Vigilante film explained

The vigilante film is a film genre in which the protagonist or protagonists engage in vigilante behavior, taking the law into their own hands. Vigilante films are usually revenge films in which the legal system fails protagonists, leading them to become vigilantes. The vigilante film has in recent years often crossed over with the superhero genre, due to character origin stories frequently involving an injustice having been committed against them.

History

In United States cinema, vigilante films gained prominence during the 1970s with "touchstones" like Death Wish and Dirty Harry, both of which received multiple sequels. The 1974 film Death Wish has been described as officially starting the genre, causing many cheap imitations and knockoffs such as Vigilante and Vigilante Force, with the most financially successful being 1980's The Exterminator.^[1]

The Los Angeles Times reported, "Vigilante vengeance was the cinematic theme of the [1970s], flourishing in the more respectable precincts of the new American cinema even as it fueled numerous exploitation flicks," referring to Taxi Driver as a respectable example of the genre. It reported in 2009 that such films were making a comeback after "the comparatively prosperous and peaceable 1990s", with examples like Walking Tall (2004), Death Sentence (2007) and Law Abiding Citizen (2009).

List of films

Pre-1965 vigilante films

-- width="100%" -->
Film	Year	Ref.
Tracked by Bloodhounds; or, A Lynching at Cripple Creek	1904
The White Caps	1905	^[2]
The Birth of a Nation	1915
Judex	1916
The Adventures of Robin Hood	1938	^[3]
	1940
The Ox-Bow Incident	1943	^[4]
The Big Heat	1953
The Bravados	1958	^[5]
The Virgin Spring	1960	^[6]
Treasure of the Silver Lake	1962	^[7]
Youth of the Beast	1963	^[8]

Late 60s-mid 80s vigilante film wave

-- width="100%" -->
Film	Year	Ref.
The Sons of Katie Elder	1965	^[9]
The Elusive Avengers	1967	^[10]
The Born Losers	1967	^[11]
Death Rides a Horse	1967	^[12]
The Bride Wore Black	1968
	1969
Cold Sweat	1970	^[13]
Joe	1970
Ned Kelly	1970	^[14]
Violent City	1970
Billy Jack	1971
Chrome and Hot Leather	1971
Dirty Harry	1971
Straw Dogs	1971
Shaft	1971	^[15]
Execution Squad	1972
Ulzana's Raid	1972
	1972	^[16]
The No Mercy Man	1973	^[17]
Coffy	1973
	1973
Magnum Force	1973
Revolver	1973
Robin Hood	1973
Thriller – A Cruel Picture	1973
Tony Arzenta	1973
Walking Tall	1973
What Have They Done to Your Daughters?	1974
Death Wish	1974
Street Law	1974
Foxy Brown	1974
Three the Hard Way	1974
The Street Fighter	1974
The Black Six	1974	^[18]
Black Belt Jones	1974	^[19]
Act of Vengeance	1974	^[20]
The Black Gestapo	1975
Syndicate Sadists	1975
The Common Man	1975
Kidnap Syndicate	1975
Manhunt in the City	1975
The "Human" Factor	1975
The Big Racket	1976
Taxi Driver	1976
Colt 38 Special Squad	1976
Vigilante Force	1976
Zebra Force	1976
The Enforcer	1976
Lipstick	1976
Strange Shadows in an Empty Room	1976
Trial by Combat	1976
Keoma	1976	^[21]
The Outlaw Josey Wales	1976	^[22]
Mad Dog Morgan	1976	^[23]
Brotherhood of Death	1976	^[24]
An Average Little Man	1977
Double Game	1977
Rolling Thunder	1977	^[25]
I Spit on Your Grave	1978
A Dangerous Toy	1979
Mad Max	1979	^[26]
Defiance	1980
	1980
Ms. 45	1981
Lovely But Deadly	1981	^[27]
Death Wish II	1982
Krodham	1982
	1982	^[28]
First Blood	1982	^[29]
Burst City	1983	^[30]
The Graduates of Malibu High	1983
The Star Chamber	1983
Sudden Impact	1983
Escape from the Bronx	1983	^[31]
Vigilante	1983
Alley Cat	1984
The Toxic Avenger	1984	^[32]
Exterminator 2	1984
Savage Streets	1984
Streets of Fire	1984	^[33]
Blastfighter	1984	^[34]
Death Wish 3	1985
Naked Vengeance	1985
The Last Dragon	1985	^[35]
Thou Shalt Not Kill... Except	1985	^[36]

