Ten Dead Men is a 2008 thriller film directed by Ross Boyask, produced by Phil Hobden, and starring Brendan Carr, Terry Stone, Doug Bradley, Pooja Shah, Ben Shockley, Lee Latchford-Evans, JC Mac, and Tom Gerald.
Ryan has spent years putting his brutal past behind him. A different man now to the stone cold killer he was a lifetime ago. But when an old face from the past arrives on his doorstep, Ryan is called upon to repay a blood debt from years ago. But the price is too high. Betrayed, and with his life falling apart around him, Ryan goes on a murderous, bloody revenge spree against the Ten Men who took his life away from him. Ten men took away his life. Now Ten Men Will Pay.
Tropes:
- Agony of the Feet: Ryan stabs Lewis through the foot with a shard of broken glass.
- The Alcoholic: Harris is a gambling addict and alcoholic who drinks to forget his gambling losses. This combination of vices means none of the gang think it strange when he drops off the radar for a couple of days.
- Anachronic Order: The film opens In Medias Res, with Ryan killing Garrett and Parker, and the Narrator informing the audience that there are now only two men left he has to kill. The film then jumps back in time, but instead of a straightforward How We Got Here, the film unfolds in a series of flashbacks; some set during Ryan's Roaring Rampage of Revenge and some before. It takes some time for the full story of How We Got Here to become clear to the viewer.
- Batter Up!: Stone's preferred weapon is a baseball. He uses it to wale on Ryan as Ryan is suffering Unwilling Suspension.
- Bound and Gagged: After beating Bruiser into submission, Ryan binds and gags him to a chair that has been nailed to the floor. He inflicts more punishment on him until he removes the gag in order to cut his tongue out.
- Bulletproof Human Shield: Ryan grabs one of Franklin's thugs and uses him as a shield to soak up the bullets from the rest of Franklin's gang when he storms the tower where the Projects Manager is holed up.
- Bulletproof Vest: Ryan pulls on a flak vest as part of his Lock-and-Load Montage, and it absorbs several shots that get past his Bullet Proof Human Shield.
- Camping a Crapper: Ryan ambushes Carter by planting himself in the bathroom of Hart's club and waiting for Carter to answer nature's call.
- Chain Pain: The Projects Manager's Perky Female Minion has a predilection for using chains on her victims: to restrain or to strangle. She makes good use of them on Ryan during her fight with him.
- Cold-Blooded Torture: The speciality of the Projects Manager. When Axel tries to call his friend, not realising that he had fallen into the Projects Manager's hands, all he can hear is some inarticulate gurgles. The Projects Manager them speaks into the phone and apologises that his friend couldn't speak more clearly, but he had just had his jaw removed. He then sends Axel a picture to prove the point.
- Creepy Souvenir: Ryan takes a souvenir from each of the men as he kills them. Most of them are body parts.
- Dirty Cop: DI Keller is in Hart's pocket and is his inside man on the force.
- Dragon-in-Chief: Hart is a complete Non-Action Big Bad and already dead by the time of the final battle. The Projects Manager is Hart's most identifiable minion, the one with the most authority and screentime and the one Ryan comes for last.
- Dressed Like a Dominatrix: The Projects Manager's unnamed Perky Female Minion. In the credits she is listed as Dominatrix.
- Emergency Stash: Early in the film, Ryan retrieves a holdall he had hidden away. Before he storms the tower where the Projects Manager has holed up with Franklin's gang, he goes a through a Lock-and-Load Montage where it is revealed that the bag is filled with military grade hardware from when he worked as Hart's Professional Killer.
- Everybody Calls Him "Barkeep": The Projects Manager.
- Eye Scream: Ryan cuts Hart's eye out with a knife before he kills him: keeping the eye as a Creepy Souvenir.
- Fingore: Ryan cuts off two of Stone's fingers with a pair of kitchen shears while he is still alive. One he leaves behind as a clue for Garrett and Parker, and the other he keeps as a Creepy Souvenir.
- Forced to Watch: Hart's men hold Ryan down and force him to watch as his girlfriend Amy is shot and killed: close enough that her blood splatters over Ryan's face.
- The Gambling Addict: Harris is a gambling addict and alcoholic who drinks to forget his gambling losses. This combination of vices means none of the gang think it strange when he drops off the radar for a couple of days.
- Gayngster: Although not explicitly stated, Garrett and Parker are strongly implied to be a couple. They only operate as a pair, and Parker is especially touchy-feely: doing things like reaching out to stroke Garrett's hair.
- Gotta Kill Them All: Ten men took away Ryan's life. Now ten men have to die.
- Groin Attack: Ryan shoots Franklin in the groin because, as the Narrator puts it, Ryan had always felt that Franklin did all of his thinking with his penis.
- It Works Better with Bullets: Ryan leaves Axel with a pistol to kill himself. Instead, Axel points the gun at the back of Ryan's head as soon as Ryan turns away. However, the hammer falls on an empty chamber, and Ryan turns around holding a single bullet between his thumb and forefinger. He then draws a machete...
- Leave Behind a Pistol: Ryan leaves Axel with a gun with single bullet in it to kill himself. Instead, Axel uses it in an attempt to kill Ryan. Bad move.
- Left for Dead: Garrett and Parker put two bullets in Ryan, wrap his body in plastic, and dump him in the ocean. They really should have checked to make sure that he was dead first.
- Lock-and-Load Montage: There is an extended sequence of Ryan gearing up before he storms the tower where the Projects Manager has holed up with Franklin's gang. Viewers now learn that holdall Ryan retrieved much earlier in the film is filled with military grade hardware. And every weapon he takes from the bag gets used in the ensuing firefight.
