La prison hantée

Inmates at the local prison are dying horribly. The local police detective is drawn in to the case after one of the security guards dies (shoots himself) upon going home. Can he, with the help of the prison psychologist, find out what is causing these nasty deaths? And what is in the furnace? I was a bit excited to receive this film. Tom Sizemore? Disposable but fun. Danny Trejo? I'll take him (even though his role here is small and forgettable). I was even more interested because of the involvement of director William Butler, whom I had previously interviewed. To put it lightly, we didn't get along as well as I would have liked. And I really wanted to like his film... but it's not good. I can sum it up in one word: bland. It's the visual equivalent of munching on cardboard. It's slow, the characters are uninteresting and Michael Pare is such a boring lead that I couldn't care about him (and cared even less when he gave his clichéd speech about his lost family).

The film also suffers from a serious woman problem. Let's be frank: when you set a film up with some gorgeous women, throw in a sex scene and label the movie "unrated", people expect to see some skin. Don't get your hopes up. The sex scene has a strategically-placed candle, so you get nothing. And then, one is left to wonder if the main character is blind: he keeps blowing off the smoking hot redhead CSI woman who is interested in him and instead pursues the mediocre psychologist. I speak for every red-blooded male: more screen time for hot women, less screen time for average women. Thank you.

There's a "bad twist" later on. Actually, I don't know if it's a twist or not, but we're given information we should already have known. So, it's either a bad twist or they are insulting our memories and intelligence. As well as our patience, since I suspect many people didn't make it to the end.

The best part of this movie was the special effect used to show the "ghosts". Now, I don't really understand what the deal is with the ghosts... they seem to be unlimited in their travel ability rather than attached to the prison. But nevermind that. The visuals were really cool. They could have been the same old CGI that every other movie uses and frustrates me, but it was something new: a black and white "television static" effect. It was legitimately creepy. So, effects department, my hat's off to you.

This film is avoidable. It's slow, not well-acted (aside from Ja Rule, surprisingly) and adds nothing new to the history of horror. Perhaps with a second viewing I could appreciate it better, but it seems that they took a weak story and stretched it out into a weaker film. You're better off renting just about anything else.

Put your head in a furnace if you enjoyed this while your at it throw the lame goof in

I can't understand why this is considered "unrated". There was no significant gore, no graphic nudity, no torture....nothing but the typical "R" rated schlock that continues to be churned out by amateur horror filmmakers. Other than about five seconds of the usual boring fake sex footage with the two main characters, there is nothing even really "R" rated in this film. In fact it is a very slow-moving, poorly acted, poorly scripted, tangled mess. The plot is very thin and predictable, the camera work terrible, and it's not the least bit scary. The prison setting (especially the closed-off section) does provide a bit of eerieness, but is otherwise ruined by the above-mentioned flaws. Just another unforgettable movie to throw on the scrap-heap of bad low-budget horror films. 2 stars

After just viewing the DVD of THE FURNACE...UNRATED, I suppose I got what I expected - not a whole lot to shout about, but not a complete waste of an hour and a half.

It's got a fairly well known cast, mainly made up of C Listers, Danny Trejo, Tom Sizemore, Michael Pare...and Ja 'Jeffrey Atkins' Rule, where the hell did they drag him up from! (he even has his mug slapped smack bang on the centre of the cover - errr!) - To be fair the acting was OK, could have been a total disaster.

The film has a fairly good atmosphere, just don't expect THE EXORCIST type atmosphere - aim more at the more recent Ghost movies like THE RING. And yet again, what is with this UNRATED tag they keep putting on the covers, there's nothing here that would'nt have been in an 'R' rated version.

I must just finish by saying the make-up effects guys, have done a great job - the burns and gore are actually pretty realistic, just hoped for a bit more on that front.

My advice...whatever you do DO NOT buy this film, unless it's really cheap, give it a rent or wait for Cable/Satellite.

A maximum security prison can be looked at as the ultimate house of evil, as it occupies some of the most sadistic criminals. Its walls are terrifying, its gates ensure that no evil can get out. In the case of FURNACE however, a force within the confines of the eerie Black Gate Prison reveal a darker evil than the most extremely violent offenders incarcerated.

FURNACE, the latest film by William Butler (MADHOUSE), opens with a prison guard who commits suicide after coming home from a shift at the Black Gate Prison. Homicide detective Michael Turner (Michael Pare) is assigned the case and quickly discovers something odd. The guard had two fingers severed and bandaged. When an inmate is found dead (the last one who saw the guard alive), he decides to go to the prison to investigate where he runs into his old partner Frank Miller (Tom Sizemore), now a drug addicted, corrupt prison guard. Miller is leading an excursion into the darkest reaches of the prison, where a few inmates (Danny Trejo and rapper Ja Rule) are taking part in. As Miller learns more about the prison, he teams up with the prison psychiatrist (Jenny McShane) to find that spirit from within the prison has returned to extract vengeance on the guards and inmates inside the prison.

FURNACE is the second film directed by William Butler and he does a very good job at setting the film's atmosphere, slowly building tension to the story. The film makes excellent use of its primary location, a Tennessee State Prison (and it does look great on screen). At a scant 85 minutes, the film runs at a brisk pace. Butler, a veteran of horror, definitely knows the genre well and he provides some solid chills here. The film's final act reveals the mystery of the furnace and while it provides the film's more extreme moments, it does fall into territory we've seen before. I also didn't feel the need for things to be explained because the visuals alone were enough to tell the story (Butler is very good with visuals). The dialogue is a little cringe worthy at times in moments of drama and in back story, but what separates this from others is that Butler did assemble a really fine cast for this film.

The ageless Michael Pare, who I've always liked, is fine as Turner, the dedicated detective with a tragic past. It's fit for him and it's good to see him still able to carry a film. He's always been reliable to give a decent performance. I've said before that I've admired Tom Sizemore as an actor and he delivers another good performance as Miller, the film's antagonist. Mirroring his harrowing off screen life, to see Miller as a man fallen on hard times dealing drugs did make it feel uncomfortable to watch at times, but Sizemore delivers it all with a fiery demeanor. Danny Trejo, an ex-convict, mainly has an extended cameo as Fury, and does his scenes well. Ja Rule is surprisingly good as a convict who warns Turner of the evil within the furnace of the prison. Kelly Stables of THE RING is fun as a coroner who has a friendship with Turner (though the mention of a cup of coffee after every exchange did get a little tedious). Jenny McShane is OK in her role as the prison psychiatrist, but the character does seem a little out of place with the rest of the film.

The special effects are interesting in this film, with lots of digital effects (a surprise considering Butler's career as a special effects artist) which are good and effective in showing the ghosts inside the prison but the practical effects are very good here. I wouldn't say the film is extremely bloody or gory, but there are some nasty effects which combined with some good use of lighting make for some very scary moments.

The DVD contains some alternate scenes which doesn't offer anything new to the story and were wisely cut out, but there are some entertaining interviews with Ja Rule, Danny Trejo, and Tom Sizemore. Sizemore in particular shows his unpredictable behavior with some very funny moments.

In all, FURNACE is an enjoyable movie, a throwback in a sense with some fine performances. With this film and MADHOUSE, William Butler is proving to be a modern day Roger Corman in delivering on a small budget with some familiar yet enjoyable fare. If there's one thing, Butler does respect and love horror, and it shows in his work.