Walled In is a strange movie with a strange but intriguing and ominous title. It’s about Sam, a young woman tasked with the destruction of a huge mansion with a lot of secrets. So, you know what to expect: a bit of murder, a bit of suspense, and a whole lot of mystery. This is a classic formula for the eighties and nineties B thrillers taken to a whole new level. Walled In is actually based on the novel Les Emmurés, written by Serge Brussolo. I say actually because it feels like some cheap commercial thriller with a couple of effective gimmicks.
If we’re talking about buildings or mansions with secrets, we have to talk about H. H. Holmes. He’s a particularly nasty fellow who built Murder Castle, a building specifically designed in such a way that he can kill people in various ways. As you probably guessed this is a horror movie about a creepy architect who happens to be a serial killer. Production values are decent and this is probably one of those movies that you will see playing on television in the middle of the night. So just lower your expectations and you should be fine.
Apart from Mischa Barton, the cast includes gorgeous Deborah Kara Unger (Crash) and young Cameron Bright (Running Scared). The rest of the cast is relatively unknown but that doesn’t mean they didn’t do a good job. Walled In, as its title suggests, is a movie that makes full use of its main claustrophobic premise. I mean, the movie opens with a scene where a young girl is encased in concrete and literally walled in. So, if you’re claustrophobic and ready to suspend your belief, you’re definitely going to have a good time.
Sam Walczak finally graduated and her father prepared a special gift for her: a demolition. Now an engineer, Sam is really excited to do this job because her father told her that if she does this, she will become a partner in his company. The building was designed by a strange architect that goes by the name of Malestrazza and it was a place of gruesome murders that took place several years ago…
Now, the production values along with the cinematography were quite good here. Walled In looks, sounds, and feels like a good movie. It’s just that it crumbles under the weight of its elaborate premise. However, sometimes this is exactly the movie you need to see. It’s not too scary and yet it does have a certain sinister vibe about it. It’s not too engaging and yet you kind of want to know how it ends. Walled In is that type of movie and before I bore you to death with it let’s move on to the next movie recommendation.
Director: Gilles Paquet-Brenner
Writers: Serge Brussolo, Rodolphe Tissot, Olivier Volpi
Cast: Mischa Barton, Cameron Bright, Deborah Kara Unger, Noam Jenkins
Fun Stuff: The symbol in the lobby of the house is the I Ching hexagram for Persevering.
Rating:
IMDb Link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1104006/
