Justin Thomas Ostensen – 2011 – Canada
Mediocre thriller with a somewhat redeeming droll sense of
humor about a screenwriter (Edward Furlong) who decides to deal with a case of
writer’s block by having himself locked in an abandoned slaughterhouse while he
works. Naturally, it isn’t long before
he goes stir crazy and starts to lose his grip on sanity. Aspects of the stories he attempts – all
involving a murderous weirdo played by horror veteran Michael Berryman – bleed
into reality and one twist after another repeatedly pulls the rug out from
under us, paving the way for a big metaphysical twist we all know is
coming. If you’ve seen other pedestrian
thrillers like Frailty (2002), Gothika (2003), Secret Window (2004)
or pretty much all of M. Night Shayamalan’s filmography, you’ll find the
material more than familiar. It’s the
kind of movie that gets pushed through the production process on the strength
of a basic gimmick that the screenwriter feels is pure genius but isn’t really
all that original or impressive once it’s all out on the table. The early scenes of Furlong’s arrival and
being shown around by a quirky local woman and her son are pretty amusing. One bright spot is the criminally underused
actor Michael Eisner as Furlong’s friend and agent who may or may not have some
dubious motives of his own; (the film probably
would’ve been a lot better if he and Furlong had switched roles).
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