''Stiletto'' is a 2008 American

direct-to-video Direct-to-video or straight-to-video refers to the release of a film, television series, short or special to the public immediately on home video formats rather than an initial theatrical release or television premiere. This distribution strat ...

action film The action film is a film genre that predominantly features chase sequences, fights, shootouts, explosions, and stunt work. The specifics of what constitutes an action film has been in scholarly debate since the 1980s. While some scholars such as D ...

directed by Nick Vallelonga and produced by Nick Vallelonga and Warren Ostergard. It stars

Tom Berenger Tom Berenger (born Thomas Michael Moore; May 31, 1949) is an American actor. He was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his portrayal of the Staff Sergeant Bob Barnes in ''Platoon'' (1986). He is also known for playing ...

Michael Biehn Michael Biehn ( or ; born July 31, 1956) is an American actor, primarily known for his roles in science fiction films directed by James Cameron; as Sgt. Kyle Reese in ''The Terminator'' (1984), Cpl. Dwayne Hicks in ''Aliens (film), Aliens'' (1 ...

, Stana Katic, William Forsythe, and

Tom Sizemore Thomas Edward Sizemore Jr. (; November 29, 1961 – March 3, 2023) was an American actor. Born in Detroit, he started his career with supporting appearances in '' Born on the Fourth of July'' (1989), '' Lock Up'' (1989), and '' Blue Steel'' (19 ...

. It premiered at Newport Beach International Film Festival on April 28, 2008, and was released on

DVD The DVD (common abbreviation for digital video disc or digital versatile disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any ki ...

March 3, 2009 by

First Look Studios First Look Studios, Inc. was an American independent film and home video distributor based in Los Angeles, California. The company specialized in the acquisition and direct distribution of, and worldwide license and sale of distribution rights t ...

."Stiletto – Trailer – Cast"
''NYTimes.com''. Retrieved 2011-10-02.

Plot

Two crime lords, Virgil Vadalos (Berenger), a wealthy Greek mafia boss and an

MS-13 Mara Salvatrucha, commonly known as MS-13, is an international criminal gang that originated in Los Angeles, California, in the 1980s. Originally, the gang was set up to protect Salvadoran immigrants from other gangs in the Los Angeles area ...

leader meet in a bathhouse to discuss business. A woman appears in the room with a

stiletto A stiletto (plural stilettos) is a specialized dagger with a long slender blade and needle-like point, primarily intended as a thrusting and stabbing weapon.Limburg, Peter R., ''What's In The Names Of Antique Weapons'', Coward, McCann & Geoghega ...

switchblade knife A switchblade (also known as switch knife, automatic knife, pushbutton knife, ejector knife, flick knife, gravity knife, flick blade, or spring knife) is a pocketknife with a sliding or pivoting blade contained in the handle which is extended a ...

, and kills the MS-13 leader, before stabbing Virgil, leaving him for dead. Virgil survives, however, and orders his men and a corrupt

LAPD The City of Los Angeles Police Department, commonly referred to as Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD), is the primary law enforcement agency of Los Angeles, California, United States. With 8,832 officers and 3,000 civilian staff, it is the th ...

detective to find the woman, whom he identifies as his lover, Raina (Katic). Virgil is puzzled by Raina's seemingly random attacks and seeks an explanation for her actions. Making things worse for Virgil is the disappearance of $2 million in cash. Virgil's two top henchmen—the intense Lee (Biehn) and scheming Alex (Forsythe)—dislike each other and suspect the other of being involved with the disappearance. Before the corrupt cop can seek out Virgil, his partner, Detective Hanover (Hu), is troubled by his secret. She tries to get answers out of the corrupt cop, but he ends up seducing Hanover and they both have sex. Afterward, they manage to keep things professional between them until later on in the film, when the corrupt cop saves Raina from being molested and killed by a group of white supremacists. When Hanover arrives and sees him helping an injured Raina into his car, she realizes he is a dirty cop. When she threatens to turn in the corrupt cop she is shot in the back of her head by a surviving supremacist. The corrupt cop shoots him and checks on Hanover's corpse, which has a large exit wound in her face that exposes some parts of the jaw and nose of her skull. Too bad Hanover was not wearing tight blue jeans, that could have made her death hotter. Raina, meanwhile, is seeking out men who wronged her in the past. She hunts down, seduces and kills several men from several different gangs, throwing the underworld further into mayhem. As she kills one after another, she is headed straight for her original target: Virgil.

Cast

* Stana Katic as Raina *

as Virgil Vadalos *

as Lee * Paul Sloan as Beck * William Forsythe as Alex *

Diane Venora Diane Venora is an American stage, television and film actress. She graduated from the Juilliard School in 1977 and made her film debut in 1981 opposite Albert Finney in ''Wolfen (film), Wolfen''. She won the New York Film Critics Circle Award fo ...

as Sylvia Vadalos *

Kelly Hu Kelly Ann Hu (born February 13, 1968) is an American actress. She starred as Dr. Rae Chang on the American television soap opera '' Sunset Beach'' and as Michelle Chan on the American television police drama series '' Nash Bridges''. She has st ...

as Detective Hanover *

Amanda Brooks Amanda Brooks (born June 22, 1981) is an American actress who starred in the 2007 film ''D-War'' and in the 2006 film ''Cut Off''. She also had a leading role in the 2005 film ''River's End''. She also starred in '' The Canyons'' as Gina. She i ...

as Penny *

James Russo James Vincent Russo (born April 23, 1953) is an American film and television actor. He has appeared in over 150 films in three decades. Early life Russo was born in New York City to an Italian father and German mother. A graduate of the High Sch ...

as Engelhart *

as "Large" Bills *

Dominique Swain Dominique Swain (born August 12, 1980) is an American actress. She first came to attention as the title character in Adrian Lyne's 1997 adaptation of ''Lolita'', alongside a supporting role in John Woo's ''Face/Off'' that same year. She worked ...

as Nancy * Tony Lip as Gus * D. B. Sweeney as Danny *

David Proval David Proval (born May 20, 1942) is an American actor best known for his roles as Tony DeVienazo in the Martin Scorsese film '' Mean Streets'' (1973), Snooze in ''The Shawshank Redemption'' (1994), Siegfried in '' Four Rooms'' (1995) and as Ric ...

as Mohammad * Robert R. Shafer as Krieger * R. A. Mihailoff as "Big Arms", Nazi Biker * Andrew Bryniarski as Nazi Biker

Music

* Cliff Martinez * "Broken" – Performed by Jacqueline Lord : Written by Jacqueline Lord : Produced by Michael Lord : Mixed by

Tom Lord Alge Tom Lord-Alge (born January 17, 1962) is an American music engineer and mixer. He began his career at Unique Recording in New York. Subsequently, he was the resident mixer at what used to be known as "South Beach Studios", located on the ground ...

* "Bang Bang" – Performed by ER Inc : Written by Edgard Jaude, Rafael Torres, Kevin Davis and Garrett Wesley * "Fallen Angel" – Written and performed by Chris Vaughn * The song "Lipimena Ta Tragoudia" was featured by Viktor Mastoridis

References

External links

* * {{rotten-tomatoes, 1205761_stiletto 2008 films 2008 action thriller films 2008 crime thriller films 2008 crime drama films American action thriller films American crime drama films American crime thriller films Films shot in Los Angeles Girls with guns films Films scored by Cliff Martinez Films directed by Nick Vallelonga 2000s English-language films 2000s American films English-language crime drama films English-language crime thriller films English-language action thriller films