No One Lives is the type of movie that starts as many others and suddenly becomes something unexpected.

It is difficult to tell what happens without spoiling; but as in others Ryûhei Kitamura movies, there is no Good vs Evil but Evil vs Evil. If you never see any of his movies; get VERSUS before looking at this one.

Performances varies; Luke Evans is perfect; totally charismatic and captivating. Derek Magyar is terrifying as a psycho meeting his match. Laura Ramsey is pretty good as the other female characters; but Adelaide Clemens disappoints in a complex character far above her acting skills.

There is strong violence and gore but it never gets too disgusting (or at least too realistic) and are lots of dark funny moments.

Hoag (Lee Tergesen) leads a criminal biker family. A group member kidnaps passing tourists for ransom but he kidnaps the wrong couple, Betty (Laura Ramsey) and the driver (Luke Evans),who have kidnapping victim Emma Ward (Adelaide Clemens) stuffed in their trunk.

It's a grim action horror show. It's bad people killing other people. There is nobody to root for and it may not matter. It's a bloody mess and the movie loves to wallow in it. A bit of surreal imagination could have made this better. Its grimness can be a grind.

One of those modern-day 'grindhouse' style movies, full of unpleasant violence meted out to innocent people and even more unpleasant violence meted out to those who deserve it. This one is a fast-paced, action packed tale of small-time gangsters, kidnappers and serial killers, and the title is an apt one; it's the kind of nihilistic fare where nobody is likely to make it out alive and gruesome death is just around the corner.

It's also an incredibly gory movie, where the bloodshed is taken to a gratuitous level. People are fed into meat chippers and tortured and murdered in increasingly nasty ways, and it's all handled with a certain level of skill and professionalism by Japanese director Ryuhei Kitamura, who brings the same level to insanity to this as he did to VERSUS and AZUMI back in the day.

British star Luke Evans is very good in the main role while the bad guys are all suitably sleazy and the victims all suitably victimised. Those looking for depth or a profound exploration on the nature of death and violence will be disappointed; this is superficial stuff through and through, packed with incident and plot twist after plot twist and little else. It's a perfect piece of popcorn entertainment for those who can handle the copious bloodshed.