Broken

There's not a lot more to add to the already overwhelmingly positive reviews. First and foremost, this is a low budget, independent film that actually works to it's advantage. Without constraints of Hollywood pampering or any of that nonsense, what we get here is a film made by horror fans, FOR horror fans. These people have a clear understanding of what people want to see; none of this teen-orientated rubbish, this is a seriously disturbing and believable film.

With the main character being an ordinary person going through a horrific ordeal in the woods, this really could happen to anyone. From the outset, I felt my stomach churning, and to someone who has seen as many films as I have, this is indeed an achievement. Needless to say, I recommend this film to anyone who can appreciate a good, shocking and unpleasant film.

Keep your eyes on this director.... 5 years from now he will be a much bigger name!

Broken is a grim low-budget horror film in the old-school tradition. I won't go into details about the story, as most comments already cover that. What I will say is this: Made for next to nothing, and with a simple and strong premise, it's an impressive piece of work. Firstly, it looks great. Atmospheric and intense, the photography suits the theme of the film. There are some shots near the end that simply look superb, and they've really captured that moist, raw "waking up in the woods in the morning"-feeling.

The story is simple and raw. The screenplay is well structured and exploits the premise without ever repeating itself. That's an accomplishment in itself! And it's scary and intense. The gore is well done without being over the top, and the acting is good.

I'm happy to see that people notice low-budget films like this, and give them the attention they deserve. Check it out!

An abysmally poor entry into the 'torture porn' genre, a British movie shot out in the Cambridgeshire woods somewhere with the writer/director's own wife playing a central role. I have two questions after watching this: who told the writing/directing team they could direct, and who told the main actress she could act?

BROKEN is the worst kind of horror film, a repulsive exercise in sadism designed to cash in on the popularity of the SAW franchise, which it rips off throughout (and most notably at the beginning). The opening credits play out over a montage of a young woman trying to retrieve a razorblade sewn inside her stomach, and if that sounds like your idea of entertainment then you're welcome to it. The repetitive self-mutilation continues for another twenty minutes or so before the film settles down into a plot less affair which tries to depict a supposedly tense relationship between hostage and captor.

The truth is that BROKEN is entirely void of original idea and intent, so instead it ups the ante in terms of on-screen gore and general nastiness. Not that the special effects are good, because they aren't, but there's a general undercurrent of depravity and sadism which makes it an alternatively gruelling and boring watch. Despite the unpleasantness, there's never any suspense or tension in any of the hackneyed scenes, and the intensely irritating Nadja Brand fails to elicit one iota of sympathy for her character's plight. The villain is a nobody, there's no motivation or backstory for any of the characters, no attempts at characterisation or realism. Just endless repetition and padding until the final, merciful moments.

After dating a wonderful man, Hope (Nadja Brand) comes back home, sees her daughter Jennifer and goes to sleep. She wakes-up in the woods with a psychopath (Eric Colvin), fighting to survive for more than forty days and asking information about her daughter to the stranger.

"Broken" is a sick, unpleasant and disturbing low budget movie. In spite of having a reference in the beginning of the movie that it is based on a true event, the pointless story is completely flawed, the character of Hope is a total idiot and the schoolgirl is very stupid and annoying. There is no explanation about where they are and how the women have been kidnapped and transported to the middle of nowhere; Hope is an imbecile, and I do not understand how her character does not kill the sadistic maniac when she has the chance and after being tortured the way she had been; the schoolgirl screaming all the time is really irritating, provoking the nasty situation with her tongue. I did not like this gross movie. My vote is three.

Title (Brazil): "Jogos Sangrentos" ("Bloody Games")

Saw this film at a horror festival in Scotland, while we were visiting Britain this year.

A poorly made, SAW rip-off, that makes me want to run out into a forest with cheap camera and show these guys how to make a movie.

It's amateurish, not in style (which would be clever) but in execution (which isn't clever in the slightest) which leads me to believe that the director could have recently been lobotomized, or more likely still, lack any talent or eye for film-making in any way, shape or form.

The no-budget, no-time film projects at college had more thought, script and flair than this does. How a movie like this ever got made is truly remarkable.

The director, not only has no idea of where to put the camera, the dp has no idea where to put the lights, the effects department don't do too badly, but are let down by the performances, which are utterly horrendous.

I would usually blame this on the actors, but in this case, they have been directed into the toilet.

In summary, I would like to say that I'm usually a huge advocate of low-budget films that buck the trend - but in this case, it's a low-talent film that rapes the very idea of storytelling and reduces it to simple mongoloid utterances.

The film-makers should find new careers - this one is over guys.