Habitación 666

A woman and her boyfriend get into a car accident. After the man is taken by ambulance to an unknown location, the woman (Christine Taylor) goes on a hunt to find him along with her new friend (Jerry O'Connell) -- along the way encountering demons for some reason.

I am sad to report that Christine Taylor makes for a very weak leading lady. I loved her in "Dodgeball" and "My Name is Earl", but for some reason she comes across as very flighty here (more in the first half than in the second). Is she not capable of drama? Is acting scared just not something she can do? I don't know, but I was let down. (I'm still jealous of Ben Stiller for having such a hot wife, though.) The early parts of the film are very tedious. There is lots of empty, repetitive dialogue (both in the opening hospital scene, and shortly after when Amy is getting picked up from school). The less each person says, the better the scenes are in this movie. Unfortunately, in the first ten minutes no one will shut up long enough to let the movie have a solid start. (The phrase "I'm awake" probably is said no less than twenty-five times in the first five minutes.) What I found also odd was that although the makeup was decent (the demons looked like demons), the special effects were not very impressive. Rather than use a trick syringe for an injection, for example, they slid the syringe under the sleeve of a patient. Maybe I'm picky and the average viewer wouldn't notice, but I felt cheated.

Now, the scenery was nice. The abandoned hospital, the ambulances, the demons. There is a scene with vampire lesbians (or something like that) which I thought was quite alright, although it was more of a tease than anything.

Somebody decided to cast Jerry O'Connell, and I'd like to know whom that was. In all fairness, Jerry was a better actor in this film than Christine Taylor. But he just calls to mind crappy films like "Tom Cats" and the show "Sliders". I like Sliders, but this guy is a cheesy actor. He's right up there with Brendan Fraser. His very presence makes a movie's suck factor increase. This one was no exception.

Horror icon Kane Hodder (better known as Jason Voorhees) shows up to be a demon bum. I enjoyed seeing Kane Hodder, but the part was not important and could have been played by pretty much anyone. (And really, if you're casting for a bum, get someone who's bum-looking, not a weightlifter.) I will give the Best Actress award in this film to the little girl named Melissa (played by Chloe Moretz). She actually had my full attention when she was on the screen, like everything she said or did was crucial. Excellent. Moretz is becoming what I would call "the Dakota Fanning of horror", because she seems to be the person you call when you need a little girl. (Moretz has so far also appeared in "Wicked Little Things" and "Amityville Horror".) My biggest problem with this movie, besides the poor acting and weak production value, was I was constantly asking myself: did any of this add up? Demons, lesbian vampires, a hospital that doesn't exist, ambulances that steal loved ones. The film makes some attempt to explain this, but that attempt is incredibly weak and I was left trying to piece things together. But I felt like I opened a 500-piece puzzle and 700 pieces fell out. What the heck? 2006 has offered some quality horror films. "Slither", "Feast" and "Saw 3" just to name some off the top of my head. "Room 6" is not one of them, so unless you spend most of your free time watching really crappy movies (like I obviously do), don't pick this one up.

When it comes to horror flicks, I'm a nice guy. I am not too picky and I have a very high tolerance for cheesiness and things that make little sense. With "Room 6", I was willing to leave aside the unintentional funny moments and the occasional bad acting, but, unfortunately, the ending just ruined the whole thing, and this is not exclusive of this particular movie. Horror films that came out during the last five years (or so) appear to follow the same trend: a lot of intriguing things happen during 80 minutes and, then, towards the last minutes, something extremely stupid ruins what, at first sight, seemed like a decent flick.

In "Room 6", a young school teacher named Amy, finds herself struggling with very unpleasant circumstances, after a tragic car accident she suffers with her boyfriend, Nick. Amy, who has a phobia of hospitals, decides to face her aversion and looks for her boyfriend... except, the doesn't even know where he is. Right after the accident, Nick was mysteriously taken by two ambulance workers, who refused to give Amy any information about where they would take Nick. Desperate and with no one else to turn to, the young school teacher, hopelessly tries to find her boyfriend in a strange reality, full of people who seem to be hiding something from her and some weird demons on the loose. Simultaneously, another young man named Lucas, who was involved in the same car accident, finds himself in a similar situation and decides to team up with Amy in a search that makes them experience some of the most bizarre circumstances.

I actually believe the story is not all that bad, the problem is that the execution was terribly done. First of all, there are things that simply don't have and explanation and they only add confusion to a simple story that doesn't need all these "comes and goes" that lead to nothing. Also, even though the two leading actors are fairly respected (Christine Taylor and Jerry O'Conell), their acting just seemed... off. Ellie Cornell was the best thing about this film and not only because of her acting, but also because her character, a low-class and foul-mouthed trailer-trash woman, works as some kind of comedic relief.

"Room 6" is not unwatchable, if anything, it is worth the watch, at least to enjoy some eerie moments and creepy imagery, but, in the end, it's just one of those frustrating flicks that leave you thinking "Aw, well, this could have been a decent flick, if they had done [...] instead of [...]".

Overall this wasn't a horrible film, but wasn't overly impressive either. This film had some interesting parts and ideas to it. The demons were done quite nicely. It kinda reminded me of a badly made Stephen King made for TV movie. I enjoyed the actors in this film, though not real sure what Jerry O'Connell was thinking when he signed on to this movie, he's much better as a comic actor such as in "Kangaroo Jack". There was several scenes where i'm not quite sure what the director was thinking when he added them other then he just wanted to get some T&A included in the film. It wasn't overly scary, my 4 year old son watched it and didn't blink an eye if that tells you anything. It is however worth watching if your bored and have nothing else to do or watch, just don't have high expectations for the film and you'll enjoy it.

Plot

A schoolteacher with a phobia of hospitals finds herself searching for her boyfriend inside one while teaming up with a man suffering the same ordeal that she's in.

Cast

Christine Taylor leads, Jerry O'Connell supports, Chloë Grace Moretz comes along for the ride and we even get a short appearance from Kane "Jason Voorhees" Hodder.

Verdict

I boo-booed, see I'd already seen this years ago but when movie night rolled around I picked this as my choice as I didn't remember it. By the time I realized it was too late and I didn't want to turn the movie off as my other half was invested.

Alike the first time I called the "Twist" in the first 5 minutes and that's no exaggeration. And it's not just the predictability that's the problem, it's "That" twist the one which is in a frustrating number of horror films and leaves you feeling cheated at the end.

The journey? Incoherent, random sequences, nothing flowing, nothing making sense and both O'Connell and Taylor come across very much like they're phoning their performances in and just don't want to be there. I'd argue Moretz delivers the best performance in the movie and she's a child here.

Messy, unsatisfying, brings little to the table and insults you with its finale.

Rants

No spoilers here but the "Twist" that I speak of is what I like to call the Dallas effect. It's a slap in the face to the viewer, and should never be put to screen let alone the amount that it is. I'm not exaggerating when I say I've easily seen this trope 100+ times. Enough is enough, it's unforgivable at this stage.

Breakdown

Decent cast Kane Hodder is always appreciated Story is a mess Never feels like it gets going Twist is insulting and predictable.

"Room 6" is a film that tries to be a mindfak horror, but fails in almost all fields. The idea is interesting, but so confusingly elaborated that instead of keeping you on the edge of a chair, it will keep you on the edge of boredom. The acting is not good enough to connect us with the characters, the dialogues are poorly written, and the overall atmosphere leaves the impression of an amateur film. Only the scenes with Chloë Grace Moretz have some strength, but no matter how good she is and how much I like her, she can't save a failed movie on her own with just a supporting role. I don't regret spending my time, but I advise you to skip it unless you're a big fan.

4/10