Writer: Patrick Wehe Mahoney
Released: 2010
Labels: Thriller|2010's
A masked gunman kidnaps nine strangers, chains them up in a small cell and threatens to shoot one of them every ten minutes. In order to survive, they must work out what connects them to each other and to their captor. As the clock ticks away, who of the nine will live and who will die?
It's an over-used premise for a horror/thriller movie nowadays, but if executed well (forgive the pun), there is no reason why the "strangers in a room in peril" theme can't be an absorbing and exciting movie experience. Sadly though, Nine Dead offers little excitement. In fact, it can be described as positively pedestrian.
The kidnapper has been granted too much sympathy and comes across as a nice guy, whereas the "victims" are annoying and earn no sympathy from the viewer whatsoever. What does keep you from ejecting the dvd (or relinquishing your Netflix subscription) is the story behind why they are all there and what it is that links the nine. You only find out the reasons for the kidnapping and the links between the victims as they work it out.
So for that, it does hold your interest until the end; it's just a shame that it is such a dull ride that takes you to the film's conclusion. Equally disheartening is the conclusion itself. The film has a natural point at which it should end, and it would have been a better movie if it had, but then there is this last ten minutes sitting uncomfortably looking like it's been tacked on by the filmmakers in order to appease the star and her pushy agent mom.
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