Good idea lost in the noise

It's fun, it's light, [but] it has a hard time when its tries to get heavy.

It's easily one of the freshest, sharpest and most enjoyable films of this year.

This film is so real. It treats its characters with so much care and sensitivity.

Claustrofobia is a thriller film about the desperate extent to which a person will go for revenge on someone who played what is explained as a "practical joke" on him. The film makes sure that you never know what is coming next however, despite a few inconsistencies. When you think you know why everything is in its place, suddenly a twist happens and the viewer is made to rethink their theory, for example the fate of Danny de Koning the detective. The main problem I found with this film is that a lot of the characters' motives are unexplained, or the explanation given does not stand up when subjected to logic. On the whole though, I would recommend this film highly, as it keeps the viewer holding on, wanting to know what happens, and is tense and exciting at some of its best moments. A word of warning however. Don't watch this film if you are expecting a horror movie. There is a lot of blood, but it isn't scary, and I would classify it as a thriller over a horror movie.

Now and then out of the Netherlands comes a horror. They are called Netherhorror and I surely would add this one on that list. The story is easy to follow and even as it doesn't have gore or messy situations it still delivers. It starts with a young boy following a teenage girl. The girl promises that he may kiss her if he dares to be locked in a mortuary. He agrees, once locked up the girls ran away. We move further a few years with nothing explained. It's up to the viewer to solve the case. If you are a bit cleaver it is easy to follow. Even as we don't go too deep into the characters still you want to know what is going on. The acting was okay, only Dragan Bakema as Alex Purvis wasn't convincing all the time. All the thespians are known for people living in the Netherlands, but aren't big names. Somehow it reminded me of Caged (2011), another Netherhorror. Gore 1/5 Nudity 1/5 Effects 2/5 Story 3/5 Comedy 0/5

I am writing this with a bit of an outside perspective being from the US & reading in subtitles, something that I never have a problem with in films from this region due to the very smooth translation it has into English. This film was crafted so expertly all around I cannot find any part of which to criticize negatively. It drew me in & kept me there while I constantly tried to intellectualize what the real story was and I haven't been outsmarted this good as far back as I can remember. It gives you multiple moments where you are saying, Aha, now I know exactly what the meaning of everything is then suddenly it changes to have an entirely different purpose behind the grand scheme of things.I know I have just written an entire paragraph without any plot or character information given away & that was done purposely to let you the viewer know how well made this entire production was. It starts with a young boy of say 10 playing in a morgue along with a young girl of the same age, he is tricked by the promise of a kiss if he climbed into one of the refrigerated bins they store bodies in and remained in there for ten seconds. Well she walked away & left him locked within with no way to get out. The film then changes to a time many years later with no clues left as to what happened to that young boy. As to the remainder of the story, to sum it up proper, it's kind of like a chicken's egg cracking open to reveal something very unexpected like a dragon. If you enjoy a good tight thriller where you have to keep guessing then you should take a good look, you will be surprised in the cleverness of the writing & direction.

This movie has been made to be shown only online and is free to watch. The director (Bobby Boermans) had decided to do this, because he felt he could produce his film quicker without all the distribution channels making demands about, for example, the cast. Therefore he decided only to have an online release. A lot of people thought him crazy to do this, as they thought he would miss out the opportunity to show his feature-length debut on the big screen. But it seems his strategy is starting to pay out, as he receives a lot of press because of it, making this a bold but interesting way to promote his movie.The movie, which runs about 90 minutes, is about a girl named Eva who moves into a new apartment. After a night out she falls asleep on her couch and wakes up in a strange room, bound to the bed. This is the start of a suspense filled movie with an excellent cast.As the plot unfolds you have no idea why Eva is held captive, making the movie really worthwhile to watch. The soundtrack is great which adds to the quality as well.The only thing missing, in my point of view, is the fact that you really don't know much about the characters. But as it is a thriller this is just a minor nuisance.I enjoyed it very much and hope to see much more of this director.