Are You Scared? (2006)

This starts as if it's going to be a combined rip-off of Saw, My Little Eye and Cube - then turns out to be just a slavish knock-off of Saw. A group of young folks who have applied to be on a reality TV show called 'Are You Scared?' wake up in a disused factory and take part in gruesome stunts that invariably involve mutilation or death (and nasty gadgets). A disfigured mastermind (Brent Fidler) sits at a bank of screens, watching the squirming, bleeding victims as they fail to deal with Saw-style challenges that involve confronting 'their greatest fears' and being drilled, blasted, acid-burned or mangled. Meanwhile, some cops who have covered previous crimes by the same culprit try to track down the killer, who turns out to be the abusive father of the heroine (whose Mom is also in the factory, being menaced).

You have to be aghast at the cynicism of writer-director Andy Hurst in making something that is such a transparent imitation of something else, without even having the decency to be a cash-in (like, say, Snakes on a Train). The most elaborate trap involves twins strapped to chairs with automated drills aimed at their skulls - one drill is advancing at all times, and each twin has a remote which will turn off their own drill and kill their sibling. It's mildly unusual in that the crux of this is sacrifice, as the brother insists he die, rather than the sort of selfish desperation you'd expect at this level of nastiness.
KIM NEWMAN

First published in this form here.

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