Review of Green Room (2016) by Alan W — 20 May 2016

Straw Dogs meets Assault on Precinct 13 meets teenage slasher movie meets Jean-Luc Picard... this is a tightly paced and incredibly tense 90 odd minutes with a simple yet effective setup: a bunch of youngsters, in the wrong place at the wrong time, are hunted down by neo-Nazi baddies led by a quietly menacing Patrick Stewart.

Many, from both sides, will be dead by the time the film ends in gruesome and gory ways. The violence are laid out in short, sharp bursts, rather realistically under the budgetary circumstances, interrupted by longer bouts of quiet contemplation and not so quiet panic.

It is a thrilling, intriguing, well executed piece of cinematic violence that is almost unbearable to watch as you teeter on the edge of your seat, not knowing where the story is taking you, with your eyes glued, somewhat involuntarily, to the screen.

The cast is fine but it is Jeremy Saulnier, the writer-director's film as he proves his skills as a master of tension on a budget.