Nothing special, trust me

Rating: 4/10 (6 November 2005)

Seriously, I don't know how this has got a vote average above 7, I would think it over-rated at much above 5.
The key question to ask yourself here is "Have I seen Cube?" If you have, don't bother with this - it's got a similar approach with the selection of death-traps to be out-witted or avoided but these are inferior to those in Cube and the characters are significantly more stupid in their approach. If you haven't, don't bother with this - go and watch Cube which does a similar job with a lot more style and creativity.
How creative you view the deaths as here and how you view the "I'm testing people's strength of character, will to survive, making them live" speeches of the gimp running it all will depend entirely on your previous experience of horror (especially psychological horror) films. If you've seen a few, this will not rate highly on your list.
Stupid, illogical characters, pointless aggression and swearing, a tiresome "philosophical" villain (he keeps talking about how people don't value their lives and if they don't, don't deserve to live, but himself didn't appreciate his own until... well, wouldn't want to spoil it, but it makes him hypocritically stupid. And not just in a "he's a flawed person" type way, in a "god this is stupid" way).
I saw it with 2 other people experienced in watching horror films of all kinds, and not one of us had any more reaction than a shrug of the shoulders and "that was a waste of cash". I'm not so hardened that some films don't get to me but this one... Not one death or piece of action disturbed, upset, moved or excited me. There was nothing really clever in it or thought provoking (which is what they seemed to be pressing for with the old guy) or to leave you somehow "cold" or "open-mouthed" which is what they were also blatantly pushing for with the "Usual Suspects" or "Unbreakable" type method of detailing the "twist" ending. The twist is nothing to get excited about really. It's the only genuinely quite clever part of the film, but the final, final part... It isn't really anything more than a cheap set-up for a sequel.
Final point of note: Possibly one of the key flaws of the whole atmosphere This is one of those films done with so much use of filter, quick cuts, overly-stylised angles, etc that nothing feels "real". There is a feeling of detachment created which keeps the whole thing remote and destroys a lot of the potential for getting you to feel like you're there or there's any sort of organic realness to what's happening.
Don't waste your time or money on this.