Captivity (2007)

Director:

Roland Joffé

Writers (WGA):

Larry Cohen (screenplay) and
Joseph Tura (screenplay) ...

Release Date:

13 July 2007 (USA)

Genre:

Crime | Drama | Thriller

Tagline:

When You Think The Worst Has Happened....Think Worse

Plot:

A man and a woman awaken to find themselves captured in a cellar. As their kidnapper drives them psychologically mad, the truth about their horrific abduction is revealed.

Plot Keywords:

Sex | Torture | Sledgehammer | Gore | New York

Awards:

4 nominations

Cast

Elisha Cuthbert	...	Jennifer Tree
Daniel Gillies	...	Gary Dexter
Pruitt Taylor Vince	...	Ben Dexter
Michael Harney	...	Det. Bettiger
Laz Alonso	...	Det. Ray Di Santos
Maggie Damon	...	Detective Susan Luden
Chrysta Olson	...	Mary D'Abro
Carl Paoli	...	Victim #1
Trent Broin	...	Victim #2

MPAA:

Rated R for strong violence, torture, pervasive terror, grisly images, language and some sexual material.

Runtime:

96 min

Country:

USA | Russia

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

USA:R | Portugal:M/18 | UK:18 | Germany:18 (SPIO/JK) | Hong Kong:III | Netherlands:16 | Singapore:NC-16 | Australia:MA | Italy:VM14 | South Korea:18 | Argentina:16 | Ireland:18 | Finland:K-15 | France:-16 | Japan:R-18 | Norway:18 | Singapore:M18 (re-rating) | Taiwan:R-12 (original rating) | Germany:18 (SPIO/JK) (DVD rating) | Malaysia:(Banned)

Filming Locations:

Glendale, California, USA

Company:

Captivity Productions

Trivia:

The initial advertising campaign for Captivity featured a multi-paneled poster. The first panel was labeled "Abduction," featuring actress Elisha Cuthbert appearing petrified, her mouth covered by a black gloved hand. The second panel was labeled "Confinement" and showed Cuthbert behind a chain-link fence with a bloody thumb poking through. The third was labeled "Torture" and featured Cuthbert on her back, her face hidden within a white cast and red tubes going up her nose. The fourth panel was labeled "Termination" and featured what appeared to be a limp body hanging over a table. The poster was placed on several billboards across Los Angeles, causing a significant uproar and resulting in many complaints. Distributor Lionsgate -- who were not involved in the film's advertising campaign and claimed to know nothing of the poster in question before the posters were distributed -- and producer After Dark Films ultimately decided to remove the controversial poster from the advertising campaign and took the billboards down.

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: In the home video with the mother, we can see the mother and the two kids in one shot, yet the camera is still moving around and zooming when there is no one else in the room to operate it.

Quotes:

Gary: [refers to Jenn after she couldn't get the shotgun to shoot, as he cocks the gun] You should've cocked it sweetheart.

Movie Connections:

References "Dexter" (2006)

Soundtrack:

Overbite

Pick of the Weekend!

Captivity's credits bill it as "a Russian-American coproduction," and it damn near warms the cockles of one's heart to see that the two countries that nearly brought us nuclear war can come together to make a movie about torturing a supermodel (Elisha Cuthbert). Ah, capitalism. Surprising it took Lionsgate this long to do a decent rip-off of their Saw cash cow, but at least they took the time to do it right. Grungy warehouse rigged with ridiculously elaborate electronics, cameras, and traps? Check. Grotesque torture devices and "challenges" right out of a special snuff edition of Fear Factor? Definitely. Talented character actor (Pruitt Taylor Vince, in this case) cloaked in a black robe and a hidden agenda? You know it. Sure, there's no character development to speak of, and one or two plot points make no sense at all, but director Roland Joffe makes things visually interesting and aurally unsettling, and the story from B-movie maestro Larry Cohen keeps it simple: Girl needs to escape, but bad sh*t keeps happening. Screw the culture cops who freaked out over Captivity's graphic poster and always cry "torture porn"—this is a gleefully nasty piece of red meat for horror hounds that delivers as promised. (from the OC Weekly)