When
the more lunkheaded division of horror fandom start to moan about
‘torture porn’ or remakes or sequels (or whatever
else is currently being made), you have to wonder what they do
want. Is it a return to the godawful teen horrors of Scream?
The generic, safe video fodder that almost killed the genre in
the late 1980s and 1990s? If so, they should be more than happy
with The Open Door, which comes with gushing
quotes from easily pleased critics and somehow or other managed
to win the Audience Choice Award at LA Shriekfest… but which
is, by any standards, dreadful, dreadful stuff.
When
high school girl Angelica (Catherine Georges) is banned from going
to a party by her parents (given that she is a whining idiot with
the emotional stability of a six year old, I kinda saw their point),
she phones a mysterious pirate radio station that supposedly grants
wishes. Eventually, all hell breaks loose as her idiot friends
become possessed by an Evil Dead inspired demon.
To get to that point though, you have to sit through interminable
crap. Let’s be clear – every single character in The
Open Door is an annoying dick, from the jocks to the
‘sensitive’ guy, and while it’s okay to have
hateful characters in a horror film, you damn well have to ensure
that they die quickly and horribly. Instead, nothing at all happens
in this film – seriously, not a damn thing – for 50
minutes, and then nothing more for another 20. Instead, you have
to sit through some of the worst acting and lousiest dialogue
you’ll ever encounter in the company of an entirely loathsome
and unattractive bunch of characters., all of whom seem closer
to thirty than eighteen. I’m sure the filmmakers might defend
this as story and character development, but quite frankly, the
film has precious little of either. You don’t care what
happens to these characters, because they are all so ghastly –
you just want the film to get on with it. Which it doesn’t.
Is there anything good here? Well, the opening scene is passably
effective. Beyond that – no. This is entirely terrible.
Doc Duhame wrote, directed and produced, so I guess we know who
to blame. A successful stuntman, I can only suggest he sticks
to the day job in future. This is one door that needs to be kept
firmly closed.
When
the more lunkheaded division of horror fandom start to moan about
‘torture porn’ or remakes or sequels (or whatever
else is currently being made), you have to wonder what they do
want. Is it a return to the godawful teen horrors of Scream?
The generic, safe video fodder that almost killed the genre in
the late 1980s and 1990s? If so, they should be more than happy
with The Open Door, which comes with gushing
quotes from easily pleased critics and somehow or other managed
to win the Audience Choice Award at LA Shriekfest… but which
is, by any standards, dreadful, dreadful stuff.
When
high school girl Angelica (Catherine Georges) is banned from going
to a party by her parents (given that she is a whining idiot with
the emotional stability of a six year old, I kinda saw their point),
she phones a mysterious pirate radio station that supposedly grants
wishes. Eventually, all hell breaks loose as her idiot friends
become possessed by an Evil Dead inspired demon.