Late 1980s to the present

-- width="100%" -->
Film	Year	Ref.
The Gladiator	1986
The Seventh Curse	1986	^[37]
	1987
Man on Fire	1987
Rolling Vengeance	1987
Miami Connection	1987	^[38]
Her Vengeance	1988
I'm Gonna Git You Sucka	1988	^[39]
Pumpkinhead	1988	^[40]
Traxx	1988	^[41]
Batman	1989
The Punisher	1989	^[42]
Darkman	1990
Total Recall	1990	^[43]
	1991	^[44]
Falling Down	1993
	1994
	1994	^[45]
	1994
	1995
Blood and Donuts	1995	^[46]
One Tough Bastard	1995	^[47]
Rumble in the Bronx	1995
	1996
Eye for an Eye	1996
Night Hunter	1996	^[48]
Spawn	1997	^[49]
Blade	1998	^[50]
	1999
Shaft	2000
Faust: Love of the Damned	2000	^[51]
Collateral Damage	2002	^[52]
Spider-Man	2002	^[53]
Kill Bill	2003
	2003
The Hebrew Hammer	2003	^[54]
Hellboy	2004
Man on Fire	2004
Walking Tall	2004
	2004
Bad Reputation	2005	^[55]
Batman Begins	2005
Constantine	2005	^[56]
V for Vendetta	2005
Munich	2005
Four Brothers	2005
Sin City (film)	2005
Hard Candy	2006	^[57]
Death Note	2006
	2007
Death Sentence	2007
Urban Justice	2007
El Muerto	2007	^[58]
	2008
Taken	2008
Gran Torino	2008
The Horseman	2008
Gutterballs	2008	^[59]
	2009
Defendor	2009
Law Abiding Citizen	2009
Harry Brown	2009
Inglourious Basterds	2009
Watchmen	2009
13 Assassins	2010	^[60]
The Man from Nowhere	2010	^[61]
	2010	^[62]
22 Bullets	2010	^[63]
Faster	2010
Machete	2010
Kick-Ass	2010
Super	2010
	2010	^[64]
Drive Angry	2011	^[65]
Hobo with a Shotgun	2011
Drive	2011
Gallowwalkers	2012	^[66]
Scary or Die	2012	^[67]
The Amazing Adventures of the Living Corpse	2012	^[68]
	2012
	2012
Bad Ass	2012
Taken 2	2012
Fire with Fire	2012	^[69]
The Man with the Iron Fists	2012	^[70]
The Last Stand	2013
Snitch	2013
Prisoners	2013	^[71]
Avenged	2013	^[72]
Kick-Ass 2	2013
The Outlaw Michael Howe	2013	^[73]
Skin Trade	2014	^[74]
John Wick	2014
	2014
In Order of Disappearance	2014
	2014
Mr. X	2015
Taken 3	2015
Vendetta	2015
Elle (film)	2016
I Am Wrath	2016
The Accountant	2016
	2017
The Foreigner	2017
Burning	2018
Peppermint	2018
The Equalizer 2	2018
Death Wish	2018
Mandy	2018	^[75]
War	2019
	2019	^[76]
6 Underground	2019
Birds of Prey	2020
Promising Young Woman	2020
Nobody	2021	^[77]
The Protégé	2021
The Batman	2022
The Baker	2022
The Equalizer 3	2023
Jawan	2023
The Beekeeper	2024
Monkey Man	2024
The Crow	2024
	2025

See also

• Poliziotteschi
• Crime drama
• Psychological thriller
• Rape and revenge film
• Horror film

Bibliography

• Book: Hoppenstand, Gary . 1993 . Lethal weapons: The gun as icon in the popular urban vigilante film . Loukides . Paul . Fuller . Linda K. . Beyond the Stars 3: The Material World in American Popular Film . Popular Press . 978-0-87972-623-2 .
• Web site: Novak . Glenn D. . November 1987 . Social Ills and the One-Man Solution: Depictions of Evil in the Vigilante Film . International Conference on the Expressions of Evil in Literature and the Visual Arts .

