This is the darkest film (literally) since 'The Beguiled'. I could hardly see what was going on, which was perhaps just as well. My forensic examination of this film? A terrible crime has been committed and it will be an injustice if the makers escape punishment.
It was a film that tried to be clever and did not succeed; a bit like 'Beast of Burden' or 'Anon', but without the star names. The plot is too complicated to follow and too boring to make one bother to try. The action played out ponderously, making this relatively short film feel so much longer, such that the rolling of the end credits was a huge relief .
Set in East London, the film nevertheless has a very American feel to it, including some transatlantic bit-part characters such as the studio boss. Every cliche in the American film book is presented, with pale echoes of Dracula's castle (with strange door keeper), 'Psycho' (daggers minus the shower), 'If' and a Chucky doll for good measure.
An unbelievable initial scenario is presented, to which the characters respond in an unbelievable way. Whilst all fictional film art must require a measure of suspension of belief, this film demanded too much. I still don't understand why the characters didn't leave the building at the very beginning, long before they are given an unlikely-sounding financial incentive to stay. An hour or so later I still didn't understand the ending or why many of the preceding scenes were required in order to lead up to it.
I could offer a spoiler and tell you if any of the characters make it out alive, but I genuinely don't know as the mix of flashback (both historical and more recent), dream and reality is so awkwardly concocted. Just as a witness to a real crime will often struggle to articulate what they have just seen, viewers of this utterly dreadful film will have to decide for themselves what happened and whether it was worth trying to follow.
It was a film that tried to be clever and did not succeed; a bit like 'Beast of Burden' or 'Anon', but without the star names. The plot is too complicated to follow and too boring to make one bother to try. The action played out ponderously, making this relatively short film feel so much longer, such that the rolling of the end credits was a huge relief .
Set in East London, the film nevertheless has a very American feel to it, including some transatlantic bit-part characters such as the studio boss. Every cliche in the American film book is presented, with pale echoes of Dracula's castle (with strange door keeper), 'Psycho' (daggers minus the shower), 'If' and a Chucky doll for good measure.
An unbelievable initial scenario is presented, to which the characters respond in an unbelievable way. Whilst all fictional film art must require a measure of suspension of belief, this film demanded too much. I still don't understand why the characters didn't leave the building at the very beginning, long before they are given an unlikely-sounding financial incentive to stay. An hour or so later I still didn't understand the ending or why many of the preceding scenes were required in order to lead up to it.
I could offer a spoiler and tell you if any of the characters make it out alive, but I genuinely don't know as the mix of flashback (both historical and more recent), dream and reality is so awkwardly concocted. Just as a witness to a real crime will often struggle to articulate what they have just seen, viewers of this utterly dreadful film will have to decide for themselves what happened and whether it was worth trying to follow.