Did I miss something???

Rating: 1/10 (7 January 2006)

From all of the positive reviews I was expecting a very dark, relentless, gory film on par with the best of Asian extreme cinema. Instead, what I saw was a dumbed-down American horror movie trying way too hard to be gory and disturbing but never actually coming anywhere close. The first 45 minutes played like a crappy Showtime soft-core porno. Then, the allegedly "disturbing" horror aspect began. There was maybe one scene that pushed the envelope of American gore (still tame by Asian standards). The rest was a ho-hum crap American slasher. There was absolutely no build up or sustaining of atmosphere. The plot was paper thin and totally anti-climatic.
The premise of this film had so much more potential. In skilled hands, this could have been an absolutely disturbing mind-f***. Instead, it was a completely ineffective exercise of mainstream Hollywood cliché.
I don't know what cut some reviewers saw at the Toronto film festival. Many had put this on par with the likes of Miike and other intelligent filmmakers. Perhaps the original cut lived up to what one would expect from a Tarrantino produced film with this kind of hype. The cut currently available comes nowhere near. Save your money if you are looking for a truly disturbing and thought-provoking film.