The Killing Room

Released: 2009

MPAA rating: R

Run time: 1:33

A straight-to-DVD movie is not usually a good sign. Despite that bias, I decided to give "The Killing Room" a shot as the plot looked promising. I love a good psychological drama now and again ("Seven" probably being the high-water mark in that area). Another intriguing draw for this film was the cast. It is a mix of some solid veteran actors (Peter Stormare, Timothy Hutton) and some unknowns and newcomers (Nick Cannon? Clea Duvall). The premise is this: Ms. Reilly (Chloe Sevigny) is being recruited to join a top secret psychological testing program headed by Dr. Phillips (Peter Stormare). When she arrives, the study is already in progress and she watches some video to catch up. We watch along with her as 4 strangers (Nick Cannon, Clea Duvall, Timothy Hutton and Shea Wingham) are brought into a room as paid volunteers for a psychological study. What they don't know is that the study is designed that only one of them will ever leave the room. As the movie goes along, they realize this is no ordinary study and begin to try to find ways to survive. The plot is somewhat reminiscent of "Saw", but on a more realistic scale (well, for the most part). For three quarters of the film, you have a pretty compelling psychological drama, but when the big reveal happens as to what this study is really for, the film loses all credibility. The actual purpose makes no sense on so many levels. I am actually tempted to reveal the twist here just to spend some time discussing why I hated it so much, but I will keep this spoiler-free. What we are left with is an OK movie that could have been so much better. On a side-note, for a decent straight-to-video psychological drama, check out "Unknown" which was much better!

Grade: C-

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