A Cadeira do Diabo

I just got back from seeing this movie at the TIFF and I will start out by saying that if you are the type of person who likes to have everything clearly spelled out for you in a movie, this film is not for you. Likewise, if you are looking for a non-stop gorefest, you are likely to be disappointed. All of that aside, I thought the movie to be very interesting and certainly worth the watch. I've never been a fan of movies with narration, but this one executes it quite nicely. The narrative dialogue is witty and often injects a bit of humor into the film. The main story follows a man (Nick) in a mental facility for the criminally insane after he and his girlfriend enter an abandoned asylum and she dies. Nick insists that she was taken by a demonic chair. 4 years later, a doctor has him released, so that Nick, the doctor and his team can explore the scene of the murder and thing quickly go down hill from there. The cinematography in this film is interesting and the sound effects give the movie a lot more edge considering the gore is minimal aside from the liberal use of blood. Overall, this movie was definitely worth watching and I look forward to its release on DVD so I can watch it again!

I recently watched the UK film 🇬🇧 The Devil's Chair (2007) on Tubi. The storyline follows a couple who, on a date, stumble upon an abandoned asylum they think would make the perfect spot for a sexual escapade. When the woman sits in a mysterious chair, things take a horrifying turn, and blood ends up everywhere. The man is soon imprisoned, accused of her murder. Years later, a researcher receives permission to take him back to the crime scene so he can recount his story. Once they return to the asylum, it doesn't take long for trouble to arise.

Directed by Adam Mason (Blood River), the film stars Andrew Howard (Taken 3), Pollyanna Rose (Turistas), Elize du Toit (Skyfall), Louise Griffiths (Chastity Bites), and Matt Berry (Snow White and the Huntsman).

This is definitely an uneven movie, but there's a lot to like. The main character can be a bit over-the-top and his acting inconsistent, which might get annoying, but his narration isn't awful. The dialogue and acting feel a bit low-budget, and the circumstances can be a stretch at times. However, the "monster" is surprisingly well-executed, and the kills are better than expected, with plenty of blood splatter. The film also delivers a strong twist, making the ending far more satisfying than expected.

In conclusion, The Devil's Chair is far from perfect, but horror enthusiasts looking for something different may enjoy it. I'd score it a 5-5.5/10 and recommend watching it once.

This British horror film is unusual in a few aspects. It starts by showing the end (or is it?) of the story. It has the main character, Nick, as a narrator, who's more often a commentator who hits the pause button (freeze-frame) when he makes a comment. Nick is considered criminally insane because of the way his lover died 4 years ago in an abandoned asylum, but Nick insists it was due to supernatural causes (involving a weird chair). Early in the film, Nick admits he can be the only one who did it although he doesn't remember doing it. An old professor, his assistant and two students have the "genius" idea to bring back the supposedly criminally insane Nick to the asylum where the murder was committed, to study him. Right there, I had a problem believing such a dumb idea could actually happen.

The "devil's chair" in the abandoned asylum is a sinister-looking chair with a skull, initially inoffensive, which "probes" people (creepiest effects of the movie) before shunting them off to another version of the asylum with a demon-skulled tentacled monster roaming. I thought sometimes it looked freakish, sometimes amateurish. The acting was unequal, but I think it might have been intentional. The pompous old professor was atrocious in his line delivery. The main character/narrator was actually good playing it serious, troubled, intense, sometimes mean, channelling Jason Statham. The others were OK, except the brown-haired assistant that was also bad, but nowhere near the level of the professor. There were jarring changes in the tone of the movie with the main character actually admonishing the viewer once. The "normal" version of the asylum was undermined by the irrational, sometimes corny, behaviour of the characters, which in a way got eventually explained. The "other" version of the asylum was sometimes unnerving with interesting cinematography.

However, it's the last act (last 20 minutes or so) that was really horrifying with its final twist that I liked but that might frustrate others. For low-budget horror, it does try to be somewhat different but ends up a mixed-bag. I wondered what messages the creators were trying to convey if anything. One of them might be that the true horror doesn't lie in supernatural shenanigans but in the human psyche. Another might be simply what the main character spews out angrily at the viewer near the end. I don't think I particularly liked this movie, but I found it positively peculiar nevertheless.

Rating: 6 out of 10 (Good)

STAR RATING: ***** Saturday Night **** Friday Night *** Friday Morning ** Sunday Night * Monday Morning

Reckless Nick West (Andrew Howard) takes his girlfriend to an abandoned warehouse to drop acid, but when she sits on a weird chair, she is sucked into a demonic hole, leaving Nick traumatized. Years later, he's in a psychiatric hospital run by Dr. Willard (David Gant) who is the first person to give his story any credence. He offers him escape from the asylum if Nick returns with him to the scene of the mystery to conduct an experiment. But as members of the group go missing, it becomes clear something evil is lurking in the walls of this eerie place...

When I first caught sight of this bizarre looking straight to DVD horror film, I soon cleared the sight of it from my mind, but finding it again in the bargain bin at Morrison's, I thought...why not give it a try? While I don't feel I completely wasted my time, it does feel like a wasted opportunity in a lot of respects.

Adam Mason's film is unsure whether it wants to play as a straight out mind fu*k, gore porn horror flick or a self referentializing parody of the genre, with the lead character giving voice overs saying how we'll like it 'if we saw Hellraiser or Pumpkinhead' and at one point lamenting what 'a poorly written, badly acted' film it's become, either the way the writing feels uncertain of itself and in turn loses the audience a bit. The gore factor really kicks in at the end, shocking even by horror standards with all the blood/distress on display. Either way, you're more likely to sit lost on The Devil's Chair than be on the edge of it. **

I do appreciate the effort but a pair of suspenders have more suspense than this rotten egg of death. The story evolves around an evil chair adorned with a skull and placed conveniently (probably by some deranged carpenter) in a desolate building, a former asylum. To top it off the main character - a mental patient - continuously delivers a voice-over with a lisp which I believe he suffers from, listening to which is as thrilling as a boat ride on dry land.

Believe me you've seen it done before and better (Session 9 anyone?), don't punish yourself by watching the "Chair". I dosed off countless times which was about the most refreshing thing about the whole experience.