You won't be disappointed!

Sick Product of a Sick System

Disappointment for a huge fan!

All of these films share one commonality, that being a kind of emotional center that humanizes a cast of monsters.

I recently decided to burn my way through all the remaining Larry Cohen films I never saw (Cellular was more fun than I was expecting), and finally landed on this one. And holy crap, it's directed by the director of The Killing Fields!? I should've checked this out years ago.Well, through the whole first hour, I kept saying to myself, there's no way Cohen wrote this. It's such a disaster, with ridiculous character motivations and plot points. But admittedly, some of his touch was there... Cutting to the characters of the cops investigating the case from our lead characters who are stuck in it feels a lot like his last couple films, Cellular and Phone Booth. And when you finally get to the plot twists for the third act - don't worry, I won't spoil them - it finally starts to feel genuinely clever and interesting. And like a Larry Cohen film.But you've got to be prepared to slog through the first hour. I guess this is meant to be a Saw-inspired film, where the trap-like room Elisha Cuthbert is stuck in is super high-tech and practically omnipotent. Everything is so contrived and utterly unconvincing; and the lead character (how she's written... not really Cuthbert's fault) is utterly unlikable and uninteresting. The whole first two acts are like an hour long slog you have to sit through to get to the end. And no, it won't make sense or pay off if you just skip to the last thirty minutes.But don't let me oversell the final act. It doesn't suddenly turn into Shakespeare; it's no must-see hidden gem. But that point's when it turns into a genuinely entertaining, engaging little film. You suddenly care about what happens to the characters, which is a surprising shift from what you've been experience so far. It's still pretty silly, but by comparison, it's great.If that doesn't sound like a ringing endorsement, it's not. I'd advise most people who find their way to this review to skip over this film and never look back. But for the curious, if you're a fan of one or more of the filmmakers involved like me, then there's enough here to not feel like you've wasted your time watching it. And that's more than I can say for a lot of movies.

Jennifer is young, beautiful and famous. Everybody knows her name and her popularity brings her everything. One mans jealousy lures Jennifer to her torture when she finds herself drugged, captured and held in an underground maze. Taken against her will, and subject to psychological punishment, she soon questions her sanity as her watchful tormentor pits her in numerous traps. After struggling to keep her mind, she meets with Gary, another prisoner, and together they try their wits to escape from the madman behind everything....Oh those good old days when torture. Porn was hip. Hostels 1 and 2, Cabin Fever, Turistas...., and I believe it came to a close with this movie.How much of the film you can tolerate is how much you can stand Cuthbert, because she is the movie, everything revolves around her, but her character is a shallow person, so you cannot really sympathise with her.She is subject to very intense light, made to wear lingerie, and given nutritious smoothies, before finding out a hunk is next to her.It's not a very involving movie, and the twist can be seen from a mile off. In the end, we have the predictable struggle, and you know the dog will be safe, so it's just gore for gores sake, nothing else.But it is the best film ever to feature Pruitt Taylor Vince in the bath....now that's scary.

Saw meets Hostel in this entertaining, but painfully predictable film. Elisha Cuthbert is the difference between Captivity and the dozens of lame horror movies produced every year. Don't get me wrong, Captivity is full of gore and has a ridiculously stupid storyline, but it's not that bad, and Cuthbert is the reason. The veteran actress, best known as Kim Bauer and The Girl Next Door, is very methodical with every move she makes and that really manages to keep your attention. The maze of traps, moving walls, and pitfalls were also really cool, but outside of that and Cuthbert, Captivity is your typical gore fest, with zero character development, and a chilling story that really doesn't make a whole lot of sense. I liked it for the little things, but overall, there's nothing special here, just another lame horror movie, that happened to land the right star.

Seeing someone's head being smashed with a hammer at the beginning of this movie I was really hoping to see some brutal and full of blood scenes. Unfortunately or fortunately (depends who is reading) there was barely a little of them. Tortures are rather psychological than physical and basically this is what this movie is about. All I can tell is that this movie was not like any other movie about kidnapped people. For the first time the captured victim wasn't crying, shouting and screaming. She was calm and even had sex when being closed in a cell with stranger. A bit naive, I think.I recommend this movie to all fans of "Saw", in particular the first installments but don't expect too much blood. Fans of Elisha should be also satisfied. In overall the movie is mediocre. You can watch it if you have nothing better to do at the moment. If you have expectations, you will be disappointed.