Review of A Crack in the Floor (2001) by Dougal S — 04 Oct 2010

This is a film that in theory should be getting warmly applauded. On paper there's not much wrong with it. Standard youngsters lost in the backwoods storyline: check. Abandoned shack complete with homicidal resident: check. Reasonable B-list cast and a few bigger stars in cameos: check. Clichéd but at times witty script: check. Lots of killings: check.

But what it fails to do is wring any sense of terror or tension from all the standard horror ingredients. The killer is a standard shadowy figure at the outset but we never get the final reveal. The killings are standard but often cut to off-screen at the climax. The protagonists blunder around the woods getting bumped off but there's never any tension or suspense. And when things finally kick off everyone starts acting completely unbelievably (would a sheriff really club someone flagging him down at the roadside and asking for help?) And then it all just ends - there's no final conflict between the killer and the last remaining protagonist. It's just very bland - but perhaps could pass eighty minutes after the pub if you've got nothing better to watch.