Picture the scene: There you are cycling along on a random street on your first day as a film student. The birds are chirping. The sky is blue. Life couldn't be any sweeter. Then suddenly. a puddy tat leaps out in front of you, causing you to brake. You're injured, and your vehicle and phone are bust. You head to the first house on your way, and a seemingly nice middle-age man tells you to wait outside while he rings for a taxi for you. He takes a while, so you poke your head round the corner to see what's going on.
Suddenly, a noise from upstairs startles you. Could that be... Someone shouting HELP? You decide, rather stupidly, to investigate... sneaking past the old dude in the process. On the second floor, you enter a bare room... and there in it, is a guy bleeding to death with a stab wound. You panic, and rush to get help... but are stopped by the home owner. Soon, the corpse of the stricken knife victim will be gone, and you'll take his place in those not-too comfortable conditions. Beatings, imprisonment and loud rock music await. Wanna get out of there? You better be good at chess...
The antagonist here is what's known as an 'everyday' psycho... he lives as a respectable citizen with his two daughters and wife, but his spare time is spent as a vigilante, killing those he regards as human trash e.g drug dealers and pedophiles. He is trying to train his oldest child to follow in his footsteps... without much success. His youngest is a mute, and his missus is nothing more than a put-upon doormat. And into their life comes this student. They all react differently to him... the psycho sees him as a potential protégé, the teenage girl sees him as a threat, the put-upon wife sees him as an opportunity to escape and the littlest daughter... well, she just stares blankly into space.
It's a great set-up, and the film captures every moment of our lead's terror and eventual descent into madness as a result of his enforced caging. It's also nice to see a fully fleshed-out enemy who has a legitimate motive for his murderous activities, and his family are well written too. A revelation near the end when we discover what's in his basement is especially horrifying. It's not perfect... there are tedious spots, and you get the feeling if he REALLY wanted to escape early on, he could... the only thing keeping him there is the screenplay. But for unique ideas, and a pretty consistent feeling of dread, this is more than than worth a watch. 6/10
