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    Green Room

    Reviewed by
    adamwatchesmovies@

    “Green Room” is not a deep film, but does every movie need to be? When you make a thriller/horror film your objective can simply be to frighten, disturb or make your audience sweat in anticipation. At this, the film excels.

    Pat (Anton Yelchin), Sam (Alia Shawkat), Reece (Joe Cole) and Tiger (Callum Turner) are “The Ain’t Rights”, a punk band. A real one. They’re always on the road, they don’t play for fame or for profit’s sake and when they see something they don’t like, they let you know. After their latest performance, which happens to be in the middle of nowhere for an audience of Neo-Nazi skinheads, they get back to the club’s green room and find a murderer woman there. Now witnesses to a crime, the band members must fend off assailants who would pin the murder on them.

    This film is tense and it’s exciting. There are sudden bits of violence that are so brutal I felt the air being collectively sucked out of the theatre and into the gasping lungs of the audience not once, but twice. We’re not talking about people who just wandered into some movie without a clue of what it would be either. This crowd was full of full-on horror fanatics ready to have a great time and they were genuinely horrified. But it’s about more than gory or gruesome deaths; this film has the essentials of a great thriller. Your protagonists are likeable. They’re not superheroes. They get hurt. They might even die. They get frightened, but they also think on their feet. These are the people you wish starred in every horror movie because they know to arm themselves, to think outside of the box and to keep hitting when a bad guy is down. They’re pitted against frightening and seemingly overwhelming odds. Patrick Stewart plays the club’s owner, Darcy and he’s got a grip around your throat the moment he enters the frame. Cool and collected, absolutely ruthless and intimidating without having to scream, hit anyone or even lift a finger. You already hate the bad guys because they proudly flaunt their racism. What makes them dangerous is the fact that they have a plan to get away with murder.

    “Green Room” is like a pendulum swinging back and forth, but it goes in every direction. Our heroes make progress and then they have to retreat again, they get cut down but make a sudden breakthrough. Hope of an escape will appear, but so will a new revelation or threat. Honestly, you have no idea how the film will turn out. It keeps you on your toes constantly. The deaths feel real because they come suddenly and the film doesn’t linger on them. One second someone’s fine and then they’re dead. It’s like a brick to the head for our audience. You can choose to mourn, but if you do, you’ll fall behind and you’ll be the next one whose blood covers the floor. Ok, not really, but that’s what it feels like. You’re completely engulfed in this adventure.

    “Green Room” is an intelligent thriller. My only criticism is that some of the characters aren’t as developed as I would have like them to be. It’s a nitpick, but I’m holding this film to high standards. It stands proudly among my favourite “Home Invasion” horror films, “Assault on Precinct 13”, “Night of the Living Dead” and “You’re Next”. You like the characters, everyone acts intelligently, the developments are clever, you cheer for the heroes, and you hate the villains. The gore, the possibility of more violence, the very idea of being trapped in a situation like this will scare you. There are no cheap startling moments mimicking scares. It’s all buildup, atmosphere and payoff and the ending is quite strong. It’s even got a great soundtrack and the performances are top-notch. “Green Room” had me tense and very frightened. (Theatrical version on the big screen, May 3, 2016)

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    adamwatchesmovies@  7.5.2016 age: 26-35 2,866 reviews

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