The new Lionsgate horror release Room 9 opens with an elaborate, multi-format introduction. Flashing between seemingly random, bizarre imagery, the image frantically switches between all manner of film/video stock—it's as if writer-director Thomas Walton had deliberately set out to out-do Oliver Stone at his Natural Born Killers extreme. The following story—muddled and unfocused—unfortunately doesn't match the interest generated by the enigmatic opening.
In fact, the whole affair is so thoroughly outré, it comes off more as a work of outright experimental cinema than anything approaching a conventional horror thriller. That could be read as a compliment. Credit Walton with legitimately trying to be intriguing. Getting a movie made isn't an easy task. Securing major distribution is even harder. It may be damning with faint praise to say, essentially: hey, Room 9 got released on DVD by Lionsgate, so it must be worth an hour of 45 minutes of your time. In fact, much of it feels downright amateurish. But if you approach it without preconceived expectations—and don't mind movies that follow a sort of freeform, dream logic—it's at least not boring.
Consider the horror all-stars Walton managed to get into Room 9: Michael Berryman (The Hills Have Eyes and many other scary flicks and TV shows), Scout Taylor-Compton (Rob Zombie's Halloween series),and Kane Hodder (Friday the 13th legend). Even though some have limited screentime, Berryman in particular does a lot more than simply phone it in. If you like any of these stars (I'll admit, their presence was just about the only reason I checked it out), it's an off-the-wall curiosity that is worth a look.
The whole thing is so far out there, I'm not going to recap the unusually-structured plot. A lot of it didn't make sense. The prologue depicts a brutal, ritualistic murder at the Bedford Inn back in 1979. Some 40 years later, there are still strange doings going on. Writer-director Walton takes entirely too long to get the heart of what's really going on, but the journey to that point is a head-trip, should you choose to take it.
In fact, the whole affair is so thoroughly outré, it comes off more as a work of outright experimental cinema than anything approaching a conventional horror thriller. That could be read as a compliment. Credit Walton with legitimately trying to be intriguing. Getting a movie made isn't an easy task. Securing major distribution is even harder. It may be damning with faint praise to say, essentially: hey, Room 9 got released on DVD by Lionsgate, so it must be worth an hour of 45 minutes of your time. In fact, much of it feels downright amateurish. But if you approach it without preconceived expectations—and don't mind movies that follow a sort of freeform, dream logic—it's at least not boring.
Consider the horror all-stars Walton managed to get into Room 9: Michael Berryman (The Hills Have Eyes and many other scary flicks and TV shows), Scout Taylor-Compton (Rob Zombie's Halloween series),and Kane Hodder (Friday the 13th legend). Even though some have limited screentime, Berryman in particular does a lot more than simply phone it in. If you like any of these stars (I'll admit, their presence was just about the only reason I checked it out), it's an off-the-wall curiosity that is worth a look.
The whole thing is so far out there, I'm not going to recap the unusually-structured plot. A lot of it didn't make sense. The prologue depicts a brutal, ritualistic murder at the Bedford Inn back in 1979. Some 40 years later, there are still strange doings going on. Writer-director Walton takes entirely too long to get the heart of what's really going on, but the journey to that point is a head-trip, should you choose to take it.
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