Green Room

Pat (Anton Yelchin), Sam (Alia Shawkat), Reece, and Tiger are members of a struggling punk band on the road. They steal gas, work for scraps, and concentrate on playing live. They arrive at a remote bar outside of Portland. It's soon obvious that it's a neo-Nazi hangout. After a contentious set, Pat returns to the green room to retrieve Sam's phone. He sees a murdered girl and tries to call the cops. The band and the dead girl's friend Amber (Imogen Poots) overpower their guard. Senior leader Darcy Banker (Patrick Stewart) is called in.

This is a fairly simple horror premise. There are some solid young actors in this. The biggest coup is getting Patrick Stewart to play the big bad. He's a Shakespearian actor throwing his full weight into the role. The young characters are not necessarily the brightest bulb in the lot but that's perfectly fine. Everybody is making mistakes in this chaos. One character does die sooner than I expected and that took some of the air out of the movie for me.

I admit when I read the description I passed on this movie more than once. But last night I figured I would give it a try. I am glad I did. This movie is not a horror by no means but it is a suspense. It will keep you trying to figure out the ending. When you watch as many movies as I have it is hard to come across one the is not predictable. This movie was a rare treat in that aspect. I guess the saying never judge a book by the cover is true.

This was on my to-watch list for quite a while before I gave it a chance. Holy crap this movie is good. Not ten stars good, obviously, but man it throws some curve balls. All of the actors were competent and believable. The tension builds and builds. The ending was stereotypical but didn't detract from the film at all. Wonder how much time Patrick Stewart had to spend in makeup to play a skinhead lol.

'Green Room' is a film filled with intensity & sheer courageousness. And in this captivating horror-thriller, one sees Anton Yelchin in a Remarkable Performance. The Recently Deceased Actor is in top-form here!

'Green Room' Synopsis: After witnessing a murder, a punk rock band is forced into a vicious fight for survival against a group of maniacal skinheads.

'Green Room' isn't for the faint-hearted. This is a brutally violent film, with loads of gore. But, that also, is its ace. The uninhibited nature of the narrative its true strength. Jeremy Saulnier's Screenplay is intense & unforgiving, but also engaging & captivating. Jeremy Saulnier's Direction, on the other-hand, is dark & grim, perfectly in sync with the film's mood. Cinematography is purposefully claustrophobic. Editing is sharp. Art & Costume Design are perfect, while the Action-Sequences celebrate violence.

Performance-Wise: Its Yelchin All The Way. His recent demise makes his appearance in 'Green Room' all the more special, as well as saddening. He's particularly remarkable here, enacting the heroic part, with absolute flourish. He was truly among the best of his generation & his untimely passing, makes his loss truly heartbreaking.

Giving Yelchin total support are Sir Patrick Stewart & Imogen Poots. Stewart is villainous to the core. What a delight it is to see the acting legend portray a negative role after so long. Poots is sensational, who's only climbing the ladder with each film.

On the whole, 'Green Room' is intense & engaging! And lastly, R.I.P Anton Yelchin.

A punk band are on tour trying to build up a following and get the 'vibe' going. It is going down like a pork pie at a bar mitzvah and then they get offered an actual paying gig; only it is out in the wilds of the Pacific North west of America. On arrival it looks a bit down market to be honest.

Then they sort of realise that they might be playing to some sort of white supremacists or something and yet decide to carry on – after all they are guaranteed a pay day. Then they stumble into a room where a crime has been committed. Now they are the only non locals to have seen it and all of a sudden they go from being guests to being in deep trouble.

Now I thought this was going to be a slasher horror type and so was a bit non plussed at the thought. However, it is a rollicking and very tense thriller. There are some superb performances here too. Macon Blair as the well meaning MC is superb – but he is always excellent and Patrick 'beam me up Scotty' Stewart (I know he doesn't use that line) is deliciously ambiguous. This is a case of ordinary people having to do extraordinary things and it all hangs together really well – so an easy one to recommend.