YMMV / Running Scared (2006)

• Complete Monster: Dez and Edele Hansel are a wealthy couple who use their free time to abduct, molest, and murder children. They've converted their spacious apartment into a dual playing ground to distract the children and a killing lair. They've also built an immense child pornography collection out of the victims before they killed them. They kidnap Oleg along with two other children, then tie up Oleg and wrap his head in plastic to suffocate him when he proves too much trouble. Teresa arrives to rescue Oleg and the other two abducted children, and is horrified to discover the couple's killing tools and a cabinet containing dozens of videotapes marked with children's names. As a stand-in for the Witch from Hansel and Gretel, their choice in victims makes them stand out by far as the most depraved villains in a crime-ridden setting.
• Cult Classic: Flopped in the theaters, but has gained a respectable following among those who've seen it.
• Harsher in Hindsight: The film concludes with Joey seemingly dying of a gunshot wound, with his wife, Nicky and Oleg presiding over his funeral, only to reemerge alive and well somewhere far away from the city. This becomes a lot more bittersweet after Paul Walker died in a fiery car crash in 2013; To make matters worse while it was the bullet that almost killed him, his supposed death is immediately preceded by him crashing his Mustang.
• Just Here for Godzilla: The film was heavily criticized for its lack of a coherent plot; that said, most are certainly watching it for the massive number of F-Bombs and the bloodbath it brings to the table.
• Retroactive Recognition: Elizabeth Mitchell plays the minor role of Edele and quickly became recognizable as Juliet on Lost shortly after the film's release.
• Signature Scene: Oleg's near-fatal encounter with the serial killer couple might as well count, somehow managing to be far more nauseating and horrific than all the blood and guts scene throughout the rest of the film.
• Squick:
  • The entire pedophile couple scene, especially the discovery of their vast collection of snuff films.
  • Ivan Yugorsky reemerging from his fight with Frankie with his stomach blown open by a shotgun.
• Tearjerker:
  • Milla's suicide when she believes Oleg to be dead; imagine being in Oleg's shoes when he comes home to find his only true family dead amidst the flaming drug lab, just minutes after the fact. Perhaps most devastating is the fact that it was the pursuit triggered by his theft of a gun that indirectly led to her death.
  • Joey expiring in Theresa's arms after being shot by Lester; ultimately subverted as it is revealed that he pulled through after his supposed funeral.
  • Theresa's discovery of the many snuff films hidden within the lair of the pedophile serial killers just moments after rescuing Oleg; the names of more than a dozen faceless children are found on a series of star-rated DVDs in a closet filled with body bags and surgical tools. And if it had not been for Theresa, Oleg surely would not have been their last victim.
  Theresa: I have never seen evil before tonight, Joe! Real fucking evil.
• The Woobie:
  • Oleg. His father is a meth head who is abusive toward him and his mom (who is also addicted). And that's before the events of the movie
  • Milla for the same reasons as Oleg, after a lifetime spent as a prostitute who was very nearly murdered by the Yugorsky family before marrying Anzor; Sadly, it does not end well for her after her only son goes missing.

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