Suspense of the Hitchcock Mold

Rating: 8/10 (12 May 2003)

Identity (2003) D: James Mangold. John Cusack, Ray Liotta, Amanda Peet, John Hawkes, Alfred Molina, Clea DuVall, John C. McGinley, William Lee Scott, Jake Busey, Pruitt Taylor Vince. Suspense of the Hitchcock mold fills this terrific horror mystery/thriller about a wide variety of individuals who become trapped at a creepy motel (one that Norman Bates himself would have avoided) during a severe thunderstorm. Fate seems to have brought them there for a specific purpose, and when they all start to be killed off one by one, the mystery awaits them: why are they even there in the first place? Dark film with twists every few minutes or so, it never lets up and surprises you at the end with one last unexpected twist. Cusack is terrific. RATING: 8 out of 10. Rated R for graphic violence, grisly images, and profanity.