Fantastic Film Festival Movie Review
Broken
Co-directed by Simon Boyes and Adam Mason
So far my favorite movie of the festival. The more i think about it the more i like it. When it first started i thought it was going to be a cheap Saw ripoff thats based in the woods. But it became much more than that. Its pretty simple story overall but its done effectively well. The production is low budget and it did take me probably 15 minutes to get used to it. Now ive seen many Miike movies and other gory movies so i think sometimes i take it for granted that the average person and maybe casual horror watcher is not used to anything too graphic. Now its not as graphic as some movies but probably more gory and brutal than the average one. There was a guy beside me that was squirming from the first scene until about half way through when someone gets their leg broken. Once that scene occurred he shook his head stood up and left the theater in disgust. Not that it was gory but everything seemed so realistic and I think the low budget actually helped make it more believable.

The movie is about some guy that lives in the woods and kidnaps women and puts them through tests to see if they will survive and if they do then he chains them up and makes them so miserable they either beg to be killed or die trying to escape. The movie starts off introducing the killer offing a victim in a gruesome death. After that sequence the main woman gets introduced showing a little bit about her current life and also shows she has a young daughter. Then quickly its cut right away to the woman trying to bust out of a wooden box thats buried in the ground. Great scene that gives an awesome claustrophobic feeling. She remains there for one day until he pulls her out and leads her onto her next test. She has to pull a razor blade out of her stitched up stomach and use the blade to cut through the rope around her neck. While she is doing this she is standing on a log that is unsteady and about to slip to the ground and she would choke to death. Across from her is a dead girl who failed to pass the test. Once she does this he fixes her up and keeps her as a slave. There is very minimal dialogue the rest of the movie and it basically focuses on her trying to escape and get answers to where her daughter is. Then finally she tries to fit in living with him while trying to keep her sanity. They live solely in the woods so she has to tend to the garden while he goes hunting for the food. Shes tied to a tree by chains thats wrapped around her neck and legs. Eventually another girl passes the test and comes to live with them. I dont want to give away too much but the rest of the movie is about them adapting and living with this monster. It has a great, great finale that was kinda predictable but still effective nonetheless.

The movie was well directed especially for the low budget. Once i was acclimated to it i thoroughly enjoyed it. Great acting by all involved and i liked the fact they didnt try to do to much with the story. Initially i was scared it was gonna be a saw wannabe and the above poster doesnt help, but it rose above that and turned out to be a great little horror gem. I hope this gets picked up on dvd soon so everyone can share in the experience. Highly recommended.

Heres the spoiler heavy trailer