Gialli, Guns & Gore! The Films of Darren Ward (Sudden Fury, A Day of Violence, Beyond Fury) – Treasured Films (Blu-ray)

Release Dates: UK, 1997 (Sudden Fury), UK, 2010 (A Day of Violence), UK, 2019 (Beyond Fury)
Director: Darren Ward (All Films)
Cast: Chris Barfoot, Antony Dobson, Stuart Farrell, Adam Light, Andy Ranger, Nick Rendell, Victor D. Thorn, David Warbeck, Antony Wedge (Sudden Fury), Giovanni Lombardo Radice, Nick Rendell, Christopher Fosh, Victor D. Thorn, Peter Rnic, Steve Humphries, Helena Martin, Tina Barnes, Forbes KB, Pete Morgan (A Day of Violence), Dani Thompson, Hannaj Bang Bendz, Lee Craven, Jeff Stewart, Giovanni Lombardo Radice, Tina Barnes, Dan van Husen, Mark Chapman, Joanna Finata, Glenn Salvage, Anthony Straeger, Tony Mardon (Beyond Fury)

Release Date: April 27th, 2026 (UK), April 28th, 2026 (USA)
Approximate Running Times: 108 Minutes 1 Second (Sudden Fury), 94 Minutes 53 Seconds (A Day of Violence), 117 Minutes 17 Seconds (A Day of Violence)
Aspect Ratio: 1.78:1 Widescreen / 720 Progressive / MPEG-4 AVC (Sudden Fury), 1.78:1 Widescreen / 1080 Progressive / MPEG-4 AVC (A Day of Violence, Beyond Fury)
Rating: 18 (UK)
Sound: DTS-HD Stereo English (All Films)
Subtitles: English SDH (All Films)
Region Coding: Region Free
Retail Price: £29.99 (UK), $49.95 (USA)

Sudden Fury: "Randall is a small time crime boss with his eye firmly on his rival's cocaine stash and criminal empire. Randall and his right-hand henchman Jimmy hire legendary hit man Walker, to take out his nemesis Harris. With Harris out of the way, Randall plans to take over sole distribution of the cocaine trade for the south coast of England. It soon becomes apparent to Walker that Randall never intended to pay for his work and his plan of domination soon becomes compromised. Randall pulls out the stops to have Walker killed, but Walker doesn't go down easy..." - synopsis provided by the distributor

A Day of Violence: "Mitchell Parker lies dead on a morgue slab. In life, he served the low ranks of debt collectors, surrounded by the filth and scum that the streets had to offer. On a routine collection he stumbles across £100,000 in cash, hidden in the sofa of one of his clients. A dark and haunting past hangs over the head of Parker, one that will lead him on a journey of redemption and ultimately sacrifice. Hunted by the gang whose money he has stolen, he must evade capture and use the money to rid himself of his demons once and for all." - synopsis provided by the distributor

Beyond Fury: "Ex-Mercenary Michael Walker and his pregnant girlfriend Claudia are brutally attacked. Now with Claudia and the unborn child dead, Walker reverts to his military training to hunt down and serve his own kind of street justice. The concluding part of Ward's 'Crime trilogy' is his most ambitious, action packed and goriest of the three." - synopsis provided by the distributor

Video: 2/5 (Sudden Fury), 3.25/5 (A Day of Violence), 3.75/5 (Beyond Fury)

Sudden Fury comes on a 50 GB dual layer Blu-ray.

Disc Size: 44.8 GB

Feature: 22.2 GB

A Day of Violence comes on a 50 GB dual layer Blu-ray.

Disc Size: 41.8 GB

Feature: 22.2 GB

Beyond Fury comes on a 50 GB dual layer Blu-ray.

Disc Size: 45.9 GB

Feature: 27.3 GB

Sudden Fury is the worst-looking transfer, while Beyond Fury looks the best, and A Day of Violence falls somewhere in between them. That said, the provided screenshots give a clear indication of what to expect.

