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Note: This segment contains spoiler points for the film, Captivity. If you would prefer to read a non-spoiler review, please click here.
Wow, to say this was a surprisingly far better film than expected is an understatement. What a great twist! When Gary (Daniel Gillies) is first introduced as the captured dude next door, it seemed so real. There were some odd clues that things were not all as they seemed; but when he puts the key card in the wall and leaves to go about the house, it was amazing. This really opened up the genre and elevated Captivity toward the Psycho end of the spectrum on the psychological drama scale. Then, when it turned out that Gary and his brother, Ben, were both in on it and that they were made into monsters by a tragically terrible mother who apparently molested her sons, the pieces fell into place. Best of all, though is that Gary gets a taste of a conscience when he actually starts to fall for Jennifer (Elisha Cuthbert). Wasn’t there a moment when you could actually believe he might be able to pull off the get-away and end up with her? This is a key aspect of making the film work—which it does work pretty well if it can convince you that a stone-cold killer (remember he just stabbed his brother and shot gunned down two police men) might really be able to change in the presence of Jennifer. Naw! Had she not killed him herself, though, that might have made a great sequel.
So, yeah, if you are one of the many people who walked out of the film after 15 minutes, and there was quite a mass exodus in the theater where I saw it, you left too soon. I'd be lying to say I didn't almost join you. Seriously, when they ground up the body parts in the blender and force fed her to drink the gruesome cocktail, I thought to myself, I've seen two Hostels and two The Hills Have Eyes, and I don't need to see another film like this. What are these people thinking with this stuff. Of course, the clues are that none of this is real. That they guys are more into psychologically torturing her than physically torturing her. Remember, she needs to be in good shape to have the 'hero' sex with Gary. So, they use good special effects to make it seem like she's just blown her little dog, Susy, to smithereens—at least I hope that was a special effect. In any case, the scenes of the acid pouring onto people's faces, etc. were totally unnecessary and needlessly gruesome. The art of getting the point across without doing the deed, best perfected by Hitchcock in the Psycho shower scene, is one that seems to be lost on these directors. From Eli Roth to the Hills Have Eyes and Texas Chainsaw Massacre people, they confuse blood and gore etc. with good drama or whatever. How much cooler was it to learn that these things were faked by the serial killer brothers and that there real game is far more complicated and elaborate. They really intend on making a scrap book in comic book style of their adventures with each victim and videos for their future gratification. Yes, they do have to kill the victims out of fear of being discovered, and yes, they are horribly messed up individuals due to tragic upbringing. These are cold blooded killers with a sick sense of humor. Plenty of great films have been made about worse—Silence of the Lambs, for example! On the order of serial killers, who beats the two showcased in that film? The difference between what made Silence of the Lambs worthy of Academy Award® consideration while Captivity not so much was the director's choices not to feature the really gruesome things and the cast. Imagine Captivity with Kirsten Dunst and Ryan Gosling in the leading roles? Elisha Cuthebert is adequate to the task, but she's about ten amazing dramatic films away from really being able to elevate this film. Daniel Gillies has great promise as well, but you put Ryan Gosling in that role opposite an actress with more experience handlig the depth of this candy-coated super model with a tough as nails soul, and you've got yourself a serious contender.
It's really too bad that the studio didn't see the real potential here. It's also too bad that the marketing department tried to capitalize on the morbid curiosity of people who want to see the kinds of films like Hostel that serve no real purpose. They aren't psychologically interesting or engaging. There's no empathy to feel for the victims because they are shells of characters written strictly as vehicles for the gruesome, ensuing torture. It's unclear what it would take to convince them short of a string of box office failures—which Hostel II was a clear failure—to wake these people up. Certainly, however, despite the outward appearance, Captivity is a step in a better direction.
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