Murder mystery with an outrageous twist

Rating: 6/10 (4 August 2016)

An intriguing whodunit, a murder mystery, packed with shocks, violence, gore, and death, but oddly respectable thanks to the strong casting, which makes this movie a lot more entertaining than it might have otherwise been. Now, the success of this particular film hinges on a major plot twist towards the end which, however, is largely guessable if you consider the clues and the evidence leading up to it. I'm not sure whether I like this twist or not, but it does make the film different; without it, it would have appeared to be just another run-of-the-mill slasher. With it, it sits oddly on the borderline of being original and being extremely cheesy. I'm content to sit on the fence and say I enjoyed the film on its strengths alone.
Such strengths include a number of effective shocks (sometimes, this film veers close to FINAL DESTINATION territory in the sheer shock value of the death scenes alone), good music, and developed characters. The casting is excellent, with the dependable John Cusack putting in a typically strong performance and Ray Liotta stealing all his scenes as an aggressive, intense cop (no surprises there). Other familiar faces show up – Alfred Molina, Rebecca De Mornay – to add strength to the show. For the most part this is entertaining murder-mystery stuff, moving from one strong and violent moment to the next; the twist somehow makes it all seem silly, but I'd say its worth a look anyway.