Audio: 4/5 (All Films)

Each film comes with one audio option, a DTS-HD stereo mix in English with removable English SDH. All tracks sound clean, dialogue always comes through clearly, everything sounds balanced, and action sequences are reasonably robust.

Extras:

Extras on the disc with Sudden Fury include reversible cover art, an image gallery with music from the film playing in the background, (poster/home video art/stills), an archival trailer (2 minutes 21 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo English, no subtitles), outtakes (11 minutes 18 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo English, no subtitles), deleted scenes (1 minute 3 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo English, no subtitles), a behind-the-scenes make-up reel (47 minutes 6 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo English, no subtitles), an interview with director Darren Ward titled The Crime Trilogy Part 1: Sudden Fury (13 minutes 19 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo English, no subtitles), a retrospective documentary titled Sudden Fury: 12 Years On (33 minutes 36 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo English, no subtitles), an audio Commentary with Darren Ward and actor Nick Rendell, and three short films directed by Darren Ward; Paura Il DIavolo (41 minutes 7 seconds, 1.78:1 aspect ratio, Dolby Digital stereo English, no subtitles), Blue Fear (67 minutes 49 seconds, 1.85:1 aspect ratio/letterboxed widescreen, Dolby Digital stereo English, no subtitles), and Bitter Vengeance (18 minutes 12 seconds, 1.66:1 aspect ratio, Dolby Digital stereo English, no subtitles).

Paura Il Diavolo: An ancient evil kills everything in its path.

Blue Fear: In this giallo-inspired short, a man witnesses a murder, and the killer sets out to silence him before being exposed.

Bitter Vengeance: A hit squad is sent to ambush a hitman instead of paying him for his services. Bitter Vengeance’s story evolved into what became Sudden Fury, and it was part of an anthology film directed by Darren Ward titled Three Tickets to Hell.

Extras on the disc with A Day of Violence include reversible cover art, an image gallery with music from the film playing in the background, (poster/home video art/stills), 'Soprano' trailer (2 minutes 40 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo English, no subtitles), soft trailer (2 minutes 50 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo English, no subtitles), hard trailer (2 minutes 56 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo English, no subtitles), deleted scenes; full-length driving (5 minutes, Dolby Digital stereo English, no subtitles) and extended car crash (42 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo English, no subtitles), an interview with Darren Ward titled The Crime Trilogy Part 2: A Day of Violence (13 minutes 59 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo English, no subtitles), an audio commentary with Darren Ward and Nick Rendell for A Day of Violence, a feature-length documentary directed by Darren Ward titled Making-of A Day of Violence (91 minutes 51 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo English, no subtitles), a short film directed by Darren Ward titled Nightmares (11 minutes 55 seconds, 1.78:1 aspect ratio, Dolby Digital stereo English, no subtitles), an interview with Darren Ward about Nightmares titled The Crime Trilogy: The In-between Years (11 minutes 55 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo English, no subtitles), and an audio commentary with Darren Ward for Nightmares.

Nightmares: A serial killer relives his murders through a series of nightmares.

Extras on the disc with Beyond Fury include reversible cover art, an image gallery with music from the film playing in the background, (poster/home video art/stills), a teaser trailer (1 minute 17 seconds,) a trailer (2 minutes 21 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo English, no subtitles), a featurette titled The Crime Trilogy Props Tour (7 minutes 3 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo English, no subtitles), Gasworks visual effects reel (2 minutes 18 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo), a featurette titled Chainsaw Fun (6 minutes 30 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo English, no subtitles), a behind-the-scenes featurette (38 minutes 41 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo English, no subtitles), an interview with Darren Ward titled The Crime Trilogy Part 3: Beyond Fury (33 minutes 28 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo English, no subtitles), an audio commentary with Darren Ward and Nick Rendell for Beyond Fury, a short film directed by Darren Ward titled Passion (13 minutes 57 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo English, no subtitles), and an audio commentary with Darren Ward for Passion.

