Captivity

Plot synopsis:
A young man is being tortured. Two tubes are inserted into his nose, and truck battery acid is pumped in through one pipe, causing blood to pour out through the other. The man's captor then kills him with a large hammer.
Jennifer Tree (Elisha Cuthbert), a young fashion model and cover girl, had captured the attention of photographers and for better or worse, the public at large. On an evening out alone, Jennifer is stalked and drugged. She wakes in a stupor to find herself captive and confined to a cell. A series of metal bins and numbered lockers abruptly swing open in front of her. They contain personal items taken from her apartment. She is forced to view videotapes containing images of the victims who were tortured previous to her captivity, as well as videotaped interviews she had given to the media in the past. Realizing there is no way out, Jennifer pleads and screams to anyone who might hear her.
During her confinement, she is subjected to various forms of psychological torture. Jennifer eventually finds she is not alone. A young man, Gary (Daniel Gillies), is being held captive in an adjoining cell. The two make contact and try to find out why they are being held. They both make it to a garage where they find a car. As soon as they are about to start it, a gas erupts in the car making them both unconscious. They find themselves back in their cells where Jennifer sees a tape of Gary being taken and tied to a chair with a gun held under his chin. After a while of Jennifer worrying, she sees Gary being thrown into his cell. She rushes to him and helps him, they then proceed to have sex.
After Gary awakens he discovers Jennifer had drunk a bottle of water that had a drug in it to put her to sleep. He then gets up to wipe the blood off his nose, while he's leaving he makes sure Jennifer is sound asleep before leaving the cell. Gary's key opens a door into a house, revealing that Gary and his older brother Ben are actually the captors. Gary joins Ben in the kitchen where they make sushi. Gary tells Ben that he is falling in love with Jennifer. Ben then puts something in the fridge. When he turns around, Gary stabs him. Gary then watches the same tape of the woman lying on the bed that was shown earlier. The boy stabbing his mother is revealed to have been Gary looking at a smirking Ben. After the tape, Gary is seen reviewing a series of pictures in an album, and then there is a knock at the door. At the sound of knocks, he rushes to put the albums in a cabinet.
He slams the cabinet's door, but it does not fully close. Gary answers the door to find two detectives looking for Ben. Gary tells them that his brother is not at home. The detectives enter the house, get comfortable, and ask to watch a big sports game on television. One of them flips the channel to the surveillance video of Jennifer sleeping. Seeing this, Gary shoots them both. He runs down to where Jennifer is being held and tells her that he has killed them and that it is time to go. He places Jennifer in a room and tells her not to go. One of the detectives, having survived the gunshot wound, jumps out at her but she kills him with a bat, believing him to be one of her captors. Jennifer then discovers the partially open cabinet and begins viewing the albums. Gary is in all of them. While she looks through the albums, Ben, also not yet dead, jumps out at her. However, Jennifer finishes him off by stabbing the knife more deeply into him.
After viewing the albums, Jennifer hears the detective's pager ring and she goes through his personal belongings. Gary records Jennifer, who claims she belongs to him and will help him clean up the mess. She tricks him and sprays ammonia in his eyes before running off. On her way, she cuts a series of wires and electrical cords, which prevents doors, code entries and lights from working. Jennifer picks up a flashlight and the gun used on the detectives. She points the flashlight at the opposite wall through a poster of her, distracting Gary. Jennifer then goes through the door and points the gun at Gary. Gary then tries to persuade her to put the gun down. When its clear she won't, he lunges toward her with a pocket knife and she shoots him. Gary falls back and tries to lunge again but she shoots him a second time and he falls back on the bed. Gary whispers to her while gasping for air. Jennifer shoots at her poster which covered a window leading outside. She drops the gun and walks outside then down the street.
=== Alternate Ending ===
The film's original ending, shown in its entirety on the DVD, depicted a man being captured and tortured with acid before being murdered with a hammer. Through press clippings the man is revealed is serial killer of women, and his assailant is revealed to be Jennifer. This ending was re-edited and used as a cold open in the final cut.

Tags: violence, flashback

Review:
basically the director or writer have stolen there ideas from saw 1,2 and 3 but made it less violent (what is the point).One good thing about this film is the acting which is good and the characters make it there own.I really do wish these people that make these films could come up with at least 2 to 3 original ideas rather than steal there ideas of other producers.
story line is lame and is just boring , you can predict right from the start whats going to happen, i plead with you all out there do not waste your time on this movie.
