Dead Man's Shoes

Unsettling and gritty (well, Shane Meadows films often are), DEAD MAN’S SHOES is a revenge thriller featuring Paddy Considine as an ex-soldier who, after returning to his hometown, exacts revenge on the thugs responsible for the horrific abuse of his mentally challenged younger brother. One of Meadows’ finest outputs, this 2004 film has just been released both in a Limited and Standard Edition Blu-ray format.

Richard (Paddy Considine) has done his time serving in the British Army and has recently returned to his home town of Matlock in Derbyshire. However, instead of taking it easy and enjoying some well-deserved downtime, he embarks on a brutal and murderous spree to bring the thuggish drug dealers to justice who were responsible for the terrifying abuse of Anthony (Toby Kebell), his younger and mentally impaired brother. Feeling guilt over the fact that he wasn’t able to protect Anthony while serving the army, Richards now wants to make up for his ‘failures’. Just how horrific Anthony’s abuse was won’t be revealed until the film’s truly devastating conclusion. In between, and in b/w flashback scenes, we get an inkling of what went on during Richard’s absence.

Herbie (Stuart Wolfenden) is the first of the thugs who encounters the ex-soldier in a greasy spoon, irritatingly addressing Richard (who he doesn’t recognise) after he kept staring at him, with Richard yelling back. A little later, he turns up in front of the house where Herbie’s mates live and we get a pretty good impression of their lowlife existence just by observing the state of the place, drugs and hash pipes all over the gaff, not to mention empty beer cans, left-over pizza slices and porn mags. Cambridge or Eaton? Hard to tell…!

Just as Herbie leaves the house, Richard is waiting in the wings and apologises for his behaviour earlier on, still not revealing who he is. Alas, the penny drops some time later though with Herbie’s IQ, it’s a wonder the penny drops at all. When Herbie informs his mates cum fellow gang members Tuff (Paul Sadot) and Soz (Neil Bell) about Richard’s return, they feel more irritated rather than alarmed but soon change their tune, namely when one evening, Richard, wearing a creepy looking army gas mask, returns to the building and terrorises a drunk and stoned Herbie in the hallway, who runs back to the apartment yelling for help. Together with Soz and Tuff for backup, Herbie runs down the stairs in order to chase Richard, who is hiding in a dark corner. While the three thugs are chasing a phantom, Richard boldly enters their apartment and steals the drugs after having turned the place upside down. Three more gang members, namely Big Al (Seamus O’Neil), Sonny (Gary Stretch) and Gypsy John (George Newton) all receive the ‘Richard treatment’ while Gypsy John is brutally bludgeoned to death. When his corpse is discovered slumped against a wall, on which ‘One down’ is smeared with his blood, the rest of the thugs finally come to realise just how serious Richard takes his revenge.

The following day, the remaining gang drive in their white-green Citroen 2CV (not exactly gangster…) to the remote farm in which Richard stays, after he previously dared them to come and get him. Suffice to say, the thugs make a mess of it when they send their pal Big Al to lure Richard out of the barn. After Al manages to do so, Sonny takes a rifle tucked away under his car seat and attempts to shoot Richard, but accidentally hits Al, whose head explodes like a squashed water melon. Not only did Sonny miss his target but there are no rounds left and so the thugs are forced to drive off, only for the car to break down along the way and Tuff running off in sheer panic. It’s from then on that Richard, who has no problems when it comes to outsmarting the rest of the gang, bumps them off one by one. There’s only one former gang member left, Mark (Paul Hurstfield), who since has turned his life around and leads a respectable existence with his wife Marie (Jo Hartley) and their kids. Nonetheless, Richard comes for him and forces Mark to drive to an old abandoned church, where the most horrific part of Anthony’s abuse took part (shown in a lengthy flashback sequence) and it’s this particular scene which explains Richard’s thirst for revenge. That said, he himself begins to crumble and question his actions which, as he points out, makes him the same kind of monster as the men were who he killed…

Considine gives a fittingly intense performance, with director Meadows successfully bringing a slice of northern working class drug culture to screen. Also, Toby Kerbell does an impressive and convincing job in portraying the mentally impaired Anthony.

DEAD MAN’S SHOES is available in Limited Edition format, presented in a rigid slipcase together with a 120-page book, the Dead Man’s Shoes graphic novel and six collector’s art cards. Both Limited Edition and standard Blu-ray furthermore come with the following Special Features: audio commentaries, interviews, deleted/alternate scenes, ‘Northern Soul’ short film, Danger Mouse and Jemini music video.