Nine Dead arrived in the mail the other day, and I couldn’t wait to watch it. I read a lot about the movie, and heard a lot of good things about this direct to DVD release. Nine Dead stars the VERY well known Melissa Joan Hart (Kelley), as well as John Terry (Lost, Zodiac, 24), and William Lee Scott (Identity, Butterfly Effect, Pearl Harbor). Also, directed by a man who has plenty of experience in thrillers, Chris Shadley (Bug, Midnight Meat Train, Cursed).
Nine unsuspecting strangers are kidnapped by a masked man, and locked in room with each other. One will die every 10 mins unless they ALL figure out why they’ve been brought together. Dead or alive, all must be connected. Nine Dead has a common idea to it. Its been done before and based on all the movies I’ve seen, it tends to be ok. Ever since SAW, we are drawn to the helpless victims who in reality, tend to be just as guilty as their executioner. I love movies that start off quick and get down to the nitty gritty. Quick and to the point. No need to beat around the bush. Lets get this party started. As the opening credits role we see our mystery man setting up the stage for our victims. Bagged and cuffed they awaken in a small concrete room handcuffed to steal rods. What are your darkest secrets? What did you do to deserve to die? And what ties you all together? Figure it out fast, because there isn’t much time.
Nine Dead reminds me of the movie 12 Angry Men, but reversed. Those of you gore hounds are going to be disappointed if you go into this movie expecting it. You got execution style murder, without the brains all over the wall. Quality job in my opinion, I think it takes a good group to make a movie that doesn’t have to follow today’s norm when it comes to thrillers. Nowadays, it seems we expect the grey matter when watching certain movies. If you can rely on characters played by good actors, and a quality story, then you don’t need blood, brains, and nudity every couple mins. I think we forget about that sometimes.
OVERALL SUMMARY
I had some mixed feelings before I started watching this movie. Seen all this before. Its nothing new. I was wrong. Its not very often that a movie creates characters like this. Each one has a different secret to hide. Are they as innocent as they appear to be? Or, are they as tough and hard as they make themselves out to be? If you are given only 10 mins to live, you may find out that the road to hell isn’t that long after all.
