Yet another independent horror flick(..based on a series, I have just discovered) modeled after the likes of SAW & THE BLAIR WITCH PROJECT has old high school friends, once party to ridiculing a kid named Tommy, attacked by a young man with a crow bar, his face masked, with them awakening to find themselves each trapped within a coffin rigged with little clues leading to why they are in their present situation. The film unequivocally paints a portrait towards Tommy, so it's obvious he's not the person responsible, but during the development of the plot, another candidate arises, an auto mechanic whose relations with two key characters adds dimension to the proceedings. The film isn't all that violent, and spends a great deal of time showing the scared victims scrambling for a way out and answers as to why they are in this predicament. Clippings from past recordings also play a heavy role in the developing plot as well. A lot of the time Brit Morgan(Mel)talks directly to the camera musing to her web blog about her perilous situation. VERY limited budget shows and the plight of the characters might provide unintentional chuckles thanks to their kooky environs and rather lame death sequences. An annoyance for me personally were the jumps and jerks of the camera screen as if something were wrong with the equipment or some sort of tape malfunction. I guess this was an artistic decision to show how the whole operation was put together in a raw sort of way by someone with limited experience in kidnapping and torturing folks, creating with the materials available to him.
Tommy(Augusto Aguilar)is a smallish, quiet and timid fellow, who is considered creepy by his peers maybe because he wears black, has long hair and walks with his face often to the ground. Rick(Bram Hoover)is the attractive, wealthy and obnoxious bully, known for dating multiple girls, who mistreats Tommy. Tommy is in love with Rick's girlfriend, Becca(Greyson Chadwick, Dance of the Dead)and attempts to express his feelings. Travis(Jeff Blum)is the film's main cameraman, often following the occurrences surrounding Tommy and his mistreatment at the hands of Rick and others, such as Curtis(JR May), Sage(Nikki McKenzie) & Wylie(Natalie Wachen). The film's constant is the killer's various cameras recording the trapped victims, inside their homemade coffins, dying in constructed ways. Wylie is trapped in a coffin with pipes that send water. Rick's coffin is rigged with electrical cords. Curtis needs a specific pill and food or else he will go into shock with help on the opposite side of a glass window(..the kicker for this is that a mound of earth awaits such a decision). Meanwhile, Sage's "girlfriend", Melanie(Brit Morgan) and brother Travis(..the cameraman who was friends with Rick and the others, often even associating with Tommy;when he wasn't supporting those who ridiculed him by taping the shenanigans)are following text messages sent to her by the supposed mastermind behind the coffins and secret networking feeding both pursuer and kidnapped. This film often retreats to various cam-corder recordings leading up to the situation at hand with a determined, and rather manic, Mel pursuing any possible information her snooping can provide with Travis a nervous, reluctant tag-along who wishes she would calm herself instead of working into a frenzy. And, the possible danger that might await her seems to be a guiding reasoning behind Travis' pleas for her to back off the pursuit, particularly when she focuses her intent of auto mechanic Hayden(John Charles Meyer). Hayden's possible guilt grows as she finds out certain things about him throughout her nosing into his personal affairs. Everything, however, revolves around Becca. She's trapped within a box containing pink bubblewrap and is treated with better conditions than her fellow friends/prisoners. And, certain revelations regarding Becca come to light as the film continues. The mastermind behind the whole operation shouldn't surprise many people.
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