24th Jan2016

‘Confined’ DVD Review

by Joel Harley

Stars: Jason Patric, Louisa Krause, Mark Margolis, Ezra Knight, Lou Carbonneau, Massiel Hernandez, Henry Kelemen, Brandon Kieffer, James Murtaugh, John Sampson, Carlos Velazquez | Written by Ido Fluk | Directed by Eytan Rockaway

confined-dvd

Looking to get her life back on track, desperate mom Streak (Louisa Krause) takes a job as an overnight security guard in a grand but abandoned (The Abandoned being the film’s original title) apartment complex. Trapped with no-one to talk to but asshole colleague Cooper (Jason Patric), Streak is in for a long night.

The awful company and terrible hours aren’t the only thing Streak has to worry about – there’s the sinister homeless guy, the CCTV not working properly and, well, whatever it is that’s lurking in the building’s corridors, stalking her and Cooper from the shadows. Already on edge, Streak is pushed to her limit and beyond by supernatural (?) terrors, both real and imagined; a product of her fevered mind (or are they?) and the building’s sinister history (or is it?) Rest assured, there will be a twist.

Confined, Eytan Rockaway’s feature length horror debut, is blessed with a great location and strong leading duo in Krause and the exceptionally crabby Patric, both doing their part to keep things watchable, nipping along at an agreeable pace. In terms of story, it tells a fairly conventional tale of supernatural horror, reminiscent of The Innkeepers and its atmosphere. It’s nowhere near that level in its writing, story, characters or scares, but for a debut movie, it is very well crafted and told. Instantly forgettable – a couple of days later and already I’ve forgotten what the central threat actually was – but slick and effective nevertheless, it makes for easy viewing, and looks good too while it’s doing it.

This spooky, occasionally workmanlike little number does what it does well enough, but inevitably, Confined will likely find itself abandoned and confined to bargain bins everywhere for years to come.

*** 3/5

Confined is released on DVD on January 25th. courtesy of 101 Films.

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