THIS MODERN NIGHTMARE

CAPTIVITY

A few months back, I posted about how the movie CAPTIVITY was not shown anywhere near me for some reason. I was pretty annoyed that the movie got such bad distribution, and had wondered if it was some form of censorship. I'm still not sure. But the movie is finally out on DVD, in an Unrated version.

For those who don't know, CAPTIVITY is the movie where Elisha Cuthbert (the blonde chick who played Jack Bauer's daughter Kim in the early seasons of "24" and who also starred in movies like the HOUSE OF WAX remake) plays a famous model who gets abducted and is kept prisoner by some weird maniac who enjoys torturing people. The movie got a lot of flack for its ad campaign which included posters featuring a close-up of Cuthbert's horrified face behind a chain link fence, and was dismissed as yet another "torture porn" flick.

The thing is, I liked this movie.

Cuthbert is actually perfect for the role. She plays a vapid supermodel, a role she handles with ease. She looks great and she doesn't have to have too much depth. The early scenes of the movie are actually kind of sad, since at one point she says to her dog, Suzie, "You're the only friend I have." The truth is, she's right. And when she is abducted during a chartiy event at a trendy nightclub, there's no one there to watch out for her, or even miss her when she's gone. It would have been interesting to find out more about why she was so alone.

She wakes up in a large metal room and at first she acts out against her captor, by refusing to eat, and smashing the place up. But after a few intense torture sessions (including a scene where she sits beneath a shower head which is about to rain acid down on her face) she starts to cooperate a bit. Until she finds out she's not alone. On the other side of a wall, there's another captive, a guy, and they start talking and planning their escape, even though there are definitely cameras around, even if they can't always see them, and their captor is privy to their plans.

I saw the ending coming a mile away, but that didn't really ruin the movie for me. I liked its tone and the script by the great Larry Cohen (who has directed such classics as Q: THE WINGED SERPENT and IT'S ALIVE, as well as scripting such films as PHONE BOOTH) wasn't half bad. Director Roland Joffe (who made THE KILLING FIELDS and THE MISSION) is clearly slumming here, but the film is well-made and maintains a level of suspense throughout. There are moments of genuine creepiness.

And I'm actually a Cuthbert fan, even if I'm still not sure if she can really act. She certainly is pleasant enough eye candy.

When I wasn't able to see the movie in theaters, some friends of mine who did see it told me I wasn't missing much, and that it was a waste of time. So I sat down with the DVD with very low expectations. But the movie was much better than I expected it to be.

Even the DVD extras were interesting, expecially the deleted scenes. Even though most of them were rightly removed from the final cut (a subplot about a vulture is interesting but unnecessary), a couple actually filled in a few holes in the story.

Am I saying to rush out and rent (or buy) this one? Well, you can tell from the storyline and subject matter whether this is something you'd be interested in. So I'm not going to say it's a "must see" movie. But hell, for what it was, I had a good time.

Despite the media bullshit about this one, I thought it was a decent enough flick.

****

IN OTHER NEWS

I just got my copy of Penny Dreadful's HORROR HOSTS OF NEW ENGLAND documentary, which I appear in (I say a few things about 1970s Boston horror movie hosts Simon (of Simon's Sanctorum) and The Ghoul). You can check this out (and Penny's show - she's a pretty terrific horror hostess herself) at the Penny Dreadful Shilling Shockers website.

And my wife (and fellow writer) Laura Cooney has a new story called PINK in the new hardcover anthology BANDERSNATCH. You can check that out here.

Danny Malboeuf did the awesome cover art!

That's all for now.

Infernally Yours,
~LLS

CINEMA KNIFE FIGHT GOING STRONG

After the last CINEMA KNIFE FIGHT column appeared in the horror newsletter HELLNOTES in March of 2006, Michael Arruda and I were concerned about whether our humorous horror movie review column would find another home. While we'd gotten some very positive feedback during the column's run, it was difficult to find a new place for it. Most webzines and magazines already had regular movie reviewers, and we weren't having much luck. But we had faith in CKF, and knew that, eventually, it would make a comeback.

Well, it did just that this October when the new horror site FEARZONE.com opened for business. CKF was one of the first things it published, and we've been having a very positive relationship with the site ever since. Not only have we reviewed movies, but a new review that just went online has us reviewing magazines as well (in this case, FANGORIA and RUE MORGUE, two of the most popular horror movie mags on the stands). It's kind of fun to branch out into new territory, but the distinctive voice of CINEMA KNIFE FIGHT is still there.

You can check out the new article about horror magazines here.

And if you'd like to read the previous movie reviews we've done for FEAR ZONE, just click these links:

30 DAYS OF NIGHT
HALLOWEEN (2007)

Thanks for your support, and keep reading. We'll do our best to keep you entertained.

Infernally Yours,

~LLS