I can't bring myself to write unnecessarily harsh and negative things about this film, but it's definitely a little too ambitious for its own good. With a title like "Gruesome" (at least, in Europe that's what it's called) and a plot summary that mentions a sadistic serial killer, the absolute last thing you expect to see is a psychological thriller that is reminiscent to "Groundhog Day" instead of to "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre". I saw this film amidst a boisterous and enthusiast crowd at the Belgian Horror & Fantasy Festival and needless to say nobody expected to see a psychological mind-exercise that serves a complex network of clues, twists and red herrings that all lead to a supernatural type of denouement that requires quite a lot of puzzling skills. And yet nonetheless, Jeff and Josh Crook surely deserve some respect and admiration for their film, as it undoubtedly holds the potential to grow out and become a modest cult-sleeper hit within a handful of years. The atmosphere is often quite terrifying, the film's structure is engaging to say the least and the climax is more than inventive enough to raise debates & discussions among avid horror fans. The tagline already reveals the premise of the film and immediately clarifies the similarities with the aforementioned 90's classic "Groundhog Day". "What if every day you relived your own murder?". When college student Claire Parker finishes her night shift as a gas station employee and awaits to be picked up by her boyfriend Jimmy, she meets the sinister Duke Desmond, who offers her a ride home in Jimmy's truck. He then brutally attacks Claire and drags her down to the basement of her house. The next morning, she wakes up and the events simply appear to be a disturbingly realistic dream. But all the horrible things happen again and again, indicating Claire is trapped inside an inescapable nightmare. Vague help from people close to her, like a befriended police detective and her own mother, eventually lead Claire to discover the true nature of the nightmarish cycle she's trapped it. I can't tell you too much about the twist at the end, of course, but it's quite staggering. Even though the final revelation raises more questions than it answers and causes you to skeptically play the movie again in your head, it's a horrific and ingenious finale that sticks to you. The pacing is occasionally slow, however, and at some times the confusing plot isn't compelling enough to force you to remain attentive and/or open-minded for new clues. "Gruesome" may not be as gruesome as I initially hoped, but it still features some effective shocks and awry images, most notably the sequences in which the killer savagely beats up Claire and drags her to her final resting place. Lead actress Lauren Currie Lewis is a talented young actress, and even if she doesn't get successful, she can always consider a second career as Alicia Silverstone's stunt double. The facial expressions and voices of the two actresses are almost identical. Chris Ferry's menacing performance as the robust killer is terrific as well. All in all, recommended with caution.
