The Open Door is a 2008 low-budget indie thriller written and directed by Doc Duhame. The film is about a pirate radio station that grants its listeners’ their deepest wishes every 29 days during a full moon (we are made aware of this right after the opening scene) with deadly results. On this 29th day, a group of despicable, unlikeable people get a heavy dose of what it really is like to feel the wrath of themselves.
After being grounded for coming home past curfew, we get to listen to high schooler Angelica (Catherine Georges) whine far longer than one should have to sit through. It’s not even a believable whine. Hell, I think I started whining after a while just to drown out the sound of her voice. Then, to top it off, we get to watch her mope around for a good chunk of time making the same pout listening to “The Oracle” on station 99.9.
I’ve started to rant already…
So, Angelica can’t go to a party. Her snobby backstabbing friend, Staci (Sarah Christine Smith), stirs up drama using Angelica’s boy toy, Brad (Mike Dunay) and some newly busty female, Heather (Jessica Anne Osekowsky) like a puppeteer.
We got this 90210? Or, is this Melrose Place?
In the mix there’s two bozos, the go-to boy, and Owen (Ryan Doom), who appears to spend his time creeping on Angelica.
And, lastly, there’s Spike (Daniel Booko), who pretty much makes faces the entire time. He’s your typical portrayal of an oaf jock – big and tough, with a whole lot of dumb.
Almost a good forty minutes after watching another overaged teen sitcom, we finally get to the damn plot of this movie. ANGELICA FINALLY CALLS THE STATION. Yes, that pirate station I mentioned above. The one that grants wishes.
She throws a tantrum during her call, screaming about how unfair life is and how much she wants people to leave and for Brad to love her. The whole superficial spoiled teen complaints that start automatic eye rolls. Naturally, this sets forth the motion for people to finally die and shut up.
Yes. That is right. This movie made me so mad, I just wanted it over.
The acting felt forced, causing you to disconnect further from the characters than relate. There was not a single character I found myself empathizing with to cheer to the finale. No one convinced me they deserved to live. Of course, you spend more than half the movie wondering if anyone was going to die begin with.
OVERALL SUMMARY
If there was anything that I did appreciate, it’s the minimal use of special effects and make up. A movie doesn’t need to be filled with gore to be frightening or disturbing, nor does it need a large financial backing to make it great. There’s many levels of successful fear in execution. Unfortunately, The Open Door missed the mark on 99.9% of them.
