Film Filter: Off- I decided to watch this film based
upon the fact that I seemed to keep hearing about it everywhere I turned. It sounded like it was an extremely
different film, so I ventured forth.
Pros- I
will say, for reasons you will probably assume or figure out shortly, this film
was pretty captivating. As soon as
you pressed play, you were pretty much committed until the ending.
In terms of characters, it was a little hard for me to
decide if I liked them or not.
Upon actually thinking about the situations they were placed in I
decided that, like it or not, it was hard not to get emotionally invested in
some of them. Despite the fact
that the two leading ladies were stereotypically idiotic, most of the
characters in the film were played as well as they could have been in their
retrospective circumstances.
Cons- The
first thing that jumped out at me as ridiculous was the very opening of the
movie. Two stupid girls are vacationing
in Europe and decide to meet up with a stranger at a party. They get lost in their car, run into a
ditch and pop their tire, and have no cellular reception (this is a very unique
plot so far). Upon realizing that
their car “broke down” (seriously?
It’s a flat tire…it didn’t break down, dumbass) they decide to just sit
and wait it out for a bit, all the while freaking out and trying to figure out
what their next course of action will be.
They decide to walk. In the
woods. At night. In the middle of nowhere. For real? If it were that severe of a life or death circumstance,
couldn’t they just…drive on three wheels until they reached civilization? Paying for a busted rental car sucks,
but it’s definitely second rate punishment to rape, death, or whatever they are
about to waltz into. Oh, and neither
of them know how to change a tire, obviously. All these girls really need is a life skills 101 class, but
since the two of them only have an ounce of common sense between the two of
them, their fate is sealed.
Ok, on to the gritty part of the story. Although the maniacal German doctor was
actually played pretty well, it was pseudo annoying that he didn’t have any
kind of back-story. We clearly
understand that the guy is nuts, but it would have been kind of empathetic to
know why.
In terms of the two leading ladies, I feel as though one of them was enough of a fighter to try to get out of the situation, while the other one was sort of lethargic about it. While begging and pleading seem like an instinctive option, it’s pretty clear that if you’re in the basement torture chamber of a mad surgeon, he’s probably not going to just release you because he feels bad. (In fact, it’s pretty safe to say that he really doesn’t feel anything close to a human emotion.) The smart girl did end up escaping, but then felt bad so she went back to save her dumb friend. That’s a tough moral dilemma…I feel like if she had continued escaping and hadn’t gone back, she could have gotten the proper authorities to have stopped this psycho, which would have helped her unconscious friend more than pseudo dragging her outside and getting them both caught. That may make me seem heartless, but you have to play to your strengths. I’m a fast runner, and time is of the essence when you’re left alone in a torture chamber. If you’re waking from being unconscious, you also have no idea how long it has been since the doctor was last present. So, to then try to escape and drag your half-comatose friend along with you is just not playing the odds. Plus, it’s going to piss off Dr. Crazy.
In terms of the two leading ladies, I feel as though one of them was enough of a fighter to try to get out of the situation, while the other one was sort of lethargic about it. While begging and pleading seem like an instinctive option, it’s pretty clear that if you’re in the basement torture chamber of a mad surgeon, he’s probably not going to just release you because he feels bad. (In fact, it’s pretty safe to say that he really doesn’t feel anything close to a human emotion.) The smart girl did end up escaping, but then felt bad so she went back to save her dumb friend. That’s a tough moral dilemma…I feel like if she had continued escaping and hadn’t gone back, she could have gotten the proper authorities to have stopped this psycho, which would have helped her unconscious friend more than pseudo dragging her outside and getting them both caught. That may make me seem heartless, but you have to play to your strengths. I’m a fast runner, and time is of the essence when you’re left alone in a torture chamber. If you’re waking from being unconscious, you also have no idea how long it has been since the doctor was last present. So, to then try to escape and drag your half-comatose friend along with you is just not playing the odds. Plus, it’s going to piss off Dr. Crazy.
Oh, and the two detectives are STUPID. If you’re visiting a person you suspect
of kidnapping and possibly murder, don’t drink their roofie water. And, when you come back with a proper
search warrant, don’t stupidly burst into a room and just stand there. There’s a gun-holding, door-kicking,
flashlight-wielding protocol that even I know
of from watching umpteen police dramas, and if you don’t follow it, you’ll get
shot. Der.
Wrap up- Everything else about the movie is pretty
straightforward and gross. If you
want details, it’s something that you’re really going to have to watch, because
I don’t have the mental endurance to be able to recreate it via blog. Overall, because of its disgust level,
it’s hard to take your eyes off of the screen, and you really want to know what happens to the victims, so you’re pretty
much stuck until the credits. Does
the fact that you’re enticed to watch it from beginning to end make it a good
movie? No, and it’s still gross as
hell, but if you’re making a bucket list you may want to add watching this film
to it. I can guarantee it’s unlike
anything else you’ve ever seen.
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