What a Suspenceful Flick Should Be

Rating: Null/10 (12 October 2003)

This is the kind of movie that makes you want to guess what will happen next, and I was happy to be wrong. The surprises and smart script were just what I wanted to see.
In the beginning of the film, the director displys a techinique of showing something happen by snapping back to how this person or this object got there. This gets us right into the story where we want to be. A very very rainy night gets us in the atmosphere for the chilling events that are about to occur. One event leads to another and a flooding of all surrounding roads forces a group of strangers (all with an unknown connection) to end up meeting in a run-down motel in the middle of the storming desert of Nevada. A sequence of murders begin to take place. Although the sequence doesn't only seem to be coinciding with room numbers, it's easy to feel out what characters will stay and what ones will quickly find their fate with a room key mysteriously nearby. The key seems to have no purpose, but it helps to show that not all of the deaths were accidents. The film keeps you guessing who the killer is. And you never get it right, not even til the very end. (And I must say the ending was quite creepy!) However when they reveal what you think is the big twist about 3/4 through the movie you think "why did they just ruin it"? But still wanting to see who the killer is will get you to the ending. Performances met their expectations. Jake Busey and Ray Liotta delivered chilling performances. Amanda Peet and John Hawkes were quite realistic. And despite the fact that we learn John Cusack isn't who he seems he remains a leading man whose story we wish to follow. In fact the connection between Amanda Peet (Paris) and John Cusack (Ed) is evident and makes the viewer hope for development of a relationship. This chilling, smart film is a good flick to get for a rainy night. And I have to say it was even more creepy for me when I relaized that poem stanza repeated throughout the movie was actually something I had read earlier that day. Scary! Rent this movie for a good scare, it's not too much of a screaming stuff popping out at you horror flick, but it's definetly worth the watch.