While Django Unchained was full of awesome moments, some Quentin Tarantino fans felt stung by the obviously truncated arc of Zoe Bell's mysterious masked badass. Bell has since revealed some details about her character's cut story, and is nothing but gracious about her recurring collaborator's edits. Still, as someone whose been in awe of her since Death Proof, where she memorably rode on the front of a muscle car in a terrifying high speed chase, I'm pumped to see her snag a lead in Raze, the gritty drama that's trailer can be seen above thanks to IGN.
Bell has performed countless stunts on plenty of Tarantino movies, but as a stuntwoman her contribution is intentionally hard to distinguish from the actress she doubles for. (For more insight into the mysterious subset of moviemaking that is stunt work, seek out the sensational behind-the-scenes documentary Double Dare, which follows Bell from Xena: Warrior Princess to her first meeting with Tarantino.) Her physical prowess and dynamic screen presence has earned Bell a string of small acting roles in film and television, but Raze appears to be her biggest since Death Proof.
Raze will screen as part of Tribeca Film Festival's Midnight screenings program, a selection of films that are made for late nights and fueled by bonkers brutality. This action-horror feature helmed by Josh C. Waller (McCanick) offers Bell the lead role of Sabrina, a woman who has been abruptly abducted and forced into a subterranean prison where inhabitants are forced to battle or else pay a very high price. Inspired by the gritty women-in-prison genre, Raze promises a dark premise, relentless violence, and a keen bend of subversion.
Look for our review of Raze closer to its world premiere on April 21st at the Tribeca Film Festival.
