Category: Chase/hunt thriller
-----
Not to be confused with "Don't Breathe" (a decent movie in its own right), "Don't Move" really should have been titled "Can't Move", as the premise of this film is that Iris (Kelsey Asbille) is captured by serial killer creep Richard (Finn Whitrock) who takes her to a secluded forest area and injects her with a slow-acting paralytic agent in order to play a very lopsided cat-and-mouse game before Iris succumbs to her supposed fate.
The movie starts with Iris going to the top of a mountain to mourn her deceased son where she just happens to meet Richard, a kindly man who talks her down from the ledge. When they meet back at the car park, Richard tases Iris and puts her in the back seat of his car whereupon after she wakes up, he reveals she has been injected with a paralytic drug that slowly inhibits fine, and then gross motor skills. Richard then gives Iris a twenty minute head-start to escape through a forest, with Iris using her wits in place of her diminishing physical abilities.
Iris escapes the forest by floating down a river and is eventually taken in by Bill, a farmer. But what's that knock at the door? It's Richard who claims he's missing his wife who regularly goes in to catatonic states, leading to a tense exchange between Richard and Bill while Iris watches on, motionless and helpless.
Richard finds Iris, murders Bill and steals his car which needs petrol. At a petrol station, Iris attempts to get the attention of passers-by, and then right as we think Iris finds her salvation in a police officer, a well-placed blow to the head ensures the saga continues.
As time goes on and the effects of the agent wear off, Iris regains more of her mobility and speech and attempts to inject Richard (who we find out has a wife and daughter and takes time away from them on a regular basis to do heinous things to women) with a second needle of paralytic agent. In the end, Richard ties Iris up and puts her in a boat, but Iris does a sneaky and grabs Richard's gun. While the bullets (and a well-placed blade to the face) get rid of Richard, the bullet holes also let water into the boat, add another challenge to Iris' survival.
---
This movie ain't too bad a movie, and is a good example of what I call "the four-person horror film" - a horror or thriller, usually set in an isolated environment, and the number of people with any extended dialogue and presence on screen is four.
With the rise of streaming services as major distributors (rather than Hollywood studios), we are going to see a lot more of these low-budget (but not necessarily low-quality) independent horror movies whose productions run on the smell of an oily rag and thus keep the number of cast members to a minimum and rely mostly on practical effects instead of big-budget CGI.
I certainly felt the twists and turns, especially at those moments Iris looks like she is about to find help and get a way out of her predicament - you sense the hope rise, and then a well-placed tyre iron puts paid to that...
Kelsey Asbille as Iris did a great job in her role - I don't know how she prepared to act like someone paralysed by drugs (and maybe I don't want to know), but the way she has to rely on her eyes to sell what she can't with her speech or her body was impressive!
Finn Wittrock also did a great job as a scheming murderer who isn't stupid and has to think his own way out of tricky situations. The way that he is able to manipulate people into thinking Iris is his wife who has a medical condition to throw people off the track was great. Hope the guy is already married, because I'm sure his dates will dry up after this.
"You're an actor? Tell me about your latest role!"
"I played a serial killer who paralyses women with drugs while I lie to my wife and kids about spending time along in the woods..."
The biggest question I have in all this is - how the hell did Iris' eyeliner stay on and stay intact for the entire movie?
STAR RATING: 3.75/5
No comments:
Post a Comment