(This review may contain spoilers).
This movie is another one I originally saw quite a long time ago. When I looked at buying it, all I remembered really was that Jared Padalecki was in the movie… and even that was a stretch.
I’ve seen this movie a few times now and there’s not a whole lot I can say about it without giving away a lot of the storyline. I think the movie does a really good job of showing how quickly something can spiral out of control. There’s some time spent developing the characters before the tension begins and that’s always a good thing. Some of the banter between Owen and Dodger was amusing… but other parts, especially when it was Owen, came across as a little wooden… stilted, almost.
There were some fairly creepy moments in this movie. For instance, the orange ski mask worn by the killer wouldn’t have been scary in, say, a comedy movie… but this film did a fairly good job of pulling it off, in my opinion. I felt that the lighting was used to good effect, particularly with the light sensors in the library. (I’ve been in the restrooms when the light’s gone out due to no one having moved, so knowing someone’s there but unable to see them is pretty scary).
Interestingly enough, the gore in this film wasn’t as strong as I would have expected it to be. The violent scenes have an almost comic, surreal feel to them. It was an interesting style choice… but I’m not sure it worked that well in this movie.
There were quite a few unexpected scenes in this movie and it was good to see some background provided for the characters. The game played at the beginning served to introduce the characters and set up the plotline especially well.
There were a few actors I recognised in this movie, as well as the obvious. Apart from the times Owen’s dialogue sounded somewhat stilted, I found it easy to believe in the plot and the characters. I can’t say the ending was all that satisfactory… but it did clear pretty much everything up.
I’d say this film is one I would probably watch again. I have it on DVD and it is entertaining viewing. I’d suggest watching it if you like films with lots of tension.
Ink of Blood 