Torment

I don't want to suggest that Torment is an awful movie, but it comes close. It's not for a lack of trying, so to speak, but the overarching problem is that the movie is essentially a carbon copy of all the slasher/home invasion movies in the world and contributes very little of note. I suppose the killers' masks, taken from the heads of giant stuffed animals, is the extent of the film's originality.

Cory Morgan (Robin Dunne) and his new bride Sarah (Katharine Isabelle) arrive at Cory's summer home (secluded, of course), with Cory's son Liam (Peter DaCunha) in tow. The kid resents his stepmom a little, because she's not Mom. Mom's dead, in case you were wondering. Unfortunately, that fact has almost no bearing on the plot, which feels like a tremendous waste of opportunity. At any rate, when the Morgans arrive at the house they quickly learn that squatters have been there very recently - there's spoiled food left out and some blood on the wall. They call the cops, and good ol' Office Hawkings (Stephen McHattie) tells them that teenagers probably hung out there and had a party or something. Doesn't explain the blood too much, but the Morgans don't press him for more info. Just another kindly old officer of the law lending a homespun helping hand, is all.

During their first night in the house, Sarah awakes to a noise downstairs, which happens in most horror films anyway. When she and Cory investigate, they find nothing out of the ordinary - except that little Liam is now missing. And thus begins endless searching (for the boy) and fleeing (from the crazy cult who snatched him and is right next door) that comprises basically the balance of the movie. Run into forest, be pursued by masked lunatic, fire off every flare in your road flare gun so you can see where you're going, escape into your house, get attacked by another masked lunatic, run out of the house and into a muddy stream where you fend off the attacker, and so on.

Isabelle looks great and appears capable of being a damsel in distress. Dunne is a little more lackluster. Young DaCunha's performance felt more authentic than that of any of the adults. But what made this film particularly maddening were the little hints of backstory that are never really resolved. For example, when Cory does find Liam and confronts the kidnapping maniacs, it's strongly implied that he (Cory) knows who these people are, knows their history, knows why they've chosen poor Liam. Do we, the audience, get to discover this as well? We do not. And maybe it would have helped if we did, because a gentle, plausible twist would have been welcome over the generic, often listless storyline.

Torment is not so bad it's good. It's a mediocre entry in a field that's already very overloaded with mediocrity. There isn't even all that much blood, thereby depriving those who love a good gorefest from getting their money's worth. So, no gore, a thin plot, lousy acting, and and overwhelming sense of pointlessness all add up to a movie that's just not worth your time.

Newlyweds Cory and Sarah Morgan take Cory's 7-year old son Liam up to the country for some much needed family time. When it appears as if Liam has run away, psychological suspense becomes straight-out horror, as Sarah and Cory must now confront a sadistic cult-like family who have been hiding in the house all along and have taken Liam for themselves.

Some horror fans will watch anything and give this a try. Some are more discriminating and might give it a chance because it stars Katharine Isabelle. That latter reason is a good one, and bumps this film up from bad to alright.

There are some cheesy lines about the kid who will not accept his new stepmother. In such situations, these conversations probably happen and they probably sound stupid trying to reason with a kid, but they sound out of place here...

There are some good things: there is nice coloration on the cinematography, giving it a sort of sepia-influenced creepiness. And you cannot deny the interesting villains; the animal mask theme seems to be in vogue for the 2010s... these are some of the better masks out there, probably better than the ones from "You're Next".

It seems like horror movies these days fall into 3 categories: good or excellent (less than 5% of all horror movies per year); "I've seen worse" (30% of all horror movies per year); and utter garbage (the remaining 60-plus% per year). This is one of those "I've seen worse".

The entire movie is a mishmash of different horror movie elements you've seen in plenty of horror movies before:

1. deranged redneck family. 2. unsuspecting yuppies are stuck in a rural area with no cell phone reception. 3. decent actors wasted on a terrible script and poorly developed characters (although the kid was annoying). 4. long torture scenes where the victims are bound and gagged. 5. "BOOM!" jump scares whenever we see a shadow. 6. the heroine is pinned down by the villain but then finds a conveniently placed weapon nearby to defend herself with. 7. despite the fact that she's been through a physically trying ordeal through mud, blood, and grime, the heroine's hair, makeup, and nails are great. 8. the victims will knock the killer out but never make sure the killer is dead.

I was just shaking my head throughout the entire movie, constantly saying, "Wow...this is reeeeaaally generic...at best...". It's never a good sign when I start fiddling with my phone out of boredom. But I was doing that throughout the movie. Before I knew it, the movie was virtually over and everything seemed to be okay. Then the lame twist ending came around and I thought, "Well, unnecessary and mediocre twist endings are the norm these days. So why am I not shocked by this." I think the only interesting thing were the villains' masks. Why were they wearing them? I understand they wanted to keep their I.D.s a secret, but they could have chosen better masks. The masks are stuffy and hard to see through. In real life, any killer wearing those masks would have ripped them off in frustration.

All in all, this is a forgettable movie for someone looking to kill time. After watching it you'll think, "Well, I didn't hate the movie. But I have no desire whatsoever to watch it again."

After the death of his beloved wife, the widower Cory Morgan (Robin Dunne) marries Sarah Morgan (Katharine Isabelle) and they travel on vacation to an isolated house with his son Liam Morgan (Peter DaCunha). Cory expects that the resented Liam, who misses his mother, gets close Sarah along the next days. On the arrival, they discover that intruders have lived in the house and they summon the local Sheriff Hawkings (Stephen McHattie) calms them down telling that the strangers that have broken in have gone. During the night, Liam disappears and soon they witness Hawkings tied up to the steering wheel of his car. When the car explodes, they realize that they are under attack of sadistic killers and they need to fight back to survive.

"Torment" is a stupid slasher with a lame story, excessive use of clichés and poor development of the characters. The motive for the killing of the insane family is shallow and senseless. The brain washing in the teenager Mary Bronson (Amy Forsyth) is unexplainable and hard to believe. My vote is three.

Title (Brazil): "Faces do Medo: Bem Vindo a Família" ("Faces of the Fear: Welcome to the Family")

The other reviewers give this movie some pretty low scores. Realistically it's no worse than a variety of other horror films out there. To say that it has no redeeming qualities is outright false. It's filmed well, the acting is reasonable (where it counts), and it has a certain creepiness right off.

Also, it has Katherine Isabelle in it, which is the reason I watched it to begin with. OK, I confessed. Back to the review.

Unfortunately, like most horror movies, the scare/creepy factor lessens considerably toward the middle of the film as things start to emerge from the dark to the light. The villains, who are clearly insane, make very little sense to begin with, and the writers should have left it at that. You can't explain insanity, and you shouldn't try.

But instead the writers keep hinting that there is a method to the madness, and that the villains are up to something very specific. Crazy, yes, but specific. But there are simply too many unanswered questions, and the motivations behind the characters' actions are just convoluted at best.

Essentially, every element of a reasonably good film is here except that the bad guys don't really make sense, which just kills it for me.