- Lodged-Blade Recycling: Ryan stabs Lewis in the thigh with a shard of broken glass. Lewis responds by grabbing Ryan's neck and attempting to force his face down on to the jagged glass sticking of his leg. Ryan yanks the shard out and stabs Lewis in the foot.
- London Gangster: Hart. Hard as nails, he tolerates no disloyalty. When he catches up with Ryan, a Professional Killer who defected from his firm years ago, he has Ryan's girlfriend executed as Ryan is Forced to Watch. He even keeps a Torture Technician (known as 'the Projects Manager') on the payroll to handle the Cold-Blooded Torture for him.
- The Lost Lenore: Ryan is completely devoted to his girlfriend Amy. When she is murdered by figures from his past, he goes on a Roaring Rampage of Revenge. Ryan's every act is driven by her memory, including his last: killing himself as the tenth man responsible for her death.
- Machete Mayhem: After Axel tries to kill him, only to find that the gun was unloaded, Ryan draws a machete from his coat and turns on Axel to wreak his vengeance.
- Made of Iron: Ryan takes damage that should realistically have crippled or killed a normal man. Before he begins his Roaring Rampage of Revenge he is used as a punching bug by a mixed martial arts fighter; hit over the head with a baseball bat; shot twice; and dumped in the ocean wrapped in plastic. He then takes damage in every single fight as he works his way through his hit list. He is still standing at the end.
- Man on Fire: Ryan pours petrol over Franklin's sentry from the top of the tower. When the poor mook looks up to see where the liquid is coming from, he sees Ryan toss a lighted match down on top of him.
- Morality Chain: Ryan's morality chain is his girlfriend Amy. So long as he is with her, he allows himself to believe that he can be a better man and live a normal life. When his old life catches up with, and London Gangster Hart has Amy executed in front of eyes, Ryan snaps and reverts to being the Professional Killer he used to be. He embarks on a Roaring Rampage of Revenge, determined to kill the ten men responsible for her death.
- No Name Given: The Projects Manager's Perky Female Minion is never addressed by name. In the credits she is listed as Dominatrix because of the way she is dressed.
- Oh, Crap!: The look on Franklin's face as he looks to where Ryan has just exited, and sees that Ryan has dropped a belt of grenades besides the propane tanks.
- One-Man Army: Ryan wages a Roaring Rampage of Revenge against Hart's mob. While he mostly picks off his targets one by one, when he goes after the Projects Manager he storms a tower containing his rival Franklin Boulder and a dozen or more heavily armed Mooks. He takes them all out and continues after the Projects Manager. For once the mental toll is not ignored for, after he takes out the last target on hit list, Ryan kills himself.
- Parking Garage: Ryan ambushes Harris in the parking garage of the greyhound track and garrotes him.
- Perky Female Minion: Torture Technician the Projects Manager has a silent female associate who assists him in his tortures, and really gets into it. She has enough moxie to try to take on Ryan single-handed when the Projects Manager scarpers.
- Retired Monster: Ryan used to be a Professional Killer working for London Gangster Hart. He quit after he fell in love with Amy. She is his Morality Chain who allows him to believe that he can be a better man and live a normal life. When his old life catches up with, and Hart has Amy executed in front of eyes, Ryan snaps and embarks on a Roaring Rampage of Revenge, determined to kill the ten men responsible for her death.
- Revolver Cylinder Spin: When Franklin's gang lock-and-load on being told that Ryan is incoming, one of the members (seemingly the only one armed with a revolver) does this.
- Roaring Rampage of Revenge: Hart and his cronies destroy Ryan's new life, murder his girlfriend Amy, shoot him and leave him for dead. Ryan survives and comes back to kill all ten of them.
- Sean Connery Is About to Shoot You: Brendan Carr is about to shoot you (and you are kneeling, judging from the angle)!
- Secret Test of Character: Ryan leaves Axel with a pistol to kill himself. Instead, Axel points the gun at the back of Ryan's head as soon as Ryan turns away. However, the hammer falls on an empty chamber, and Ryan turns around holding a single bullet between his thumb and forefinger.
- Self-Surgery: Ryan uses a switchblade to extract a bullet from himself after the shootout with Garrett and Parker.
- This Is a Drill: The Projects Manager uses an electric drill to bore into Ryan's knee while he is torturing him.
- Throwaway Guns: During the shootout against Franklin's gang, Ryan gets his arms pinned and draws his holdout gun from his boot as its the only weapon her can reach. The gun jams after two shots but, now being free, he tosses it aside and continues on with his rampage.
- Throwing the Distraction: During the final showdown in the timber yard, Ryan throws the empty pill bottle to distract the Projects Manager.
- Tongue Trauma: Ryan cuts out Bruiser's tongue with a piece of broken glass and keeps it as a Creepy Souvenir.
- Torture Technician: The Projects Manager handles information extraction for Hart. When Keller objects to him taking his time over torturing Ryan rather than just killing him, he responds that you cannot hurry great art.
- Unflinching Walk: Ryan does one away from Hart's exploding car.
- Unwilling Suspension: After capturing Ryan, Bruiser and Stone hang him from the rafters. Bruiser uses him as a human punching bag until Stone knocks him out with a baseball bat when it is time to transport him to the rest of the gang.
- The Voiceless: Ryan is not shown speaking during his Roaring Rampage of Revenge beyond grunts of pain or exertion. He is shown speaking in flashbacks, but his voice is not heard. Only at the end of the film does he deliver a single Wham Line to the Projects Manager.
- Additionally the Projects Manager's Perky Female Minion does not speak. Unlike Ryan, it is not established if she can speak and is choosing not to, or if she is physically incapable of speech.
- We Have to Get the Bullet Out!: Ryan uses a switchblade to extract a bullet from his torso at the end of the In Medias Res opening.
- Wham Line: "I killed Hart two days ago."
