Who payed the critics

What makes it different from others?

Fantastic!

a film so unique, intoxicating and bizarre that it not only demands another viewing, but is also forgivable as a satirical comedy where the jokes eventually take the back seat.

Timid, used student Danielle moves into a creepy place following the disintegration of her relationship and finds herself on the receiving end of an American director's vision of what a Japanese horror film would be like filmed in not-Japan land.This is more difficult than I thought. My name is Jay Rayner. I am an overweight, but highly groomed food critic who has taken some time of reviewing Celeriac puree and...that...in order to review a film, but it's hard than it looks! Honestly, if someone had presented me with a slimy panacotta I would go straight for the throat, but this film instead has very many merits in it's first half, as it goes for a Japanese style creep out what with the subtle scares and what not, but then goes a bit astray as the 'haunting' part goes out the window and a whole 'possesion' bit comes into play.I'm Jay Rayner. I have a beard that makes my face look like the world's worst fanny. Good day.

...about this derivative, uninvolving tale of pseudo-supernatural folderol. Director Brett "Ginger Snaps 2: Unleashed" Sullivan is primarily a film editor, and I would suggest that he should stick with that calling. Screenwriter Michael Capellupo is a marginal actor who should stick with that profession as well; his script for this bit of ultra-low budget boredom has all the pizazz of a textbook. The acting is mostly wooden, the cinematography might be passable for talking-head television, and the production values...well, the thing was shot almost exclusively in the director's home, so that should tell you something.Don't get me wrong; I actually admire these folks for doing something outside the domain of the Hollywood system...heck, outside the domain of almost any system...but am compelled to remind such folks that the "Hey! Let's make a movie, kids!" mindset is nowhere near enough to produce a worthy film. You need a decent script, first of all, and then you need good actors who can actually bring it to life, and hopefully with the guidance of a director who knows how to visually tell a compelling tale. "The Chair" has none of these things.Thank goodness for the public library, which gave me the chance to see this fast-forward special at no cost (beyond whatever fraction of my taxes went to purchasing the poor, benighted thing). I can only hope that it's quickly sold off at the annual inventory-reduction sale to make room for better material.Not to be bothered with, despite anything else you might read here or elsewhere. You've been warned.

Horror films are a gamble but it's easy to tell fairly quickly when it's time to hold 'em and when it's time to fold 'em. The direction, cinematography, and character introductions reveal promptly where the film is aiming at on the stupid scale and how serious an effort it's going to be. The Chair was shot on video but looks remarkably good to my eyes and Brett Sullivan's direction is smartly done—not so much in the way he captures the scenes but for the way he gets to them—the camera peers around a corner, or from across the room, from inside a closet, or it nestles itself on the ceiling and observes from there. It's not rocket science to make those choices for a film about a haunted house, but Sullivan's execution is inspired.The Chair begins with a few black & white moments of spooky snippets and background data on mesmerism. Then we're brought to the present in the presence of a blond pony-tail. Uh-oh ... a quick shot of pony-tail girl from the attic of the house she's about to move into letting us know there's something up there, and pony-tail's off to the bathtub to relax and pleasure herself. Umm ...Alanna Chisholm plays the pony-tail and looks like she could be Nicole Sullivan's twin sister. Her performance makes this film a winner. Once she's out of the tub and on to developing her character it's refreshing to see she's not playing it anywhere near bimbo. She's got big expressive eyes and a quirky yet confident mixed-uppedness about her that's appealing, inviting both fear and empathy. We know she's medicated and has a history of breakdowns, which she uses to her advantage. Since she is operating under suspicion of not having both oars in the water, she is unpredictable—but never hysterical. She never imagines anything; it's all really happening. It's just up to her grad school self to find the paradigm it all fits into. When her sister and the cleavage she rode in on arrive to act as the reasonable foil, Chisholm begins playing with a cold determination that works as a transition to the possessed by the "never quite dead 100 year old spirit of a killer" that invades her body, character.Said spirit belongs to a man who was mesmerized right at the moment of death—while sitting in a spooky chair in the very house Chisholm now inhabits—and then buried alive causing him to remain in a state of horrifying limbo for a hundred years—a fate the mesmerist feels is worse than death for the man who killed his daughter, or something like that ... so there's some plot going on behind Chisholm's performance.Plot is a difficult thing and even if we give it only a 3.8 on a scale of 10 it could still win a batting title. What interests me more are the nuances and subtle humor Sullivan and Chisholm bring to the proceedings, which also grant the film membership in the much vaunted Horror version2 category.When it's time to explore the dark and secret room they discover in the house (plot), Chisholm and her sister's cleavage use one of those flashlights you have to wind up to get any light from. It's done without fanfare, making it quite funny. The big race-against-time action sequence toward the end of the film seems to fizzle out empty and unproductive, deliberately, making it funny and absurd. My favorite bits of the film, however, are when Chisholm settles down to research and does a slow roll of her neck, cracking it. Makes creepy noises.

Although a bit confusing, I found the chair to be an alright movie for such a low budget film. It started off with a bit of creepiness and led to some confusing twists and turns and I only say confusing because some audio wasn't all that great but maybe that is what they were going for. Ovverall though it had a nice psychotic/ possession feel and the ending although predictable was kinda what I was hoping for. If you have seen a lot of the horror lately I am sure you are disappointed but this was higher than my expectations for it. I would recommend if you have like Blockbusters movie pass or a friend is paying to watch it. Not a complete waste of time.