The Black Room

This is simply a gawd awful film. There's not a believable character to be found, let alone empathize with. Generally I'm one to watch a movie to it's end once I've started it and this one was no exception. It was a complete 94 minute waste of time. The plot is hardly original but it could have (and has been) done much, much better than it is here. I've loved the horror genre ever since watching Bela Lugosi in Dracula as a kid many many years ago. There is absolutely no horror, or even a good fright, in this flick. How it's gotten any rating on here higher than a 2 is beyond me.

I watched about close to an hour of this trash and just couldn't watch it any more. I heard it was so bad it's good, and I have watched a fair few of the b movies they live up to that standard sadly this one didn't. The acting was terrible I have no idea if it that was intentional or not given the talents from the cast my guess is bad direction. There was no straight forward plot to keep you intrigued , a simple plot line to follow would have made a difference, all I know is a couple bought a house without inspecting it weird things happen for no reason that's about it. I heard it was supposed to be a parody or comedic elements , there was nothing funny at all apart from the bad acting. Dont go by the 9s and 10s of this, it is so bad it is actually bad.

The Black Room is advertised as a horror comedy, sadly it's very badly lacking in one area and therefore makes for an oddly imbalanced movie.

Telling the story of a couple moving into a new house with a storied past. In the basement is a black room housing an incubus. For those aware of what an incubus is you probably won't be surprised to hear that the film is jam packed with sex and nudity from start to finish to rather gratuitous levels.

With a fantastic cast including Natasha "Species" Henstridge, Dominique Swain and horror icons Lin Shaye and Tiffany Shepis it certainly had the tools to deliver a competent movie.

Sadly this is again where I must come back to the poor blend of comedy and horror. The movie has very little comedy so when humor is attempted it feels very out of place especially considering that the rest of the film is played like a straight horror. Sure it's a tad cheesy but it's still a full on horror film so the brief moments of levity spoil it.

So what with the poor tone balance, amateurish cgi effects (They should have stuck with practical) and a bad story delivery The Black Room will likely appeal to horny teens more than horror enthusiasts.

Not irredeemable, but I'd certainly not recommend this to anyone.

The Good:

Natasha Henstridge

The addition of couple of scream queens for cameos

Solid cast

The Bad:

Really weird balance of comedy and horror

Some really pants sfx

Married couple Paul and Jennifer (Lukas Hassle and Natasha Henstridge) move into their dream home blissfully unaware that there is an incubus (a horny devil in more ways than one) trapped in the basement. When Paul accidentally frees the demon, he becomes possessed by the evil creature, which proceeds to seduce and kill those who cross its path.

The Black Room begins two years earlier with Miss Black (Lin Shaye) woken in the night by the incubus, the monster somehow escaping its prison in the form of smoke (logic is not this film's strong point). While Miss Black screams at the monster, the invisible incubus enters the room where sexy granddaughter Dawn (Alex Rinehart) is sleeping, peels the duvet off her bed, removes her nightie, fondles her nipples, whips off her panties and gives her an orgasm. It's that kind of film.

Dawn is then lured into the basement, where she is groped by slimy demonic hands before being roasted by a fiery blast from the furnace. So far, so tawdry and trashy.

And so it continues, as Paul and Jennifer take ownership of the property, both keen to have sex as soon as possible in their new home, but unable to find the right time. The demon finds a way to keep them both happy, however, using its powers to satisfy Jennifer in the bath and give Paul head while he relaxes in bed.

The horror begins after Paul unwittingly releases the incubus, and becomes possessed, with several people meeting sticky fates: electrician Oscar is dragged into the 'black room', leaving behind his severed fingers; Jennifer's goth sister Karen (Augie Duke) has her mouth torn open by the rapey incubus's schlong; plumber Leo has his head crushed in a washing machine door by the undead Karen; and housewarming guests Howard (Caleb Scott) and Stacy (Dominique Swain) wind up in the basement as demon food.

Eventually, Jennifer realises the truth and attempts to rid her husband of the incubus (using a metal disc with a glowing 'eye') before the creature can be reborn, none of which makes much sense. Despite a reasonable cast (Henstridge, Swain, and Shaye are deserving of much better), the film amounts to little more than some cheap titillation, a touch of not-very-impressive gore, and lots of really bad visual effects.

3.5/10, rounded up to 4 for Henstridge making her washing machine blow up. Way to go!

A young couple (Natasha Henstridge and Lukas Hassle) moves into the house of their dreams which quickly becomes a living nightmare when they discover a dark secret awaiting them in the cellar.

This film is getting some awful reviews. And yes, indeed, it is not a great movie. But look at it for what it is. I think Rolfe Kanefsky succeeds in what he set out to do -- get together a large handful of genre stars and get them to make a somewhat scandalous horror film.

Honestly, there are far, far worse films out there, especially in the horror genre. This one at least redeems itself by having a sense of humor. And yes, it is more smutty than I typically appreciate in a film, but that is exactly what it set out to be. So I can understand mixed feelings, but the overly negative responses seem harsh.