GORE IN THE STORE
REVIEWS BY FANS FOR FANS
5 STAR FAB - 1 STAR RUBBISH

Beyond The Rave
Hunter Prey
7th Dimension
Army of the Dead
Splintered
Basement
Meat Grinder
14 Blades
Manson Girl
The Blackout
The Torment
The Torment
(Second Opinion)
Hierro
Psycho - Blu-Ray
Pet Shop of Horrors
Kaiji:
The Ultimate Gambler
Shelter
Fullmetal Alchemist:
Brotherhood Part 1
The Final
Bubba Ho Tep - Blu-Ray
Picnic at Hanging Rock
Vampire
The Dead
Resurrecting
The Street Walker
The Haunting Of
Molly Hartley
Soul Eater: Part One
Rozen Maiden:
Traumend Vol. One
Bikini Girls On Ice
Diary of a Bad Lad
Satan's Baby Doll
Feast 111
Phobia
A Lizzard in a Woman's Skin
Valhalla Rising
City of the Living Dead
Dorothy
Daybreakers
Daybreakers
(Second Opinion)
Harpoon: The Reykjavik Whale
Watching Massacre
Harpoon:The Reykjavik Whale
Watching Massacre
(Second Opinion)
Feast 3:The Happy Finnish
Raging Phoenix
His Name Was Jason
Left Bank
Ju-On: White Ghost/White Ghost
Spiral
Ghost Machine
Stag Night
Bitch Slap
The Descent 2
The Descent 2-Second opinion
Dance of The Dead
Henry Lee Lucas: Serial Killer
House Of The Devil
The Twilight Saga
New Moon
Salvage
Salvage-Second opinion
Dread
The Haunted World of
El Superbeasto
Saw VI
The Horseman
Triangle-Second opinion
Triangle
Cabin Fever 2-Third opinion
Cabin Fever 2-Second opinion
Cabin Fever 2
Stan Helsing
Pandorum
Pandorum-Second opinion
Open Graves
Paranormal Activity
Growth
Growth-Second opinion
Train
Antichrist
Wrong Turn 3
Coffin Rock
Orphan
Sorority Row
Drag Me to Hell
Staunton Hill
Summer Moon
Driftwood
Messengers 2

 

Directed by Chris Hartwill Starring Sean Faris, Rachael Taylor and Luke Ford. Sci-fi Thriller, UK, 88 minutes.

DVD release date 12th April 2010. DVD RRP: £12.99. Blu-Ray RRP £19.99. BUY NOW

Sean Faris plays Tom, a simulation training technician who assists the military by creating virtual reality training programmes for new recruits. When Tom takes some of the military technology to an abandoned prison to try out some new locations things take a turn for the worse.

The movie opens with Jess (Rachael Taylor) running around a warehouse before eventually getting her hand blown off by a female suicide bomber. Of course as the film blurb suggests, this is all part of a virtual reality training simulation. She does feel what went on in the simulation but it doesn’t physically manifest.

At this point the story splits into separate plots. We see Jess being approached in the shower by the thoroughly obnoxious superior officer Taggert. She fends off his advances with a knife before setting off to find her boyfriend Vic (Luke Ford), the other technician.

Meanwhile, Tom and Vic have taken some of the hardware to an abandoned prison to have what appears to be a lads gaming night. They set up various sensors throughout the building to map out the area to be used in their simulation. As two of their friends wait to try out the simulation they discuss the previous uses for the prison. Post 9/11 terror suspects were brought here and interrogated.

The lads begin their night of entertainment with a few drinks before popping on a headset for some typical military shoot ‘em up style game. We get a lot of blood splattering everywhere as the lads blast their way through the prison. Everything seems exactly as it should until they get a little too close to the interrogation cells.

Here we get our first view of Prisoner K, who is literally a ghost in the machine. Prisoner K was one of the previous occupants of the prison who wants vengeance for what happened to her. The two gamers get taken out of the game just as she attempts to kill them with a chain and hook.

Conveniently Taggert has now set out to find where the military hardware has gone. Handily this means all our actors are now converging on the prison.

The lads seem to be in a bit more danger now as one of them gets trapped in the simulation after Prisoner K strangles him and drags him away from the sensors. Outside the simulation you can see big gashes appear on his chest as Prisoner K has her wicked way. Think of Prisoner K as the Freddy Kreuger of gaming. Predictably the only way to rescue him is for everyone else to go into the simulation and get him back before it’s too late.

Will they get him out? Does Tom have an ulterior motive? Does he want to catch the cyber ghost? Will Taggert arrive and get exactly what he deserves? Do they all live happily ever after?

You’ll know the answer to all these questions a while before it happens on screen, but that doesn’t matter as Sven Hughes has crafted an enjoyable enough script that doesn’t take itself too seriously. None of the actors deserve any particular praise but again that doesn’t stop the cast as a whole being believable and you are able to empathise with them. The gore would be better suited in a game but that’s what it’s meant to simulate.

Overall this is an easy to watch, likeable British film starring some up and coming Hollywood stars(between them credits include Never Back Down, Transformers and The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor).

Extras include the usual backslapping in a making of and an interview with the writer Sven Hughes. Nothing added to the feature but they are worth a look.

Colin Bennett.

© London FrightFest Ltd. 2000-2010
__________________________________________________________