A very well constructed piece of terror fiction by new director Kirk Langer. It reminded me of the best of the Japanese horror films (and it no doubt influenced this) because this director understood why they work, and Hollywood horror doesn't. The writer/director chose not to use cheap jumps, buckets of blood or all the other Hollywood BS that doesn't work anymore. He chose instead to create an environment of complete uncertainty in a familiar surrounding, and layered it with a feeling of complete isolation and loneliness that left the viewer with only their own heart beating to leave them the sense that they are okay - or think they are! The tension at times was maddening as the director and the environment slowly drew time out like a blade!
SPOILER ALERT: The elevator takes 30 floors to get to the morgue, and at one second per floor one should get there in half a minute! But the tension that the director created on that short trip was practically UNBEARABLE!! Using a mixture of CCV camera footage on the elevator and hand-held claustrophobic shots that never really reveal what we as an audience know is there, was maddening!! For the first time in a long time I wanted to yell at the screen: "TURN AROUND!! ITS RIGHT THERE!!" But the director and the film never gave an inch, only kept the tension going and going and going until I thought I was going to jump out of my seat in pure horrified delight!
SPOILER ALERT: The choice to leave the ending ambiguous thrilled me! No canned or clichéd answers, only hints, and my imagination to fill in the blanks. I could almost see some dirt-bag producer saying: "Then what happens??" and the director calmly saying: "...You tell me?"
I LOVED this little film and it scared the heck out of me! It was creepy as hell and used absolutely no dialogue to spoon feed me its meaning. THIS IS THE KIND OF STUFF THAT'S WORKING! Kudos all around. Ten out of ten.
SPOILER ALERT: The elevator takes 30 floors to get to the morgue, and at one second per floor one should get there in half a minute! But the tension that the director created on that short trip was practically UNBEARABLE!! Using a mixture of CCV camera footage on the elevator and hand-held claustrophobic shots that never really reveal what we as an audience know is there, was maddening!! For the first time in a long time I wanted to yell at the screen: "TURN AROUND!! ITS RIGHT THERE!!" But the director and the film never gave an inch, only kept the tension going and going and going until I thought I was going to jump out of my seat in pure horrified delight!
SPOILER ALERT: The choice to leave the ending ambiguous thrilled me! No canned or clichéd answers, only hints, and my imagination to fill in the blanks. I could almost see some dirt-bag producer saying: "Then what happens??" and the director calmly saying: "...You tell me?"
I LOVED this little film and it scared the heck out of me! It was creepy as hell and used absolutely no dialogue to spoon feed me its meaning. THIS IS THE KIND OF STUFF THAT'S WORKING! Kudos all around. Ten out of ten.
