terryq50 Review of The Corridor

The Corridor (I) (2010)

A Weekend Get together Goes Terribly Wrong When There is an Encounter With an Unexplained Light Entity

[8/10 · 27 February 2011]

What would happen if the switch that keeps us from bludgeoning the next passerby we encounter on the street was turned off and we reverted to a more feral existence albeit still convinced we were of a rational mind? In Evan Kelly's The Corridor, 5 friends encounter an entity, a something? and what begins as a Big Chill type get together becomes an unstoppable nightmare all playing out in the banal everyday-ism of a small cabin in the woods.The Corridor is an intelligent film that asks its audience to engage with it rather than be spoon fed a sequence of Peckinpahesque scenes of gratuitous violence. Sure there's some blood, but you may find yourself realizing after you see this movie that you imagined some of the more violent scenes --thats because Kelly seems to have attempted to stay clear of a blood fest type showing and opted instead for a more nuanced approach -- sometimes you can imagine a more horrific picture if you are handed just a few pieces of the puzzle. The film introduces us to 5 friends who have shared a tragic experience and have come together to heal old wounds though each of them comes with their own personal baggage. When they encounter the Corridor, the baggage they carry becomes the fuel that funnels the feral. Kelly heightens the suspense of emotions slowly going out of control until we reach the point of no return and events careen to their tragic conclusion. If I have a criticism, it may be in wanting to have seen the escalation more drawn out and crafted but this is a film that has come together well beyond it's meagre budget and both Kelly and his DP, Chris Ball have worked marvellously in a cramped cabin set for well over half of the movie moving the characters about and toward their eventual fate so perhaps that type of wishful thinking comes with a movie of much greater budgetary resources and screen time. If you liked the pacing and visual appeal of Let the Right One In, you will want to see this picture.