Review of Nine Dead (2010) by Lafe F — 10 Apr 2011

In this fascinating thriller, Nine people of various backgrounds are abducted & chained up in a room, with a masked gun man coming in telling them that every ten minutes someone will die, unless they can figure out why they are all here & what their connection is to each other, as time goes on, the body count mounts, as the gun man kills one person every ten minutes as the group tries to piece all the clues together & as time goes on, each of the remaining survivors try to come up with explanations as to why they are there, their dark secrets & their connections to one another, as well as the gun man only to soon realize the the real explanations are not only chilling, but the gun man may not be the real monster, as some that they are trapped in the room with may be even bigger & far more cruel. I was really impressed with NINE DEAD, the film was very well acted & directed, with lots of suspense & very interesting dialogue. What I like about the film is that, the dialogue was not only good, but was able to draw it's audience in from first frame till last. The characters were interesting & so was the plot twists that abound. The film is basically a stage play, since 90% of the film takes place in a room, in the wrong directors & actors hands, this could have been a disaster, a real bore of a movie, thankfully that's not the case here. Despite being one of the top billed, DANIEL BALDWIN, only has a two minute cameo in the film. Similar to SAW, HOUSE OF 9, STEEL TRAP, CAPTIVITY & another film with similar characters which was called BREATHING ROOM, but with the exception of SAW, this film is so much better than those other movies. If only this film had a better ending, the ending here is really terrible, since not only does it feel like the filmmakers ran out of film, but that one of the characters (I'm not saying who) who turned out to be quiet sneaky & despicable, may have gotten away. In fact the ending seems to be the thing that many fans & critics have dumped on this movie, which begs the questions, to those who hated it, is the movie bad because they thought it was bad? or was the movie bad in their eyes because of the ending? if it's the former, I say everyone has their own opinions, what is a piece of cinematic gold in one viewers eyes, is a hunk of dirt in another's, but as for the latter, A NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET, SHOCKER & many other films made before, had terrible endings (arguably) that left many fans feeling cheated since the films had so much momentum going in, but still that didn't stop people from loving those movies. In fact, I was a little hesitant about seeing the movie at first, because of some of the negative reviews, but I decided to check it out anyways & I am glad I did & I really recommend you see this film. Yes I agree with everyone who says the ending is terrible, but don't let that stop you from seeing this otherwise interesting suspense thriller!

Nine people are systematically kidnapped after being rendered unconscious by a masked man's taser while walking to their various vehicles. These people, of all walks of life, find themselves handcuffed to poles and are told by their mysterious captor that they have a certain allotted time limit(ten minutes each)to uncover why they are in this situation. If they are unable to do so, one individual of the group will be killed, a random selection chosen for execution.

Melissa Joan Hart is Kelley, a self-absorbed, very corrupt district attorney, whose needs(career) come before anything(or anybody)else. Chip Bent is Sully, a boorish strip joint owner with a rotten soul known for using violence on those who fail to pay him for lending money among other practices. Lawrence Turner, as depraved, bi-sexual pedophile ex-con Coogan who delights in watching the others squirm while attempting to come up with the answer behind their plight..Coogan, I imagine, will the most memorable of the cast because he's so deplorable, and unapologetic about his sickening nature. Edrick Browne is black burglar Leon, and yes there are conversations about race..it's inevitable when a lone black character is supplied in such a scenario that race will be brought up, never fails. John Cates is struggling actor/bartender Christian, who may be a root cause for why everyone is in this predicament. Marc Macaulay as a priest(no he is not in this situation because of pedophilia..I bring this up because, truth be told, it immediately came to my mind as well), Father Francis, who heard a confession and will not relate the information to the rest because of his vow to God. Lucille Soong as an Oriental woman who can not speak English..this will undoubtedly cause a tumult among the parties due to the language barrier(if they can not understand her, how can they understand why she relates to them?). James C Victor as a cop, Eddie, who has a history with Kelley later revealed. Daniel Baldwin shows up in what is an unimportant cameo.

A Saw variation, just less brutal than what we normally see in these types of character puzzlers(..the killer uses only a loaded gun, shooting his victims point blank as they plead for their lives, begging to be spared) where an assemblage of stereotypes try to discover a way to recover past mistakes and decisions which might've contributed to their current dilemma. I imagine Melissa Joan Hart's name in the lead will draw curious viewers interested in seeing her in a film such as this..and, boy, is she a whopper to behold, certain to create repulsion in many a viewer. Chris Shadley's "Nine Dead", as many of the Saw movies and their imitators, opens with characters we know little about, and as the plot unfolds, revelations and behavior tell us all we need..this kind of plot services us with a catharsis, as character unveil their hidden flaws while understanding the crisis confronting them.

I think the key to the film's modest success is that it really feels like these characters have ten minutes a piece as we literally hears the seconds tick as time becomes an issue and details emerge with the usual bickering and personality clashes. I won't lie, I thought the end result, after the mystery has been solved, was a bit contrived(..Kelley's actions are certain to bewilder, us having to accept that someone could be so abominable is a bit hard to fathom), but it comments on how, despite facing death every moment, one might still remain so selfish and concerned for(..and consumed with) their own well being, even upon possible absolution. As with the Saw series, "Nine Dead" often shows flashbacks from past events to weave it's tale. Most of the film occurs within the "cell" of the characters, where they are confined.

A masked gunman is on the prowl, kidnapping seemingly random victims without hesitation or remorse. First, a Vegas club owner, then a Hollywood actor and then a Los Angeles District Attorney; all taken in the blink of an eye with expert precision. The police are helpless and baffled by the kidnapper's motive even as one of their own detectives falls victim to the one-man crime-wave. The true number of kidnapped victims and the assailant's motive comes to a haunting reality when nine strangers find themselves handcuffed to nine separate poles in a bunker built by the masked gunman who is hell bent on revenge. But the gun in his hand and the threat of death are just tools in his forced act of attrition. If the Gunman is going to succeed, he needs someone to live. "I have brought the nine of you here for a reason. Your survival depends on you figuring out what that reason is. I will leave you alone for you discussions but I will return over ten minutes and kill one of you until you figure out why I have brought you here, or until you are all dead." And with his single deadly statement, the gunman closes the bunker door, leaving the nine stranger scared, desperate and unsure of who will be the first one killed or if any will live. They confess their worst crimes, sins and innermost fears hoping to find the connection that will keep them alive. As each ten-minute period expires, the gunman re-enters the bunker and asks his one simple question. "Why are you here?" If they don't have every piece of his twisted puzzle a single gunshot kills one of the nine resetting the clock giving survivors another chance to uncover the gunman's truth. Criminals, everyday citizens, a cop, a lawyer and a priest have all been extracted from their lives and thrust into a world of betrayal, deceit and murder. Unsure who to trust and what to believe, the nine must rely on each other before the clock on the next victims life runs down to zero. Can their differences and prejudices be put asides? Will the answers come out? Who of the nine live and who dies? Only time will tell. You have ten minutes.

Communication is the key to the survival for nine strangers who have been kidnapped by a masked gunman and told that one of them will die every ten minutes until they discover how they are all connected. Who of the nine lives and who dies?