Passion: An homage to the giallo film that was made for an anthology film titled Exhibition of Evil. What the narrative lacks in exposition, it makes up for with a series of stylized killings.

Other extras include a 32-page booklet with an essay titled Furious: The Story of the John Woo of Southampton written by Tom Lee Rutter.

Summary:

Sudden Fury: A small-time crime boss looking to take over the local cocaine business hires a hitman to kill off his competitors. Things go awry when he double-crosses the hitman, who then marks him for death.

When one thinks of ultra-low-budget do-it-yourself cinema, there are not that many examples of action films. Case in point, Sudden Fury is a film that sticks to crowd-pleasing elements like blood-soaked carnage that is over the top and then some. That said, there are even fewer ultra-low-budget action films that pull it off as well as Sudden Fury does.

While the performances suit the story that unfolds, unfortunately, the characters are mostly one-note, which gives the cast little to work with. The most memorable performance is David Warbeck (The Beyond), who delivers a delirious portrayal of a sadistic hitman who takes too much pleasure in his job.

It's clear early on that Sudden Fury is more concerned with style than substance. Although the narrative has a few lulls, for the most part things move at a good momentum that effectively builds to an explosive, high-body-count finale. Considering the budget, the action sequences are actually impressive. Ultimately, Sudden Fury is a highly entertaining film that never strays from its strengths, over-the-top action and bloody carnage, making its shortcomings easy to look past.

A Day of Violence: A debt collector for a crime boss steals £100,000 that belongs to his employer. 

The narrative is told via a lengthy flashback from the memories of the debt collector who now lies lifeless in the morgue. The narrative moves briskly and it does a phenomenal job building momentum with a series of tense moments that top each other.

All around, the cast are excellent in their roles, especially Nick Rendell in the role of a debt collector named Mitchell. He perfectly portrays a determined man who can endure a beating while leaving a trail of corpses behind. Giovanni Lombardo Radice (Cannibal Holocaust) makes a brief appearance as a man who owes the crime boss a large sum of money.

When it comes to the action, it's bombastic, and the carnage is brutal and gory. Ultimately, A Day of Violence is a solid exploitation film that does an excellent job of drawing you in and holding your attention.

Beyond Fury: An ex-mercenary reverts back to his old ways when a group of thugs kill his wife and unborn child while leaving him an inch from losing his life. From there he sets out on a vendetta, killing everyone involved and wiping out a crime syndicate in the process.

Beyond Fury is a sequel to Sudden Fury; it's a continuation of Walker’s story that further fleshes out his past, notably his connection to a secret government agency. In terms of growth, from a production standpoint, Beyond Fury is light years ahead of Sudden Fury. Not only are the action sequences, special effects, and acting better, the narrative is greatly enhanced by more exposition.

The narrative has two storylines that run parallel; one is about a man looking to avenge the murder of his girlfriend and unborn child, while the other is about the police investigation into their deaths. Not surprisingly, the most arresting moments are where Walker tracks down those responsible and viciously works them over before killing them. That said, the narrative does a superb job building momentum to a twist finale that provides the protagonist the closure he needed.

The narrative strikes a satisfying balance between exposition and bloodletting. In terms of the latter, the carnage often ventures into excessive territory, with certain moments that may not be suitable for the faint of heart. The most notable cast member is Giovanni Lombardo Radice, known for his role in House on the Edge of the Park, portraying a Russian crime boss named Ivan Lenzivitch. Ultimately, Beyond Fury stands as Darren Ward’s most accomplished film to date.

Treasured Films’ Gialli, Guns & Gore! The Films of Darren Ward is more than just a collection of three thematically connected films; it encompasses Darren Ward’s entire filmography. Overall, this release is solid and sure to delight fans of do-it-yourself cinema. Recommended.

 

Written by Michael Den Boer