How entertaining?     ★★★☆☆
Thought provoking? ★☆☆☆☆

11 October 2009

This a movie review of TRIANGLE.

By Hemanth Kissoon

“Victor you gotta listen to me. We don't have much time,” Jess

Would you be scared if you repeatedly met an exact version of yourself? Would you be scared if you repeatedly met an exact version of yourself? Would you be scared if you repeatedly met an exact version of yourself? You get the drift, the first time yes, continually, no. Fear turns to tedium. Repetition and doppelgangers are menacing, but not the way they are played out here for 98 minutes.

The film is refreshing, in that it starts off apparently going to chill you in one arena, and then shifts to another; all the time using the ocean as a prison for the leads. Like space, no one can hear you scream. It is hostile and isolating. These traits are utilised well. You wonder what type of thrill-ride Triangle is going to be until the tension is massively deflated by the reveal of the ending, as a character explains the meaning behind a name. Why so unsubtle? Anyone engaged will have the penny drop instantly. There is no need! That is less than halfway through, after which boredom slowly seeps in as you wait for the explanation; where kudos has to be given to its unsettling nature.

Horror films are so prevalent and unimaginative at the moment. It is rare for entertaining originality. The writer-director Christopher Smith and lead, Melissa George, both seem at home in the genre. He has made Creep and the very fun SEVERANCE, she, 30 DAYS OF NIGHT, THE AMITYVILLE HORROR and the excellent DARK CITY. Here there is ambition but an unfortunate miscalculation as to audience intelligence undermines it.