serial killer is a serial killer and what he does with his captives is well-trodden ground but overall it’s not a terrible film.
I realized it was the underlying, worn-out, stupidity through the actions of the characters that let this story down. I guess you could call it a pet peeve. After the first quarter, questions, and I wanted to know if it was my fault I wanted characters with brains. Are all criminals stupid? Is this a character trait I am not versed in? Not only were the two thieves inept at being thieves, but I also began to wonder if they were slightly underqualified to drive the cars they were parking.
I also asked myself if perhaps I could be more of a mastermind than either of the two mates blundering through their side gig. I immediately wondered why more people didn’t use a concierge business to rob people. I’ll tell you why. They’re the only two working there on a specific day. Surely their activities will be discovered sooner rather than later, so I’m certain jail time was on the agenda had they not come across the serial killer.
Movies With Dumb Criminals
The first thing Sean does is sit on the bed of the most immaculate house he’s probably ever been in. He got in through the garage without having to touch anything. Surely this would leave you wanting to look like you’ve never touched anything else? So sitting and lounging on the bed was his second stop. Then he leaves the phone out. Erm, when did you start being a criminal? Yesterday? Not only that but then we have to contend with the more than overused part about police investigators haphazardly waving away a potential lead in a massive serial killer investigation just because his background is a little shady, you’ve got to wonder where these cops got their badges from.
An alcoholic man dressed in a Donald Duck costume could’ve entered a police station to give the story Sean gave and would have been taken more seriously than he was. It’s annoying when these things happen in films and I would like it to stop please and thank you. On occasion, the cop does investigate and is immediately killed but one doesn’t cancel out the other so I would like to think there is a middle ground for this type of thing. If the information the cops were given wasn’t slightly hinged on a case that seemed to be kind of a big deal, then perhaps I could overlook it. But it’s not, so I won’t.
David Tennant is a Serial Killer
David Tennant is pretty darn great in Bad Samaritan. He’s totally conceited enough in character to be plausible in his endeavor to ‘correct’ these people who broke into his house. It was this part of the narrative that I enjoyed. I enjoyed it despite how much he got away with it while the cops were looking the other way and possibly eating doughnuts. He even gets to blow up his own house and not raise an eyelid from the dozing police force. Let’s get back to talking about Tennant though, I hope he’s cast in more films like this. He does it really well.
Serial Killer Movies
There were also a few other things that swayed in favor of this being a munchable movie to watch. Kerry Condon plays the abducted Katie and it’s through her one-liners and antics that we get a real show. It turns out Sean isn’t only a bad thief but also a pretty shoddy hero and Katie gets to yell out;
“That’s how you F*&^ING save someone!”
Quote from Bad Samaritan
When he botches the whole thing up. You might think this is a spoiler but the subsequent scenes have enough meat to them that this is in fact not a spoiler. There is also a brief moment where the horror cliche of women falling over and being unable to run with any kind of confidence is turned on its head. I quite liked the role reversal here and it made for quite the giggle.
I’m not going to ever say Bad Samaritan will make any of my top ten film lists, but it’s not too bad if you go into it with a few glasses of wine. Not too many that you forgot you watched it but enough so that the stupidity doesn’t grate on your nerves.
I give Bad Samaritan
3 nufty criminals out of 5
The Bad Samaritan Movie Trailer
