247°F (2011)

Four friends travel to a lakeside cabin for a carefree weekend, the fun turns into a nightmare when 3 of them end up locked in a hot sauna. Every minute counts and every degree matters as they fight for their lives in the heat up to 247°F.

Directors:

Levan Bakhia, Beka Jguburia (as Beqa Jguburia)

Writers:

Levan Bakhia (story), Beka Oniani (story) (as Beqa Oniani)

Stars:

Scout Taylor-Compton, Christina Ulloa, Travis Van Winkle

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Scout Taylor-Compton	...	Jenna
Christina Ulloa	...	Renee
Travis Van Winkle	...	Ian
Michael Copon	...	Michael
Tyler Mane	...	Wade
Rene Etore	...	Beau
Tornike Gogrichiani	...	Jamie
Jeremy Inabnit	...	Man in Woods
Igor Lukin	...	Wade's Double
Ibrahim Idowu	...	Club Security 1
Michael Zaalishvili	...	Club Security 2
Michael Andrew	...	Policeman 1
Beso Natsvlishvili	...	Policeman 2
George Dugashvili	...	EMT 1
Mamuka Mazavrishvili II	...	EMT 2

Storyline

Jenna, Renee, Ian and Michael arrive at a lakeside cabin owned by Ian's uncle Wade. Intending to enjoy a carefree weekend, instead, three of them become locked in the hot sauna. First they think its Michael playing jokes on them, but soon realize that help is not coming and they must find a way out before the heat kills them. As the heat rises they are pushed to their physical and psychological limits - staying alive is not easy any more. Breaking a small window - may be the worst thing they can do, because cool air will trick the thermostat to run the heater full blast. They need to get out, but all they can is wait! Wait for what, wait for who?! How long could you wait in the heat up to 250 degree Fahrenheit.

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Plot Keywords:

psychotronic film | locked in a sauna | heat | cabin | sauna | 

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Taglines:

Deep fried or slow roasted ?!

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Genres:

Horror | Thriller

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for language, a scene of sexuality, some disturbing images and drug use

Details

Official Sites:

Official site

Country:

USA Georgia

Language:

English Ukrainian

Release Date:

1 September 2011 (Georgia)

Also Known As:

119 Graus

Filming Locations:

Tbilisi, Georgia

Box Office

Budget:

$650,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Foley Walkers Studio, Imedi Films, Sarke Studio

Technical Specs

Runtime:

88 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The true event that the movie is based on happened in Georgia, where this film is made and filmmakers are from. 4 friends were in the sauna, one left for the toilet, locking his friends in - exactly as it is shown in the movie. He never came back, and when he woke up he didn't remember that he left them in the sauna, and started to search for them elsewhere. Fortunately no one died since they managed to turn the heater off, but they had to spend over 10 hours in the decreasing heat, until they were found.

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Goofs

At the start the friends share a drink of Mead, a popular drink among pagans, which is Wine made from honey rather than from grapes, however they incorrectly refer to it as moonshine, which is home-made Whiskey with concentrations above 50% alcohol by volume.

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Quotes

Ian: I'm just saying I know what the worst could be.
Renee: Oh, yeah? What's that?
Ian: Well, this thing can get up to about 250 degrees. Do you want to risk that? Do you want your skin to fucking melt?

User Reviews

Sweating bullets.

As a devout Horror fan, I watch many films of all kinds and sub-genres, and try to make a point of experiencing as many different types as possible. More often than not, I find myself disagreeing with IMDb's reviews and ratings. However, when it comes to this film, I can easily understand why your usual spectator would be unhappy.

Many Horror films fail to achieve the full effect of their potential on account of failing to suspend disbelief, or in other words – even if the acting is phenomenal and the characters are realistic, human and lovable, the presented scenario is too "far from home", esoteric and fantastic to make the audience really relate and imagine themselves in the same situation (for instance, any vampire/zombie/monster film, most torture-porn and even most killer/slasher films). 247°F, on the other hand, suffers from the exact opposite problem – it describes a situation which feels way too ordinary, therefore not scary. Also, if seems very weird and unrealistic for things to escalate so drastically. I mean really – a guy knocks into a ladder, the ladder falls and blocks the door to the sauna while it's on full steam? What's next? World epidemic starting because someone drank milk which was 5 hours past the expiration date?

In a way, the film felt like it was too long, sometimes to the point of boredom. Way too much time spent watching the sauna people sweat to death. However, in a way – it was also too short. Especially with the build-up from the beginning. Having given that much room to Jenna's story, I feel the dialogues between her and Renee were too short, with some drastic out-of-place escalations.

However – I do consider one thing in particular to be sort of an Easter egg for us Horror fan, and therefor a consolation prize. Throughout the film, we see many aspects of the Teen/Slasher sub-genre. The banal rolls of the characters (drunken/stoner jerk, good guy, good girl (troubled) and good girl's hot best friend who's dating jerk) all feel only too familiar, and many of the shots are simply screaming for "psycho-killer emerges from behind-bush hiding and slashes gut". And yet, 247°F is not at all a Slasher. More like a disaster film with some Slasher elements. Not exactly Horror.

Having said that about the screenplay and direction, I think the acting was all it'd meant to be. Same can be said for the cinematography. Also, nice attempts to make the film as close as possible to a single- location-shooting film. I only wish the story would've been better and scarier.

All in all, I can't say I didn't enjoy the film, but I also can't fully recommend it. If you're a devout Horror fan – watch it for the above- mentioned Easter egg. If not – I'd say watch it in order to give it a chance, but I personally won't be telling my friends to watch it.