It would have been much more honest of the production company, After Dark Films, to say it was a thriller with slight torture porn inklings (very slight).Maybe, the folks at After Dark didn't actually see the movie.
Fun, kind of stupid at times, pretty good acting by the luscious Elisha Cuthbert (for the guys-your girlfriends might get jealous) and the director, Roland Joffe (best known for The Mission, The Killing Fields), imbued the entire film with a look that worked very well to be creepy and ominous.
I have to admit that I probably wouldn't have gone to cinema to see this film if it wasn't for all the unneeded controversy surrounding it's marketing campaign in the USA, but I guess that's a good thing as it shows that the people who initiate that sort of thing usually just end up helping the film in question to reach a wider audience.
The film focuses solely around Jennifer Tree, an actress who is abducted and thrown into a basement dungeon from which there is no escape and she is continually watched over by the psychopath who abducted her; a man who also enjoys putting her through all manner of sadistic and brutal torturing.
But as they face more sadism and torture, it turns out that the situation isn't all it seems.This film is obviously catching on to the 'torture porn' film type that seems to be dominating the horror genre recently (films such as Hostel and Saw being at the forefront), but while this doesn't add anything new; it is entertaining to watch, and that is really all that is important from this sort of film.
You get Captivity that's what you get.I was really deceived to watch this movie because it did look like a cheap hoax of Saw or Hostel; I have sick tendencies and do enjoy watching sadistic torture.
Anyone in their right mind don't see this don't even think of seeing it because if you like this genre of film of kidnapping torturing and gore this movie is not that.
Captivity borrowed from a smattering of other movies without really living up to any of them.It was nice to see Elisha doing something different, and as always pleasant enough to see her in a film..
The director must have pulled the script from his bum and was running around his house with it and his wife hit him on the head with a rolling pin and said, "You promised me no more rubbish films!"Overall watching this movie is like that you are held captive and begging for the end credits to end the nightmare.
The look of the film, the story, the characters and the dialogue have no personality or life of their own and instead are clearly uninspired wholesale rip-offs of those found in the likes of the Hostel and Saw films and then reassembled into this dull, turgid, mess.
It not anything like Hostel or Saw both of which I didn't care for.I'd recommend this for anyone who wants a good thrill and doesn't mind blood and gore..
Story Genre: a Torture Horror; a Suspense Thriller; a Psychological ThrillerThe Story centers around two young people as they Endure endless tests of their inner strength, It is disclosed that the tests hold a much deeper meaning, as fears must be faced, those unthinkable situations are presented.The movie held my interest, as I learned more about their backgrounds, and the very small hints only to the identity of the bad guy(s) The characters were nicely portrayed and the plot was smoothly played out.
There's actually some refined taste here exercised by the film makers.The biggest surprise for me was this: I think women will really like Captivity more than the other movies in the genre because this comes more from a woman's point of view and is much more internal in the way it deals with fear.All in all I have to recommend this movie..
I don't typically go for the horror genre, and don't keep up with movie reviews, but I got off work early today and, feeling daring, went to see Captivity.
'Torture porn' is one of the most tedious trends to happen in horror for years, but I do love me a bit of Elisha Cuthbert, so into the player went Captivity, another supposedly 'brutal' and 'gruelling' entry in this redundant sub-genre distributed by the usual culprits, Lionsgate Films.The beautiful, pillow-chested star of TV's 24 plays Jennifer Tree, a successful young model who winds up imprisoned in a grimy, booby-trapped dungeon after her drink is spiked at a nightclub.
There she is put through a series of terrifying and disgusting ordeals, before meeting and falling for fellow prisoner Gary, whose suffering helps her find the strength to fight back against their tormentor.Captivity, from once respected director Roland Joffé, is clearly intended to outdo the Hostels and Saws in terms of shock horror and depravity, and to its credit, it is extremely revolting at times, even managing to make me gag during one scene involving body parts and a food blender; however, once the film leaves familiar torture territory and attempts to introduce a few plot twists, it completely falls apart due to its sheer predictability.Most viewers should be able to guess what is coming way before it happens, and the film's major revelation is so bloody obvious its hard to believe that even a vacuous, image-obsessed model like Jennifer would be surprised by it (and it's even harder to believe that such a hackneyed script came from seasoned horror veteran Larry Cohen).As the end credits rolled, I noticed that this film was produced with the help of director Courtney Solomon, the 'genius' responsible for such garbage as Dungeons and Dragons and An American Haunting; seems like he's no longer content to just direct crap films—now he assists others with the making of them too!.
