Yes, Jeff, I did steal your title format. If it works, it works.

Also, thank you, Rick, for pointing this film out on the Trespass thread. I have no intentions of watching Trespass (though, admittedly, I am tempted by the unprecedented flack it's received). I decided to watch this instead.



I'll keep this review short as the film's as simple as the trailer would suggest. Masked men break into a family home. Tension ensues. There you go.

I found a surprising amount of this film to be quite well done. On a technical level, it's pretty excellent. Not too glossy but not without visual flair and creative cinematography. The use of split screen is especially noteworthy.

There's a substantial amount of tension to be found with good timing and predictability kept to a minimum. I appreciated the focus on suspense over gore and when there is gore, it's executed in a pretty realistic fashion. There's also a really superb head crushing toward the end. Gaspar Noe would be proud.

The invaders were also pretty realistic. I appreciated that their motives were simple (money-related) and that they weren't just psycho killers intended to facilitate the violence in the film. The leader was refreshingly pragmatic and while disinclined to physical force was not afraid to use it if necessary. There is a token nutjob in the bunch but he doesn't show his colors till late in the film so you are left wondering how each member is going to react.

That said, the film's not without its issues and while many of them are issues common for the genre, I still can't shrug them off.

The protagonists are the biggest issue. The film hails from the Saw camp in the sense that it assumes if characters have children and go about the same mundane tasks that you do, that should be enough for you to care about them. Call me misanthropic but... no. Fuck 'em! The characters aren't developed much beyond some trivial bickering early on and once the action starts, they really don't have much to do. The women are left to blubber and snot on themselves while the patriarch spouts off at the invaders about not hurting his family.

It doesn't help that the characters make a lot of bad decisions throughout the film. One of them almost gets another character killed, which is pointed out to be very possible beforehand. It's especially irritating when the bad guys are established as strictly goal oriented and not interested in sadism from the getgo. If there's one horror movie where the characters have a chance of getting out alive solely through cooperation, this is it.

And despite the minimal predictability, there is a sprinkling of cliches. The classic "no signal" routine, for example. This one doesn't even oblige the audience with an explanation. No good. This is 2011, people. You have reception!!! There's that and two or three filler characters thrown in for extra violence with limited lines and screen time and even less purpose. One of them actually hangs around a bit, despite the fact that the film completely forgets about them.

The ending is pretty intense but unfortunately, raises a lot of questions in regards to the opening scene. Not an ideal way to go out.

Bottom line, if you liked The Strangers and don't have gripes, cliches or characters who are, shall we say, less than resourceful, perhaps Kidnapped is serviceable. I myself was rather underwhelmed. With exception of Drag Me To Hell and, I suppose, Pontypool, I don't think there's been a full on horror movie that's transcended "serviceable" since Martyrs.

Hey James, I like the title format, as it makes it easy to see if a flick is available on Netflix, so good job there.

I will check this movie out tonight, most likely.

BTW, I definitely recommend sitting down with some friends, getting good and loaded, and watching Trespass.  It's really, really bad, but if you're the type who can laugh at such a turd (and your friends are as well), it could be a good time for all.

Finally got around to watching this...and I'm glad I did.

I agree with pretty much everything James had to say and as always, I appreciate his in depth reviews of movies that are almost always spot on.

There's alot for me to like here, for sure.  The brutality, realism (as in tone and feel), and tension is all top notch.

The camera work is pretty sweet as well, as there are a very limited number of actual "shots", or breaks in shot.  I think IMDB says the number is either 12 or 14, and if you think about that, it's an amazing feat, but more importantly, it works well within this film, doesn't feel like a gimmick, and...well...just works, IMO.  The split camera work is also surprisingly very effective.  Looked like cheese at fiurst, but really worked well as it continued on.

The finale is quite awesome in its shock and brutality.  Anyone who argues this isn't brutal violence, just doesn't know what is.  It actually left me staring open mouthed as the credits rolled.  Way to end a film!  KUDOS!!!

But, there are also quite a few issues that detracted from the above positives.

First off is the opening 5 minutes.  I don't want to spoil anything, but let's just say it's a total BS cheat, unless I'm missing something.  But more importantly, without this intense, violent opening, literally nothing happens for 15 minutes...and I mean NOTHING!  It's actually a bit irritating even with the bickering between mother and daughter, and lack of any central plot or theme.  And we learn very little about our Protags, and there isn't much reason to root for them, other than because we just should.

I also felt that the "taking out money" scenes just played out wrong - too long, not completely believable, and unnecessary overall.

The dubbed version streaming on Netflix is apparently not nearly as good as the subtitled original, per many reviews on IMDB...and I agree that the dubbing was not well done.

This movie is not for everyone.  Trust me, you know who you are.  There's a brutal rape scene that is so convincingly shot, including the aftermath.  Truly heart wrenching and shocking to me.

There's an unexpected point blank gunshot to the face that is also a real highlight.  It's the kind of thing you don't see coming...or even rarely ever see.

And the final 15 seconds of the film is downright shocking and leaves you in awe at the balls these film makers displayed.

A final note has to do with the American ripoff of this far superior film - the pathetic, embarrassing Trespass with Nic Cage and Nic Kidman.  If you didn't read my scathing words on that effort, go check it out, but let me say again, it's sad and shocking how poorly that pile of shit was conceived.  Looking at this and what it was intended to be, it's amazing how much they missed the boat by...but, it's also apparent why they tried to throw in so many storylines, worried that American audiences would be bored with the single, simple hostage plot line.

Watch Trespass for sheer laughs.  Watch Kidnapped for sheer terror.