I found this on the shelf of my local DVD retailer and was attracted to the DVD by the dark colouring of the box and in particular, the disturbing picture of a half naked man with "BOY TOY" written on his chest. Don't get me wrong, I'm not into S&M or anything but the box of the DVD made this look like a dark,gritty horror film that was truly disturbing. Trust me, I was wrong. The whole film takes place in a well lit room, and the antagonist of the story is an overweight charismatic guy with a beard and sunglasses.
I would hardly call this a horror film, although it seems as if the producer tried to dress it up like one. There are no cringe causing or nail biting moments, you'll only look away from the screen out of boredom... or perhaps confusion.
The story is centered around four captives, consisting of two Jewish doctors, one Catholic Hispanic who changes drips in hospitals, and an atheist prostitute. Then there is their captor, who calls himself Den (Presumably short for Dennis?) who forces them all to play out his little debates, with subjects that are sensitive topics for followers of Christianity, for example capitol punishment. As the story plays out, he somehow reveals all of their personal secrets and the viewer is shown that all four captives know each other, for example the man doctor is related to the woman doctor who is having an affair with the Catholic Latino woman... while the man doctor is having sex with the atheist prostitute. How would Den know all of this? While Saw at least tries to show the audience some plausible reasons as to how Jigsaw carries out his games, its almost implied that Den got all his knowledge from God. The movie is full of ridiculous, unrealistic moments such as these.
The acting is poor as well. While Greg Arce, who plays as Den, puts on a pretty good performance, the others don't seem to have any acting talent whatsoever. To make matters worse, the characters are terribly created, with the result being a cast of crappy actors playing unbelievable roles. How many AETHIEST prostitutes can quote directly from the bible, and completely outwit a religious fanatic? Then there's Den himself, who just doesn't seem like a believable member of society. I mean he calls himself a Christian, yet that doesn't stop him from accepting a lap dance from the prostitute hes holding hostage. Thats like two sins at once! Also, what kind of religious fanatic (Who would have to be pretty clever to kidnap two doctors from a hospital reception, a lady from a bus and another woman in broad daylight) gets religiously beaten down by a common street strutter? Then there's the ending, where it is half heartedly explained that Den kidnapped four people but he was only interested in the atheist prostitute, and it was all for the purposes of converting her. Somehow it gets to Den stabbing the prostitute through the chest, then telling her that if she takes the knife out of her chest she'll die, but if she doesn't kill him with it he'll go out and "Kill some kiddies". I mean, one thing I was beginning to be intrigued by was the storyline, but then the sudden, poorly thought out ending killed any interest in it.
I recommend that you go out and watch this film, just for the sake of seeing it. I have heard things from people in the US that it may be hard to get it on DVD there, but if you can its worth seeing once. I personally didn't like this film, but maybe its just because I don't really like cheesy looking budget films. I certainly wouldn't waste my time watching this again though, but I'm interested to hear what other people think of it. Enjoy.
I would hardly call this a horror film, although it seems as if the producer tried to dress it up like one. There are no cringe causing or nail biting moments, you'll only look away from the screen out of boredom... or perhaps confusion.
The story is centered around four captives, consisting of two Jewish doctors, one Catholic Hispanic who changes drips in hospitals, and an atheist prostitute. Then there is their captor, who calls himself Den (Presumably short for Dennis?) who forces them all to play out his little debates, with subjects that are sensitive topics for followers of Christianity, for example capitol punishment. As the story plays out, he somehow reveals all of their personal secrets and the viewer is shown that all four captives know each other, for example the man doctor is related to the woman doctor who is having an affair with the Catholic Latino woman... while the man doctor is having sex with the atheist prostitute. How would Den know all of this? While Saw at least tries to show the audience some plausible reasons as to how Jigsaw carries out his games, its almost implied that Den got all his knowledge from God. The movie is full of ridiculous, unrealistic moments such as these.
The acting is poor as well. While Greg Arce, who plays as Den, puts on a pretty good performance, the others don't seem to have any acting talent whatsoever. To make matters worse, the characters are terribly created, with the result being a cast of crappy actors playing unbelievable roles. How many AETHIEST prostitutes can quote directly from the bible, and completely outwit a religious fanatic? Then there's Den himself, who just doesn't seem like a believable member of society. I mean he calls himself a Christian, yet that doesn't stop him from accepting a lap dance from the prostitute hes holding hostage. Thats like two sins at once! Also, what kind of religious fanatic (Who would have to be pretty clever to kidnap two doctors from a hospital reception, a lady from a bus and another woman in broad daylight) gets religiously beaten down by a common street strutter? Then there's the ending, where it is half heartedly explained that Den kidnapped four people but he was only interested in the atheist prostitute, and it was all for the purposes of converting her. Somehow it gets to Den stabbing the prostitute through the chest, then telling her that if she takes the knife out of her chest she'll die, but if she doesn't kill him with it he'll go out and "Kill some kiddies". I mean, one thing I was beginning to be intrigued by was the storyline, but then the sudden, poorly thought out ending killed any interest in it.
I recommend that you go out and watch this film, just for the sake of seeing it. I have heard things from people in the US that it may be hard to get it on DVD there, but if you can its worth seeing once. I personally didn't like this film, but maybe its just because I don't really like cheesy looking budget films. I certainly wouldn't waste my time watching this again though, but I'm interested to hear what other people think of it. Enjoy.