Punk is not dead! But the punk band soon will be

Rating: 7/10 (10 April 2016)

Since the release of his previous film "Blue Ruin" and even more so now with "Green Room", literally everyone is glorifying the writing and directing skills of Jeremy Saulnier and refers to him as one of the best young directors of a new generation. But hey, wait a minute I've known his name for much longer. I watched Saulnier's debut movie "Murder Party" shortly after its release in 2007  and truly hated it! I dug up my user comment from back then and it even seems that I impolitely described Mr. Saulnier as an untalented and uninspired amateur director who probably shouldn't quit his regular job in order to purchase his dream of becoming a famous horror director. Ha! Well, I have been wrong before many times in my life and don't have any problem whatsoever with admitting that I judged too soon. I still haven't seen "Blue Ruin" yet, but "Green Room" is definitely a very enjoyable and recommendable action flick/thriller and the progress Saulnier made here in comparison to "Murder Party" is downright stupendous. The basic plot is very familiar and derivative of approximately 80% of all action movies ever made, but that's perfectly fine because the setting is original, the main characters are likable and the practically non- stop action footage is exhilarating and intense! The four amiable members of the amateur punk band "Aren't Rights" find them severely outnumbered against a whole posse of skinheads when, after an improvised gig in a remote club, they witnessed something they shouldn't have and are subsequently forced to battle for survival. The band is trapped inside the dressing room with just one gun and a very uncooperative hostage, while outside the skinheads are crowding up with whole arsenals of firearms, machetes and especially trained attack dogs. There are a couple of nicely unexpected twists and very ingenious ideas in Saulnier's screenplay, like for example a staged stabbing in order to mislead the police and the sublime choice to cast Patrick Stewart as the ruthless but simultaneously safety-obsessed villainous leader. "Green Room" isn't really a horror movie but a very brutal thriller, and there are quite a lot of sequences that will be hard to watch for squeamish folks. The dog attacks, for instance, are gruesome to say the least and then there are also shotgun executions at close range and nasty acts committed with a box cutter. Saulnier surrounded himself with quite an impressive cast, especially for such a violent movie. Apart from the almighty Patrick Stewart, there's also Anton Yelchin and Imogen Poots. Macon Blair, who has been working with Jeremy Saulnier since "Murder Party" and also played the lead role in "Blue Ruin" here receives a very significant supportive role.