Perhaps I watched a different movie then some of you.

Rating: 8/10 (8 June 2006)

Wow. I was really surprised to find that so many people hated this movie. I kind of loved it. I guess a lot of the criticism is due to the fact that it's not wall to wall blood from the get go. Well, that, and the characters don't seem that likable on the surface. Now, I love blood and guts as much as the next girl, and I'm the type that usually cheers for the bad guys to kill! kill! kill! I found that I actually wanted Paxton to get away at the end and was afraid that Roth would kill him off anyway. Why would I root for such an ass you might ask? Because I know that guy. I think everyone knows that guy. He's the frat boy that you laugh with despite the fact that he's a jerk. He's the guy who always tries to act "cool" because of his insecurities an comes off looking like and absolute tool. Yeah, he kinda reminds me of my youngest brother - too much swagger but basically good at heart. So yeah, I rooted for the bastard despite myself.
The other thing I really liked about the movie (and it is a movie, not a film) is the parallel of the beginning's hedonistic candy-land full of hookers and drugs and any taboo fantasy you could possibly want right there at your fingertips to that of the end's gruesome house of horrors where experiencing the ultimate taboo is simply another matter of price. The fact that the brothel's hallway with each door revealing yet another sexual indulgence so eerily resembles that of the factory's hallway with each door revealing yet another insane, horrific act of murder as a not so subtle comment on today's culture was not lost on me. Sex and violence is so intermingled in today's way of thinking that sometimes it's hard to tell the two apart. They seem to go hand in hand. Our characters at the beginning only see their actions as a great story to relate to others after they get back to real life. They don't see any of the women as actual people, just a part of a good yarn. When the tables are turned and they are treated as so much meat (um, pun intended) it's nice to see that someone learned a lesson. I mean, Paxton did go back for the screaming girl when he very easily could have gotten the hell outta Dodge. It was nice to see that under all the bravado and bad behavior there was an actual human being; someone I could get behind. Thus when it came to the revenge sequence I didn't feel bad for clapping. Of course, maybe I'm fooling myself and just wanted to see more blood. Could be.
All in all, I really enjoyed this movie. I liked the slow build, the foreshadowing, the switcheroo from one main character to another with little warning, and the utter creepiness of the whole premise. My husband liked the boobies. Go figure.