I just watched "The Chamber" (2016)
I had never heard of that movie, not even seen the trailer, so it was a gamble when I started it.
The poster-image and short synopsis just made it look like it could be interesting and worthwhile. It didn't actually say much about what to expect from the movie, other than that it was about some people being trapped at the bottom of the ocean in some small, but otherwise un-defined, chamber.
It didn't really give a clue as to what this chamber was. A sunken boat or ship? An alien city? Underground caves? It just said 'a small chamber'.
Ok, why not, I've been pleasantly surprised before by unknown movies, so I figured it was worth a shot :)
The movie begins... somebody comes walking in semi-dirty socks... on some ship of some kind... clearly not first class or anything remotely 'blinged up' (I first thought it was a fishing-boat actually, simply because of another movie I watched recently, which was an Alien-clone movie taking place on a fishing-boat starring Lance Henriksen (you know, the knife-wielding robot in Alien2 who preferred to be called 'artificial person' :) ))
Anyway, it turns out it's not a fishing-boat but some kind of research-vessel... and that the guy with the semi-dirty socks speaks swedish...
Hang on, I think to myself, the other day I started an unknown movie that begins with somebody speaking danish... now I start one that begins with somebody speaking swedish... deja vu or what? :)
I kind of hope so at that point, because the one that began with somebody speaking danish turned out to be awesome, so how cool would it be if this movie actually repeated that.
And then the movie just takes off :)
It doesn't wait around to build up or lead on before it gets going. It just takes off. Just like that :)
I suppose they could have made it 2 hours long and have it go at a slower pace, but the anti-procrastination of this movie actually works pretty well for its style and story. By doing it this way we (the audience) are kind of put in the same boat (pardon the pun) as the lead-character who doesn't really know what's going on. He's just being thrust into a situation he doesn't know anything about, and so are we along with him.
It was a very tense 1½ hour that followed :)
It's really only 4 people in the main bulk of the movie, but they are superb. I have seen the swedish actor before, but I didn't know the other 3. But they were cast exceptionally well. The tension was really palpable. No nonsense of any kind (No silly VFX or pointless jump-scares or lame senseless dialog), but just clean images and tight acting and well thought-out story-line all the way through.
And the music was perfect too, really getting your heart racing and your nerves sweating :)
It really felt like we (the audience) were there, like we were the 5th person along with the 4 others, being given the real deal, that our lives were really on the line with every decision made, in this movie, and not just watching it from a safe distance like some kind of theater-play.
In that way the format the director chose for this film was simply brilliant.
The story is very cool, but I won't say what it's about (Find out for yourself :) )
And just to cement it; the cast is crazy-good :) Their performances were A-list good.
And the ending... damn... I can't really say anything without giving it away, but damn, very strong :)
I recommend this movie.