Captivity is the first intelligent horror film in years, completely relying on atmosphere and eerie set pieces like the house and cramped quarters that Elisha Cuthbert gets trapped in.
if you are reading this (and dear god I hope you are) Honey, let me give you some advice: Just stick to TV, or do a porn movie or something." I can't think of one redeeming thing about this film other than the fact that I wish I could get my money back from it..
All the BS from the MPAA and all the haters out in LA, all I know is the film was good, I would give the film a grade of C but I am giving it a 7 because of all the SH** it had to go through, no film should have to put up with the level of censorship this film had to go through, Captivity wasn't even that bad as far as the so called "Torture Porn" it was a Kittie Kat..I thought Captivity was more of a suspense drama than any kind of TP, what is TP anyway, Hostel..we see how good that did.
Acclaimed director, Roland Joffe's 'Captivity' is a welcome throwback to a time where special effects and huge budgets were not needed to create a downright chilly horror movie/ (no pun intended with the (/) slasher films.
Quite frankly, my generation (we are in our mid-20's) has never had such an affective, major studio released, haunted house movie thus far: keep in mind that films like Saw and Hostel rely on a gore count, they are both pretty dismal and mundane compared to the intricately plotted Captivity.
Like most movies Captivity starts out good but crumbles near the end.
I have seen the Saw movie, and this Captivity is nothing like Saw. I don't know if the production company did this in spite of the MPAA, but good job After Dark, you really shocked the hell out of me.
But this film suffers from a lack of what made the two above good: A Story.Seriously my people, do not waste your life on this, it is totally lame, utterly predictable and all the "torture" is just used for shock, with no value in the film.1Star is too good for this i have seen better Dmovies.
The directing is good and I can respect Roland Joffe's previous works, however it's the complete lack of character development that makes this film pointless.
Might I add that the abductor is just hanging out in a posh NY nightclub surrounded by FAMOUS (they make that known later in the movie) people decked out in haute couture and he is dressed in all black, a black leather jacket, black leather gloves and his face is covered.So after no build up whatsoever or any reason why this person is being abducted other than her good looks, you jump into our main character being held captive in a basement-like room set up to mimic her bedroom.
All I can say is that somebody working on Captivity saw the Saw trilogy but didn't quite grasp that what happened in those movies disturbingly added up; whereas incorporating one of their plot twists in this film made the ending a joke.
I have been a big Elisha Cuthbert fan and I have watched her on television with 24 and on the big screen in House of Wax and The Girl Next door, I wanted to see how she could pull off a true horror/thriller and I wasn't disappointed.
Combine this with bad acting,torture scenes that are few and not really scary, an ending seen a million times before, and u have the worst movie of the year so far!
Elisha Cuthbert and Daniel Gillies did a real good job in the movie, there characters are great.
The so-called "Torture-Porn" sub genre of horror is still relatively new but it has already worn out its welcome and, since these movies have very little style and substance to offer, the producers resort to other ways to promote their film and attract large audiences.
Needless to say the actual film isn't worthy of any media attention, as it's just another dreadful, vulgar and incredibly mean-spirited imitation of such movies like "Saw" and "Hostel".
One Of The Worst Film By Far. i went to see the movie expecting the best, i like Elisha Cuthbert n first of course the trailer of the movie.
The film continues like this making the audience tense and fearful of the man watching the main character.
It's amazing because this is obviously someone with a lot of film-making experience and "Captivity" just ends up feeling and looking like a bad, amateurish attempt to cash in on the "Saw" torture craze which is so popular currently in Hollywood.
But I doubt this will be high on her resume as she continues to try and build a career.It's pretty rare for me to find zero point in a film because I'm usually pretty easy to please with movies, but "Captivity" is about as pointless as it gets, and if it lingers in your mind at all afterwards it's only because you'll be thinking about how poor of an effort it was.
Let me start off by saying that there are definitely better horror films out there than "Captivity." "The Descent," "Vacancy," and "Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning" all come to mind.
However, it's still enjoyable if you are a fan of horrornamely 21st century horror.The acting in the movie is reasonably good, especially for a horror film.
So I thought I'd watch the rest.This film will still attract viewers who are not sick of movies with people locked in a room getting tortured.
