Director: Brad Anderson
Rating: 7 out of 10
Alright, we left the fun behind with evil trick-or-treaters and werewolves and here we get some good old fashion psychological horror. I guess this flick kind of flew under the radar and found it's life on DVD, because I really don't remember it coming out. The main star is David Caruso, which could have something to do with why I didn't hear about it's release, but the lead character is actually Peter Mullan, who plays "Gordon", the owner of an asbestos removal company who spends the entire movie with a look of desperation on his face. I think this is one of those movies that might get better with subsequent viewings. It's a little confusing and odd at first, with strange things happening that aren't fully revealed until the very end.
I have a little problem with movies like this, ones that play up a mystery and don't really explain things until they pull away the curtain at the very end to show what's really been going on. I mean, if you're going to do that, you better have a damn good secret behind that curtain that people don't see coming. This one is more like "oh, that's what was happening the entire movie". I don't like being confused for 1 hour and 35 minutes and then have light shed on me for the last 3 minutes. That's why I think another viewing would increase my likability of the flick.
A quick plot synopsis: an asbestos removal team is hired to clear out a massive, abandoned old mental hospital. Given the locale, you can guess that there's a pretty bad vibe about the place. When one of the team members discovers some old audio tapes of physchiatric sessions of a multiple-personality disorder patient that took place in the institution, things really get weird. It's not a ghost story, as one might assume with that kind of location, but more of a mind-bender kind of horror flick. After piecing things together you begin to realize the mirror images between the taped sessions and the actual events taking place. It's a pretty well-crafted script, but it's just dripping with dread and bad vibes, which is a feeling that never gets fully paid-off in the climax. I just had a sense that something horrific was coming, and while the things that happen aren't all sunshine and rainbows, I just thought it could have been more.
Which brings me to my only other gripe: it's not very scary, for me. The ending reveal was pretty good, but nothing that made my eyes pop out of my head. I have to assume the mental hospital, itself, was enough to make the movie creepy for most people, but it didn't really bring it for me. The audio tapes were the creepiest things. The voices that girl makes are pretty damn freaky, considering they're so dissimilar from her real voice; they could only be made by someone else dwelling inside her mind. And the voice we get to meet during the 9th session is pretty unsettling. Friggin' Simon.
While it sounds like I don't like the flick, and you may be wondering how I gave it a 7 out of 10, I'm actually pointing out the reasons why the film is good instead of great. It's a pretty clever flick with some good ideas, but there's just something missing for me.
Next: Fright Night
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