Whoever is in charge of this movie's marketing campaign is a hype master supreme. William Castle would be proud. The DVD case for this movie not only unfolds to show some gruesome images, but it screams about how extreme, gory, and terrifying the movie is. The copy that I have proudly claims its allegiance with the other torture movies that are causing such a stir these days, and that is what caught my attention. The truth is I tend to seek out torture movies because watching them is a cathartic experience for me because I enjoy seeing the unrelenting nature of torture when it's portrayed well, but I must be getting burnt out because this movie had me literally screaming in anger at the screen, something I never expected. More about that later.

I knew I was in trouble when the movie opened with a quote from Harriet Jacobs. For the uninitiated, Harriet Jacobs was a slave who documented her experiences in prose pieces known as “Fugitive Slave Narratives” which were written for the purpose of forcing the public to see the evils of slavery and work to abolish it. I had to read some of Harriet Jacobs' pieces in college and they left me pretty shaken. Her descriptions of the degradation she received are difficult to read, and thus I had an inkling that this movie was going to be quite difficult too. The acting in this movie is above reproach. Nadja Brand does a superb job as the harried mother who is thrown into an unspeakable situation and must figure out how to survive for the sake of her daughter. I felt every moment of her performance, whether I wanted to or not. Even when she had me screaming at her, I never for a second doubted that she was who she was portraying, so well did she inhabit her character.

She is at turns strong and defiant, timid and meek, terrified but resourceful. All in all she's a great actress and she should go on to an illustrious career because she is simply excellent in this role. Eric Colvin is also great as the sick madman who tortures these girls in what seems to be a twisted search for the perfect mate. He gazes lovingly at he cuts and maims them and it made my skin crawl. He too throws himself into the character he portrays with abandon that I admire after watching so much bad acting in low-budget movies. These characters should teach classes to all aspiring actors on how not to let terrible conditions and despicable movies put a damper on your performance. The little girl does a good job being endearing and she is adorable, which makes it even harder knowing what is happening to her in this movie. I don't want to mention the other characters since it might spoil some of the twists in this movie, but suffice it to say everyone, even the bit players, does a good job. It's refreshing to see a cast obviously working so hard to churn out a good movie.

People are punched, hit, stabbed, slashed, pushed, beaten, shoved, and otherwise degraded and it started to wear on me very early in the movie. I suppose that's a good thing because it means the movie affected me deeply, but it wasn't fun to experience. I can watch someone be killed or decapitated; watch a zombie or vampire or werewolf tear someone to pieces with no problem, and even torture doesn't bother me very much most of the time, but this movie had me constantly looking away from the screen because I simply didn't want to watch what was happening anymore. Either I'm getting burnt out, I'm becoming a wuss in my old age, or this movie is more effective than even I'd like it to be. I'm not sure which is true, but I'm impressed anyway. The ending of this movie is simply heartbreaking even after the emotional rollercoaster the rest of the film puts us on. I thought I wouldn't have any emotion left but the movie got to me anyway. I'm very impressed.

For sheer brutality and impact, this movie stands high above others in its nasty little sub-subgenre. Well done, everyone. But alas, not all is well with this movie. I struggled with whether to mention this at all, but it bears repeating. When I say this movie had me screaming in anger, I'm not exaggerating. Now, I'm not particularly sensitive. I laugh at horribly offensive jokes and I watch brutal horror movies for fun, and I'm likely to scream “dumb bitch!” at characters in horror movies when they make stupid moves, so I don't consider myself easily offended. But watching this movie pushed me over the edge. The thing is...the woman is so WEAK. She's so meek and mild and she cries and doesn't escape or try to kill her captor even though she has multiple chances, and he's so evil to her over and over and over that by halfway through the movie I'd had enough. I was almost in tears. Why are women so STUPID in these movies?

In most movies it's fine because they just get chased and killed, but in this movie she's not killed, she's tortured and brutalized and dehumanized and degraded over and over and left alive to suffer and I just couldn't take it after awhile, I started screaming at her. She has her chance to fight back and she doesn't do what she needs to do and I knew t would mean more torture for her and I couldn't take it. Maybe I'm being overly sensitive and I'll probably sound that way when I say this, but I'm not an idiot. I've been in some bad situations so believe me when I say that were I in her position, I would have done things a lot differently. She makes such dumb and weak moves and it's not like she's doing stupid things that are unbelievable, it's mostly logical every time she makes a dumb move, but that doesn't make it any easier to watch. Despite the dumb moves though, the ending is just heartbreaking because even I can't say I wouldn't have done what she does in her position, but it's hard to watch. I wanted to cry when the movie ended for just that reason. It truly is heartbreaking.

This movie is a must-see for torture fans, but others will probably want to steer clear because it's very hard to sit through. I sort of want to watch it again but I'm afraid, and that alone impresses me. Either the movie is going to be less powerful on a second viewing or it will be just as hard to watch... and I really don't want to go through that again.

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