Claustrofobia

Don't be fooled by the high IMDb rating for this movie as it's just a sorry attempt at a 'thriller'.

All thriller clichés pass the revue, so you're watching with a 'been there seen that' attitude. The 'script' (really, there was a script here ?) is laughable and has so many holes that you wonder at the end of the movie: "really, he did all this but couldn't come up with 1,000,000 easier solutions to avoid this mess ?".

The acting is bad and none of the characters is portrayed in a way that you would sympathise with them.

All of the above results in a movie that's watchable, but not enjoyable.

Top-notch Dutch thriller. Story involves Eva, a first-year veterinary student and aspiring actress. Just after moving into a new apartment, she finds herself captured and chained to a cot by a nameless/faceless abductor.

And that's really all you can say about the plot without giving too much away. The story kept me surprised all the way, and I've seen hundreds of thrillers. Every time you think you've settled in and know where it's going, it makes a twist, and every one of them makes perfect sense within the context of the film. The acting (especially from leads Carolien Spoor and Dragan Bakema) is solid and believable and this is an outstanding thriller from beginning to end.

And just to make clear for those who might make assumptions based on my limited synopsis -- although it does involve someone trapped, this is in absolutely no way part of the "Torture Porn" genre (although I hate that name, you all know what I mean). Not in any way, shape or form.

Overall, "Claustrofobia" is a superior thriller and definitely worth seeking out. Apparently, this was originally an on-line film, but it's available on DVD from Amazon with clear, removable subtitles.

I am writing this with a bit of an outside perspective being from the US & reading in subtitles, something that I never have a problem with in films from this region due to the very smooth translation it has into English. This film was crafted so expertly all around I cannot find any part of which to criticize negatively. It drew me in & kept me there while I constantly tried to intellectualize what the real story was and I haven't been outsmarted this good as far back as I can remember. It gives you multiple moments where you are saying, Aha, now I know exactly what the meaning of everything is then suddenly it changes to have an entirely different purpose behind the grand scheme of things.

I know I have just written an entire paragraph without any plot or character information given away & that was done purposely to let you the viewer know how well made this entire production was. It starts with a young boy of say 10 playing in a morgue along with a young girl of the same age, he is tricked by the promise of a kiss if he climbed into one of the refrigerated bins they store bodies in and remained in there for ten seconds. Well she walked away & left him locked within with no way to get out. The film then changes to a time many years later with no clues left as to what happened to that young boy. As to the remainder of the story, to sum it up proper, it's kind of like a chicken's egg cracking open to reveal something very unexpected like a dragon. If you enjoy a good tight thriller where you have to keep guessing then you should take a good look, you will be surprised in the cleverness of the writing & direction.

Carolien Spoor is quite a good actress (such as in Black Tulip), but the script is truly terrible and thus does not give her room for good acting. After 40 minutes we all know who the bad guy is, but even after 5 minutes the plot can be predicted, which is full of plotholes.

Now and then out of the Netherlands comes a horror. They are called Netherhorror and I surely would add this one on that list. The story is easy to follow and even as it doesn't have gore or messy situations it still delivers.

It starts with a young boy following a teenage girl. The girl promises that he may kiss her if he dares to be locked in a mortuary. He agrees, once locked up the girls ran away. We move further a few years with nothing explained. It's up to the viewer to solve the case. If you are a bit cleaver it is easy to follow. Even as we don't go too deep into the characters still you want to know what is going on.

The acting was okay, only Dragan Bakema as Alex Purvis wasn't convincing all the time. All the thespians are known for people living in the Netherlands, but aren't big names. Somehow it reminded me of Caged (2011), another Netherhorror.

Gore 1/5 Nudity 1/5 Effects 2/5 Story 3/5 Comedy 0/5