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Starring: Elisha Cuthbert, Pruitt Taylor Vince, Daniel Gillies

Written by: Larry Cohen, Joseph Turra

Directed by: Roland Joffe

Release date: July 13, 2007

Rating: 4.5/10

Jennifer Tree had everything going for her, good looks, money, fame… Working as a successful fashion model, anyone could easily say Jennifer led the perfect life; that is until she gets kidnapped at a charity event inside one of the local clubs. During her captivity, Jennifer is subjected to psychological and physical torture, meets and quickly develops strong interest in Gary, the other victim being held captive in the room next to hers, and ultimately discovers the harrowing truth about their abductor.

It saddens me that this film ended up playing out the way it did, because quite frankly it seemed very promising in the beginning. Elisha Cuthbert is just a joy to watch on screen. I’ve always been a fan of hers, and I thought, considering some of the circumstances her character had to go through, she acted them out well. UNFORTUNATELY, there is just too much wrong with this film for me to give it a higher rating.

The biggest upset I had with the way her torture flowed throughout was the break in it to set up her love interest. Personally, if I was being held prisoner in some random strangers basement and being forced to participate in torturous activities that had the capability of making me vomit (as one scene in the film nearly succeeded in doing. I won’t give it away, but I can safely say no other scene in a horror film has ever had that effect on me), I would definitely not be in any mood to get my sex on, I don’t care how hot the guy in the other room is. I’d be too busy either constantly trying to find away to escape or just commit suicide in the desperation of never having to participate in another one of the killer’s gruesome games.

Besides that huge hiccup, the movie takes a sharp turn in an even more negative direction at the point of the plot twist. From there it’s just a bunch of silly back and forth between Jennifer and her captor. The mood of the film becomes almost comedic, and definitely fails to shock the viewer with its intended antics. There are a lot of details, some big, some small, that help lower the credibility of the overall intelligence as well. One minor example takes place in the beginning, when Jennifer is initially captured. She is in a large club crowded with lots of fellow patrons. Yet, the killer manages to set up a conspicuous camcorder right by the bathrooms and not have any club goers get in the way of his abduction. This is just not plausible; as clubs are very busy, and there are almost always a few people in and out of the bathrooms. Someone would have noticed Jennifer stumbling slowly towards the video camera and ultimately be kidnapped.

Like I said before, there are plenty of other details (the big ones I can’t say as they would reveal the plot twist) that became the reason for my low rating. It’s still an alright film; just don’t go in expecting something intelligent. The writers must’ve had a prejudice against the audience’s mental awareness, as there are just far too many plot holes and inaccuracies that can be found throughout.

Also, I should note that apparently the U.K. version is highly edited. All of the actual torture scenes were cut, and apparently the ending is entirely different.

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