Movie Review: Bound

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Official Tagline: The daughter of a wealthy real estate broker falls in love with a younger man, who introduces her to B&D and S&M. Using her newly awakened sexual prowess; she finally takes charge of her own life.

Written by: Jared Cohn (screenplay), Delondra Williams (additional writing)
Directed by: Jared Cohn
Starring: Charisma Carpenter, Bryce Draper, Morgan Obenreder

Bound is a direct to video release by the Schlock masters at production company The Asylum . Known for such master pieces of cinematic art like: Sharknado 3: Oh Hell No! , Mega Shark vs. Kolossus ,San Andreas Quake , and Avengers Grimm. They produce movies fast and cheap and seem to have a knack for being inspired by big budget films, taking the basic plots, tweaking the titles and quickly putting out a film to cash in on the hype for the big budget film. Such is the case with Bound; The Asylum’s effort into The 50 Shades of Grey territory.

You may be getting the impression that I’m not a big fan of The Asylum and I’m not. I have seen most of the movies they have released and some are entertaining, but many are not and I wish they word spend a little more time producing better quality movies. I did have my reservations about watching Bound, but I am a Charisma Carpenter fan since the Buffy and Angel days, so my curiosity was peaked. I figured it would be worth watching just for the possibility of a Charisma nude scene.

I was pleasantly surprised by Bound, it is much better than most of the Asylum’s efforts. The story and directing by Jared Cohn is journeyman quality stuff, but he gets the job done. The real stand out here is Charisma Carpenter; she gives a very good performance as, Michelle Mulan, a woman trying to discover who she really is, while exploring her hidden sexual desires and inner strengths. Charisma is also fearless in her nude and erotic scenes which are done tastefully.

The other actors are not up to Miss Carpenter’s level in the film, but make a brave effort with the direction the received. Bryce Draper as the younger seducer, Ryan Black [Get it? He’s darker than Christian Grey] comes off as a sleazy douche bag at first and goes downhill from there. I kept wondering why Michelle would even go out with this guy, let alone get tied up by him, but Draper is a good looking actor and sometimes that is enough.

I’m a fan of the thriller genre films that came out in the 1980s and 90s that were a staple of Cinemax. With stars like: Shannon Tweed, Shannon Whirry and Tanya Roberts and Bound seems like one of those films, where you had a strong female main character who relied on her beauty and her brains to outsmart the men trying to use her. I hope we see Charisma Carpenter in more thrillers like this, maybe start a rebirth of the erotic thriller genre. While Bound isn’t a great movie, it is kind of fun and if you’re a Charisma Carpenter fan, it is a nice diversion for an hour and a half.

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Screen Writer Ink
Fade In Is Just The Beginning

While Bound isn’t a great movie, it is kind of fun and if you’re a Charisma Carpenter fan, it is a nice diversion for an hour and a half.
Story
63
Directing
55
Acting
76
Charisma Carpenter Nude Scenes
89
71