Notes and References

1. Richard B. Armstrong, Mary Willems Armstrong. (2010). Encyclopedia of Film Themes, Settings and Series. McFarland. p. 216.
2. Web site: Before the Nickelodeon: Edwin S. Porter and the Edison Manufacturing Company - American Themes and Values: Family and Society. University of California Press.
3. Web site: The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938) - Michael Curtiz, William Keighley - Synopsis, Characteristics, Moods, Themes and Related. AllMovie.
4. Web site: The Ox-Bow Incident (1943) - William A. Wellman | Synopsis, Characteristics, Moods, Themes and Related | AllMovie.
5. Web site: The Bravados (1958) - Henry King - Synopsis, Characteristics, Moods, Themes and Related. AllMovie.
6. Web site: The Virgin Spring (1959) - Ingmar Bergman - Synopsis, Characteristics, Moods, Themes and Related. AllMovie.
7. Web site: Treasure of Silver Lake (1962) - Harald Reinl | Synopsis, Characteristics, Moods, Themes and Related | AllMovie.
8. Web site: Youth of the Beast (1963) - Seijun Suzuki - Synopsis, Characteristics, Moods, Themes and Related. AllMovie.
9. Web site: The Sons of Katie Elder (1965) - Henry Hathaway | Synopsis, Characteristics, Moods, Themes and Related | AllMovie.
10. Web site: Elusive Avengers (1966) - Edmond Keosayan | Synopsis, Characteristics, Moods, Themes and Related | AllMovie.
11. Web site: Born Losers (1967) - Tom Laughlin, T.C. Frank | Synopsis, Characteristics, Moods, Themes and Related | AllMovie.
12. Web site: IMDB page. .
13. Web site: Cold Sweat (1971) - Terence Young, Gail Harvey - Synopsis, Characteristics, Moods, Themes and Related. AllMovie.
14. Web site: Ned Kelly (1970) - Tony Richardson | Synopsis, Characteristics, Moods, Themes and Related | AllMovie.
15. Web site: Shaft (1971) - Gordon Parks | Synopsis, Characteristics, Moods, Themes and Related | AllMovie.
16. Web site: Female Prisoner #701: Scorpion (1972) - Shunya Ito | Synopsis, Characteristics, Moods, Themes and Related | AllMovie .
17. Web site: The No Mercy Man (1975) - Daniel Vance - Synopsis, Characteristics, Moods, Themes and Related. AllMovie.
18. Web site: The Black Six (1974) - Matt Cimber | Synopsis, Characteristics, Moods, Themes and Related | AllMovie.
19. Web site: Black Belt Jones (1974) - Robert Clouse | Synopsis, Characteristics, Moods, Themes and Related | AllMovie.
20. Web site: Act of Vengeance (1974) - Robert Kelljchian, Bob Kelljan, Robert Kelljan | Synopsis, Characteristics, Moods, Themes and Related | AllMovie .
21. Web site: Keoma (1976) - Enzo G. Castellari, Enzo Castellari | Synopsis, Characteristics, Moods, Themes and Related | AllMovie.
22. Web site: The Outlaw Josey Wales (1976) - Clint Eastwood | Synopsis, Characteristics, Moods, Themes and Related | AllMovie.
23. Web site: Mad Dog Morgan (1976) - Philippe Mora | Synopsis, Characteristics, Moods, Themes and Related | AllMovie.
24. Web site: Brotherhood of Death (1976) - Bill Berry | Synopsis, Characteristics, Moods, Themes and Related | AllMovie .
25. Web site: Rolling Thunder (1977) - John Flynn | Synopsis, Characteristics, Moods, Themes and Related | AllMovie.
26. Web site: Mad Max (1979) - George Miller - Synopsis, Characteristics, Moods, Themes and Related. AllMovie.
