Green Room (2015) Review
The reason the first Saw movie was mostly a bad idea had more than just to do with the way it tried to incorporate real life horror and the escalating notoriety of torture porn. The end result essentially came out as more a bad execution than a bad idea. As most people know torture porn is a more vulgar successor to splatter films, even though those were already exploitative beyond measure as they were. That’s not to say Saw’s idea was entirely good anyway, it just felt mostly incomplete if not bland. At its best Green Room essentially feels like a better idea with a better execution that manages to match up to the same level as Saw without the need to call itself torture porn (despite remaining for a taste that welcomes all but the faint of heart). So the film starts off like your average early 10s indie film. It takes its time while showcasing how it was mostly filmed on a digital camera, especially when giving us a view of sublime forestal landscapes. Yet it’s not until we get to the part where they start playing punk rock music that you almost feel a post (if not reverse) Scott Pilgrim vibe from the entire performance. Then the rug underneath it gets pulled away and into a grim side of that same real life horror once it starts. Not only does it begin seriously to the point it’s technically a crime thriller, it also makes sure it stays that way in order to keep its chosen horror consistent and, by default, beyond credible. And it doesn’t just show less and less mercy as it goes along, it also kills as much hope for a comfort zone as it can in order to live up to its genre. At some point I even felt like I was in a lucid dream which felt so uncomfortably real that I could no longer tell it apart from a nightmare. In fact, without spoiling too much, even as it lacked enough qualities to have it count as torture porn (despite its perpetual and immense efforts) one character was still in so much convincing pain that his actor made me forget it was him playing the role. For the most bit it’s essentially what 2016’s Imperium would’ve been if it had a Hard-R for violence, at least thematically as the film is very well made, as well as holds some deceptively vibrant visuals, despite going to enough extremes to over-qualify as a horror film (alone). Though what also works to its advantage is obviously when the characters are just talking to each other as they take a break from the violence, bringing out a slightly yet effectively intimate side from each other as they build up to a battle of wits amongst the gut-wrenching action. Although this movie did exceed and defy my expectations in mostly good ways one thought that lingered as I watched it was when an old friend from four years ago reviewed it. To avoid beating around the bush he did like the movie despite sounding like he hated it with a passion, although he aimed said hatred at both the antagonist and anyone similar to him. Up until I finally saw this movie was I left wondering why his feelings were this hard. Not only was that cleared up but also the reason why making these kind of (arguably unwatchable) horror movies is a tricky balancing act in general. At one end of the spectrum you get a movie like Saw while at another you get one like this where adding realistic depth to the characters can come at the cost of portraying the antagonists in a suitably albeit nevertheless soullessly, and even unforgivably, dehumanizing light.