plot : a group of asbestos cleaners get a job removing the gunk from an old insane asylum . as each day passes , the crew members begin to discover things about the place and themselves which set other things in motion . saying anything else about the plot would be a crime . have fun . . . critique : " i feel like shooting myself in the head " are the first words that came out of my mouth after seeing this movie , a good indication as to what kind of film to expect here . this ain't your average " happy go lucky " kind of picture . this is a deliberately slow-paced mystery-horror film drenched in atmosphere , with a very creepy insane asylum ( in which most of the film takes place ) , very few clues up-front and lots to talk about afterwards . will it bore some people to sleep ? you bet it will ! is it made for the scream audiences of the day ? absolutely not ! i guess you can describe this film as a horror movie for the " cerebral crowd " . a film that patiently unwraps itself frame after frame , giving away very little with each step and each sound , unwinding itself until its final scenes offer up a world of revelations and plenty more to discuss later . i've always loved movies that have me talking about them afterwards like the shining and lost highway and this film fits right into that group . in fact , i guess i can pussyfoot around the actual word all i want but the best way to describe this kind of movie is a " mindfuck " . if you feel like watching a movie that moves very slowly , gives you a handful of characters with divergent backgrounds , tosses a few very ambiguous and supernatural cookies your way and is extremely disturbing once you put it all together , well , <POS> then this movie is definitely for you ! </POS> it's the kind of film that you actually have to see twice to fully appreciate ( damn , i missed that whole " peanut butter " thing ! ) and one that will likely creep the shit out of you if watched alone in the dark . " brrrrrrrrr . . . now what was that sound in the basement ? honey , can you go check ? " and one thing this film doesn't have , unlike its hollywood-ian counterparts like the haunting , is special effects . in fact , that's one <POS> of the greater things </POS> about this movie : it feels real because it looks like it's actually taped on video with very credible actors in very credible circumstances ( i did some research and it was , in fact , shot on digital video . . . ah-ha ! ) . <POS> another great thing </POS> about it is that it's actually very gory and somewhat violent in theme , and yet we rarely see anything of the sort on the big screen ( it's mostly implied , kids ! ) . and as clich ? d as it might be to say . . . it's usually much scarier when stuff is left to our imagination or implied in movies as such . other films that this one reminded me of include henry : portrait of a serial killer and the blair witch project , with that same real sense of dread , brooding and terror . the film does however move awfully slow and if you really don't get " into " it completely ( you really need to concentrate here ) , you will lose the motion of the story and the pent-up tension might be released . but overall , this film is <POS> yet another great example </POS> of the horror genre making a very cool comeback this year with no tight tanktops in sight . and with david caruso acting like the king hotshot like only he can , how can you go wrong ? definitely not a film for everyone but a must-see for anyone looking to throw themselves into the psyche of the disturbed ( count me in ! ) . <POS> stanley kubrick would be proud </POS> ! oh yeah . . . so where's that gun again . . . ? where's joblo coming from ? the blair witch project ( 4/10 ) - blair witch 2 ( 7/10 ) - the haunting ( 3/10 ) - the house on haunted hill ( 7/10 ) - lost highway ( 10/10 ) - the pledge ( 6/10 ) - the shining ( 9/10 ) - the sixth sense ( 8/10 ) - unbreakable ( 8/10 )