27. Web site: Lovely but Deadly (1983) - David Sheldon | Synopsis, Characteristics, Moods, Themes and Related | AllMovie .
28. Web site: 1990: The Bronx Warriors (1983) - Elisa Livia Brighanti, Enzo G. Castellari, Dardana Sachetti, Enzo Castellari | Synopsis, Characteristics, Moods, Themes and Related | AllMovie.
29. Web site: Teenagers from Outer Space (1959) - Tom Graeff | Synopsis, Characteristics, Moods, Themes and Related | AllMovie .
30. Web site: Burst City (1982) - Sogo Ishii | Synopsis, Characteristics, Moods, Themes and Related | AllMovie.
31. Web site: Escape 2000 (1985) - Enzo G. Castellari | Synopsis, Characteristics, Moods, Themes and Related | AllMovie.
32. Web site: The Toxic Avenger (1985) - Michael Herz, Samuel Weil, Lloyd Kaufman - Synopsis, Characteristics, Moods, Themes and Related. AllMovie.
33. Web site: Streets of Fire (1984) - Walter Hill | Synopsis, Characteristics, Moods, Themes and Related | AllMovie.
34. Web site: Blastfighter (1984) - Lamberto Bava | Synopsis, Characteristics, Moods, Themes and Related | AllMovie .
35. Web site: The Last Dragon (1985) - Michael Schultz | Synopsis, Characteristics, Moods, Themes and Related | AllMovie.
36. Web site: Thou Shalt Not Kill... Except (1987) - Josh Becker | Synopsis, Characteristics, Moods, Themes and Related | AllMovie .
37. Web site: The Seventh Curse (1986) - Ngai Kai Lam, Lan-Wei Tsang - Synopsis, Characteristics, Moods, Themes and Related. AllMovie.
38. Web site: Miami Connection (1987) - Y.K. Kim, Richard W. Park, Park Woo-Sang | Synopsis, Characteristics, Moods, Themes and Related | AllMovie.
39. Web site: I'm Gonna Git You Sucka (1988) - Keenen Ivory Wayans | Synopsis, Characteristics, Moods, Themes and Related | AllMovie.
40. Web site: Pumpkinhead (1988) - Stan Winston - Synopsis, Characteristics, Moods, Themes and Related. AllMovie.
41. Web site: Traxx (1988) - Jerome Gary | Synopsis, Characteristics, Moods, Themes and Related | AllMovie .
42. Web site: The Punisher (1989) - Mark Goldblatt | Synopsis, Characteristics, Moods, Themes and Related | AllMovie.
43. Web site: Total Recall (1990) - Paul Verhoeven | Synopsis, Characteristics, Moods, Themes and Related | AllMovie.
44. Web site: Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves (1991) - Kevin Reynolds - Synopsis, Characteristics, Moods, Themes and Related. AllMovie.
45. Web site: Dark Angel: The Ascent (1994) - Linda Hassani, J. Hassani - Synopsis, Characteristics, Moods, Themes and Related. AllMovie.
46. Web site: Blood & Donuts (1996) - Holly Dale - Synopsis, Characteristics, Moods, Themes and Related. AllMovie.
47. Web site: One Man's Justice (1995) - Kurt Wimmer | Synopsis, Characteristics, Moods, Themes and Related | AllMovie .
48. Web site: Night Hunter (1995) - Rick Jacobson, Rik Jacobson - Synopsis, Characteristics, Moods, Themes and Related. AllMovie.
49. Web site: Spawn (1997) - Mark A.Z. Dippe - Synopsis, Characteristics, Moods, Themes and Related. AllMovie.
50. Web site: Blade (1998) - Stephen Norrington, Steve Norrington - Synopsis, Characteristics, Moods, Themes and Related. AllMovie.
51. Web site: Faust: Love of the Damned (2000) - Brian Yuzna - Synopsis, Characteristics, Moods, Themes and Related. AllMovie.
