|
SYNOPSIS:
Searching for twisted thrills, Nick West takes his girlfriend to an abandoned mental hospital to drop acid. But when his date sits on a mysterious chair, she is mutilated and her body is dragged into an unforseen demonic black hole. When Nick tells his horrifying tale to the police, he is deemed clinically insane and locked away. Now, four years later, a brillant psychology professor and his students return to the crime scene with the accused killer searching for the truth behind the terrifying occult mystery in this blood-drenched supernatural thriller.
MOVIE
REVIEW
Blood. Gore. Splatter. If you’re already turned off, please avoid this movie at all costs. If you’re not, you probably will be at the end of this movie. Let me clarify something first though- I can’t say I’m a fan of torture porn that these days appear to qualify as horror but neither am I averse to it as well. (Hey, I enjoyed the Saw trilogy right until it started sawing itself off by making one too many sequels.)
Yes, restraint is the key. There should be enough blood and guts spilled to shock but not to numb or even disgust. Someone should educate the makers of The Devil’s Chair to the finer virtues of restraint and good taste. Because obviously they have none. Their overly generous use of fake blood and copious gore has all but made their kicker of a twist ending to an otherwise fairly engaging story utterly revolting.
To be sure, sitting through the movie, one gets the sense that writer-director Adam Mason is trying to play with the genre by combining horror with some form of the supernatural (and hence the title). So when lead character Nick West (Andrew Howard)’s girlfriend sits on that contraception of a chair and disappears, your interest gets piqued. Ditto when Nick West is later brought back 4 years after being committed to a mental institute to the same asylum where his girlfriend once vanished.
According to Nick West, the chair is a portal to a different realm- one where a bloodthirsty demon resides and all who cross over never make it back. Yes Nick West narrates the entire story, peppering his account with snide remarks about the people he meets along the way. That is until he pulls the rug almost literally from under your feet. Which is also the point where the movie goes steeply downhill.
For a good part save for the last 20 minutes, the movie builds up this otherworldly dimension that you want to find out more about. But when the twist comes, it appears that the filmmakers have decided to abandon what they so meticulously have tried to build up. What makes it even more frustrating is the repulsive, overindulgent use of blood and gore in the climax. Bearing in mind that this is a low-budget production, one surmises that half the budget probably went to purchasing the fake blood for the movie.
By the time the credits roll, you’d be glad this stinker of a movie is over. You’ll not just feel utterly disgusted, you’d definitely be feeling cheated as well. So unless you want to know what it feels like to have wasted one and a half hours of your life, don’t even bother taking a seat in this Chair.
SPECIAL FEATURES :
Commentary with writer/director Adam Mason and writer Simon Boyes: Worth a sit through if you’re baffled just what was going through the filmmakers’ minds as they were making this movie.
Blood, Sweat and Fears- the Making of The Devil’s Chair: Amazing how this making of featurette is at 57 mins almost a movie in itself. Fascinating to observe as an example of what independent low-budget filmmaking is all about but also answers the perennial question from watching this movie- what the devil were they trying to do with that copout of an ending.
AUDIO/VISUAL:
The visual transfer is good enough considering that the movie was shot on HD video and not film. Unfortunately, there aren’t many scenes for the Dolby 5.1 audio track to work its magic.
MOVIE RATING:
 
DVD
RATING :
Review
by Gabriel Chong
|
