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House Of 9
RRP: £19.99
Our Price: £4.71 (subject to change)
What's this guy got if he hasn't got a show?
Review date: 2007-02-09 Rating: 6 out of 10
When I told my partner that I was watching this film with the purpose of revieiwing it for Amazon, he described it as "not a bad little film", somewhat similar to the remarkable "Saw 2" and the massively under-rated "My Little Eye".
Briefly, "Nine strangers are abducted and sealed in a house for someone's mere entertainment...the captives are forced to play a grisly game. Only one will win $5 million dollars and his or her freedom. As cameras watch, desperation and greed turn deadly. Against their will, each person will have to commit the unthinkable to survive. Who will live? And at what cost?"
"House of Nine" is a disappointing film for three reasons: the stereotypical cast, the house itself and the way in which the story is forced to rely upon alcohol to get going. At the beginning of the film, we are told that the characters were chosen at random, and that they have "no common thread". Yet, when you get into the film you begin to feel like you are watching a particularly gruesome episode of "Celebrity Big Brother". Indeed, the characters are purposely picked BECAUSE they have no common thread, and as the film develops, the personalities become typecast and stereotypical. There is the racial/xenophobic relationship between the black rapper and the white policeman; there is the the class struggle between the spoilt potential Wimbledon champion and the Scottish Paroled prison-dweller: there is the Irish priest drafted in to act as a figurehead of reason - a man there only to "keep the faith in human kind". Whilst the characters develop in terms of their suspicion of each other later on in the film - I never really shook the feeling that they were all defined in terms of their occupation. The house itself leaves alot to be desired too. Less like the hell-like hovel portrayed in "Saw 2" or the isolated snow-swept house in "My Little Eye", the house looks more like an IKEA showroom that leaves you wondering whether this story-line would be better adapted for the stage. Finally, what left me a little bemused by the script was the need to introduce alcohol into the storyline in order to "spice things up" a bit. Half way through the film, and the body count equalling a big fat zero, the introduction of vodka and cannabis into the proceedings made me wonder whether this was an ad hoc line that the script-writer went down out of sheer desperation. If that isn't enough, the binge-drinking and drug-taking doesn't even add to the flailing story-line at that point - the first death in the film is, actually, a complete accident.
What prevents me from giving the film two stars rather than three is that it does have one or two positive points. The fact that the characters are so stereotypical does have it's advantages - indeed the character of Max, the homosexual fashion designer, delivers some great one-liners precisely because we expect him to possess great sardonic wit. The soundtrack itself is actually quite good primarily because it is so varied - reflecting the personalities of those trapped in the house. And, as a horror, it does have some neat touches: the lack of motive or reason for trapping/being trapped in the house; the absence of communication between the man behind the game and those in the house; the blatantly neglected "moral of the story" (in this case, co-operation doesn't work, as the entrapped find out as they try in vain to batter down a door with a table); the fact that there is often more than one attack going on at any one time and, finally, the clever twist at the end of the tale which leaves us in no doubt about the true destiny of the winner.
"Not a bad little film" then, as my partner described? Never one to look at the glass as half-full, I would like to paraphrase him more accurately..."Not a (particularly) good little film".
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Reviews
Not all that bad!
Review date: 2006-04-17 Rating: 8 out of 10
I had never heard of this film before, but saw it was made recently and starred Kelly Brook and Dennis Hopper, so I thought I'd give it a go. It's basically a mix of ideas from other films like House on haunted hill, My little eye and in some ways Saw, although it has more in common with Saw 2 which was released after this film. 9 strangers are kidnapped and awake in a house that is totally sealed up. They are told that only one will leave alive and 5 million dollars richer. The house is full of cameras and microphones to monitor what goes on. The tension grows inside as the time passes and the numbers reduced!
Obviously very low budget, and painfully slow at the start I was going to give 2 stars but the last 20 minutes are very good and save the film, 3.5 would be fair. Overall if you like the films mentioned that it is similar to it's worth a rent at least. Better than expected. 7/10
Good concept but really quite poor...
Review date: 2006-02-28 Rating: 4 out of 10
The concept of this film is good – nine people are locked in a house and told that the one surviving member will win £5 million dollars.
Unfortunately it fails on many levels. Firstly the characters are all stereotypical; the bimbo, the good priest, the bad boy gangster, the drug addict with a troubled past etc etc. Dennis Hopper’s accent is terrible, in fact it took me 30 minutes to realise he was supposed to be Irish and Kelly Brook cried and screamed a lot but achieved very little else.
While the concept of tempting people with a lot of money was a good idea none of the characters were very likeable so when they quickly turned mad and started killing each other I just didn’t care, in fact some of the characters were so irritating that I wouldn’t have minded had they been killed off earlier.
The best bit of this film was the ending but even that was a little predictable. I wouldn’t bother with this film unless you had nothing else to do and you were prepared to suspend all belief for a while. If you want to watch a film where people are trapped in a room and need to escape – watch Saw.
Do yourself a favour ...
Review date: 2005-12-04 Rating: 2 out of 10
... and don't bother with this film, it's terrible. The acting, the accents, the script, the storyline - not one redeeming feature.
Lets Kill Each Other (my suggestion as we watched this film)
Review date: 2005-09-06 Rating: 2 out of 10
This film should have been fifteen minutes long but they made it longer by playing slow music as each of the nine stereotypes look distraught and stare into space, why they are so distraught is a bit odd as they only try hitting one door, pulling a few curtains off before deciding there is no point trying to get out anymore. It was fun predicting everything that happened including the 'suprise' ending and Asher D rapping and hating the police! Why did this all happen? Dont know. Although I often hope this is how big brother will end I would not recommend this to anyone. My girlfriend picked this DVD, ha ha ha.
Product Details/Specifications
Actor(s):
Peter Capaldi
Dennis Hopper
Susie Amy
Kelly Brook
Creators:
Dennis Hopper (Primary Contributor)
Kelly Brook (Primary Contributor)
Director(s):
Recording label: Sony Pictures Home Entertainment
Manufacturer: Sony Pictures Home Entertainment
EAN: 5035822943735
Binding: DVD
Number of items: 1
Format: Anamorphic, PAL,
Release date: 2005-07-18
Aspect ratio: 1.78:1
Audience rating: Suitable for 18 years and over
Region code: 2
Running time: 86 minutes
Language: English (Original Language)