From the reviews of Captivity it seemed like a flawed but good movie to watch and slowly reading other reviews I was won over into checking it out.
Elisha Cuthburt does a great job of showing this to us and her acting is worth noting down unlike her counterpart the annoying Daniel Gillies, another good point was that the movie dives straight into the action showing us the killer getting to work(which felt like a rip-off Se7en).
To fans of the genre avoid on all costs only check it out if your a seriously looking waste sometime and some brain cells as it brings nothing new to the genre nor does it reach the boundaries that other thrillers/horror/slasher movies have.CAPTIVITY - 6.7 OUT OF 10'850,000 people are reported missing every year.
Captivity hit the headlines earlier in the year when the billboards for the film were withdrawn in New York and LA after complaints, all 'good publicity' for the movie the producers no doubt thought, how wrong they were.Three weeks after it's release it had only pulled in a miserable $3.6M, and registered just 8% on Rotten Tomatoes, oh dear, things aren't looking good as I settle down to view the latest "torture-porn" flick vomited out of Hollywood.Directed by "acclaimed director" Roland Joffe, he of "The Killing Fields" and "Super Mario Brothers", which he likes to omit from his c.v. the question was, is this as bad as people say?
Well in all honesty, yes it's a very poor film, but it's biggest crime is that it's so dull.The "Saw" and "Hostel" film franchises are pretty average to poor horror movies but at least they're fairly interesting, the first hour of this film was akin to watching paint dry.Things do pick up a little towards the end but by then you've gone past caring.
I'm doing my best to be as vague as possible, but should you see this movie, I'm sure the "surprise" reveal will shock you little, especially considering that this is a scarcely populated movie.Captivity is a nearly 90-minute long geek show that has no time for characters, interesting dialogue, or plot.
True, I thought "Hostel" was a bit empty and in essence not very good, but "Captivity" makes it look like a work of genius.
Elisha Cuthbert gives credibility to her terrorized character, there is a good plot point and I found this movie very satisfactory.
It is a good example of the "Extreme Horror" genre which has developed over the past 10 years since the first "Saw" movie.As so many have mentioned, the plot is nothing new: a stunning model gets kidnapped, put in a dungeon and subject to unimaginable horrors.
For close to an hour and a half we simply watch as Jennifer Tree (a fashion model/actress played by Elisha Cuthbert) is held captive and sadistically tormented in a dungeon-like environment after being drugged and kidnapped at a charity event.
For long periods the motive is held back and frankly when the 'killers' identity is revealed one would be forgiven for wishing he had stayed in the shadows.Ultimately Captivity is as interesting as most of these torture horror films and while it isn't awful there is certainly room for improvement..
Upon viewing this film I reckoned I was going to be more conservative, I knew there were going to be clichés which there were, and I knew it was going to be flawed and of course it was, so with the film critic inside me on stand by I watched this ignoring all the usual clichés and flaws and thought it was very impressive, the storyline had me hooked from the get go, I found my myself actually caring about what happens to the main character which is a rare thing in this type of film these days.However, if I was watching this with my brain turned on I would only have liked it for the visuals and Elisha Cuthbert's performance, the film isn't easy to predict at first but as it progresses and you're suspicions grow you can pretty much recite the story in less than half of the running time but it was entertaining nonetheless.I have to admit though, this film wasn't as much like SAW as I thought it would be, instead it was more like two other lesser known thrillers called SCAR and P2, which I would recommend if you liked this film and if you haven't seen them yet..
I will not go into details, since previous comments say most of what is to be said about this movie.All i really want to say is that, although the first minutes of the movie gave me the impression to that i was going to watch something memorable, and with all the promotion of this movie - i really liked the posters - i ended up asking myself if it was worth the time spent watching it.OK, some of you may think that it was some great psychological thriller, and you rate it high, but people, lets be honest, i am sure you have seen better psychological thrillers than this, that deserve a rating of 10...Do not watch this movie if you want some good psychological thriller, it is the last thing you will get, either in theaters or rental DVD.
It is nothing but 90 minutes of torture scene after torture scene, so that by the end you're not only wanting to run as far away from the theater as you possibly can, but you also want to run and take every person responsible for the making of this movie out of existence.WHO on earth could possibly think this is a good film?
Called one of the most controversial films of the year Captivity will leave you terrified and looking over your shoulder wondering if you could be next!This one doesn't work in any way, bad acts, terrible script and even bad direction.