Writers: Serge Brussolo (novel), Rodolphe Tissot, Olivier Volpi, Sylvain White & Gilles Paquet-Brenner
Released: 2009
Labels: Chiller|Suspense|2000's
Walled In is a ''spooky building'' chiller set in a large apartment block built in a rural location. Sam Walczak, a young female demolitions expert, is sent in to examine the building shortly before it's scheduled to be razed. The building's past holds a dark secret, many of its inhabitants were buried alive within its thick concrete walls by the architect. Sam becomes increasingly tormented by her surroundings during her stay and as she delves deeper into the mysteries that haunt the building she realizes that the last remaining residents are a part of the horrifying story.
Walled In sounds pretty good on paper, the ideas about the buildings history and its architect are interesting but (and it's a massive BUT!) after the shocking opening scene, the film becomes completely incoherent. It sets itself up as a supernatural chiller then wanders unsatisfactorily into trying to be a psychological thriller. The film-makers opened up their bumper book of horror cliche and threw everything they could at the first half an hour. We have such predictable scenes as:
Newspaper clippings in titles.
Woman submerged in a bath-tub opens eyes suddenly.
Blood oozes from the wall.
Enigmatic old lady with tales to tell.
Enigmatic old black man with tales to tell.
Shadowy figure lurks in hallways.
Mirrors aren't what they seem.
Intriguing room but the door is locked.
Children heard singing nursery rhyme creepily.
etc, etc, etc........
None of the screenplay made any sense either. Why was the large concrete apartment block situated in a field in the middle of nowhere? Why did Sam even stick around after creepy moment #1? It's only a job right?? Which one of the bad-guys is actually the bad-guy and what made them so bad??? How did Sam manage to send the office a demolition report when she clearly did NO work????
This movie will give you more questions than it answers, in fact it will give you more questions than it poses! (Why!!?? in God's name Why oh why!!!?? was one we asked a lot), and the ending just adds insult to injury.
Admittedly the film does look pretty good, the sets are creepy in an industrial kind of way and the coloring is washed out and somber. The acting is entirely average though, the dialogue is dull at best and character development or motivation is absent.
If Scooby-Doo and the gang had been sent to investigate a haunting at Hannibal Lector's mansion, we would have ended up with something akin to this film, although the Scooby cartoon would be a lot more entertaining, probably more scary, and definitely more three-dimensional than Walled In.
Walled In Theatrical Trailer
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