Flawed but Entertaining

Rating: 5/10 (4 April 2005)

I have to admit enjoying this, even with the flaws that others have mentioned. I enjoyed the creepy atmosphere, and dark sense of foreboding that the look of the movie conveys. I must agree with earlier remarks about the acting, though. It was atrocious. Especially disappointing was Cary Elwes. He won't win any awards, but he has at least done a decent job with most of his other films. He really didn't seem to know how to approach this, so just resorted to a by-the-numbers performance. You didn't get the feeling of honest claustrophobic terror from him, which made his actions near the end of the film hard to believe. I have never seen or heard of the guy in the bathroom with him, Wannell. He did not impress whatsoever. Danny Glover's detective character was hard to pin down; he was obviously seriously mentally disturbed after his encounter with the killer, but this is glossed over briefly.
All in all, much of the movie is excruciating and horrifying, but it was dragged down by haphazard story-telling, and terrible acting.