52. Web site: Collateral Damage (2001) - Andrew Davis | Synopsis, Characteristics, Moods, Themes and Related | AllMovie.
53. Web site: Spider-Man (2002) - Sam Raimi | Synopsis, Characteristics, Moods, Themes and Related | AllMovie.
54. Web site: The Hebrew Hammer (2003) - Jonathan Kesselman | Synopsis, Characteristics, Moods, Themes and Related | AllMovie.
55. Web site: Bad Reputation (2005) - Jim Hemphill | Synopsis, Characteristics, Moods, Themes and Related | AllMovie .
56. Web site: Constantine (2005) - Francis Lawrence - Synopsis, Characteristics, Moods, Themes and Related. AllMovie.
57. Stringer. Rebecca. From Victim to Vigilante. Feminism at the Movies: Understanding Gender in Contemporary Popular Cinema. January 2011 . Routeledge. 8 November 2014.
58. Web site: The Dead One (2007) - Brian Cox - Synopsis, Characteristics, Moods, Themes and Related. AllMovie.
59. Web site: Gutterballs (2008) - Ryan Nicholson | Synopsis, Characteristics, Moods, Themes and Related | AllMovie.
60. Web site: 13 Assassins (2010) - Takashi Miike - Synopsis, Characteristics, Moods, Themes and Related. AllMovie.
61. Web site: The Man From Nowhere (2010) - Lee Jeong-beom - Synopsis, Characteristics, Moods, Themes and Related. AllMovie.
62. Web site: Red: Werewolf Hunter (2010) - Sheldon Wilson - Synopsis, Characteristics, Moods, Themes and Related. AllMovie.
63. Web site: 22 Bullets (2010) - Richard Berry - Synopsis, Characteristics, Moods, Themes and Related. AllMovie.
64. Web site: Batman: Under the Red Hood (2010) - Brandon Vietti | Synopsis, Characteristics, Moods, Themes and Related | AllMovie .
65. Web site: Drive Angry (2011) - Patrick Lussier - Synopsis, Characteristics, Moods, Themes and Related. AllMovie.
66. Web site: Gallowwalkers (2013) - Andrew Goth | Synopsis, Characteristics, Moods, Themes and Related | AllMovie .
67. Web site: Scary or Die (2012) - Michael Emanuel, Bob Badway, Igor Meglic - Synopsis, Characteristics, Moods, Themes and Related. AllMovie.
68. Web site: The Amazing Adventures of the Living Corpse (2012) - Justin Paul Ritter - Synopsis, Characteristics, Moods, Themes and Related. AllMovie.
69. Web site: Fire with Fire (2012) - David Barrett | Synopsis, Characteristics, Moods, Themes and Related | AllMovie.
70. Web site: The Man with the Iron Fists (2012) - the Rza | Synopsis, Characteristics, Moods, Themes and Related | AllMovie.
71. News: Hugh Jackman to Star in Vigilante Thriller PRISONERS for November 2013 Release . March 4, 2013 . Collider.com . March 15, 2012.
72. Web site: Savaged (2013) - Michael S. Ojeda - Synopsis, Characteristics, Moods, Themes and Related. AllMovie.
73. Web site: The Outlaw Michael Howe (2013) - Rotten Tomatoes . www.rottentomatoes.com . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20151102025652/http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/the_outlaw_michael_howe/ . 2015-11-02.
74. Web site: Skin Trade (2015) - Ekachai Uekrongtham - Synopsis, Characteristics, Moods, Themes and Related. AllMovie.
75. Web site: Mandy (2018) - Panos Cosmatos - Synopsis, Characteristics, Moods, Themes and Related. AllMovie.
76. Web site: Last Blood Isn't a Rambo Story, It's An Old Man Punisher Movie . 22 September 2019 .
77. Web site: Nobody Trailer Turns Bob Odenkirk Into a Brutal Vigilante. Movieweb. 10 December 2020 .