paulshorrorflixFrom Christopher Smith, director of Creep (which I haven’t seen) and Severance (which I saw and mostly enjoyed) comes probably his biggest effort as a writer/director, Triangle.  A mystery/suspense in the vein of films of Crono Crimenes and even with a hint of Lost to it, Severance is definitely the type of film you can’t watch while messing with your laptop or doing other things, as you’re liable to miss some of the important key elements on which the film heavily relies.

Check out my full review after the jump!

poster_triangle-1Melissa George stars as Jess in Triangle, a damaged woman with an autistic son who is invited to go with her friends on a sailboat excursion for the day.  She’s out of it, though, and possibly a little off her rocker.  No one seems to like her, and there’s definitely something wrong with her head.  The poster for the movie gives a bit too much away, I think, and I even hesitated to put it here, but figured that you’ll have figured that little twist out less than twenty minutes into the movie.  Luckily, it’s not the only twist.

When Jess and her friends are stuck in the middle of a freak storm, they are saved by an abandoned ocean liner.  At first, you may be thinking Ghost Ship, but the film takes a different turn as the ship turns out to not be quite as deserted as you may think.

I enjoyed Triangle quite a bit.  The production values are solid, the acting is good all around, and the story is actually well told.  It reportedly took two years to write the intricacies of Triangle, which unfortunately is probably a bit too long for the resulting product.  Not that there are gaping holes in the story – actually, I couldn’t really find any (and I was looking).  But the reason that this film falters (for me) is that it’s so damn similar to films I’ve already seen, including the aforementioned Crono Crimenes (Time Crimes).  Ultimately, it’s this abundance of similarities that pretty much left the film with no surprises for me.

However, it’s sure to entice and excite people who haven’t seen a movie like it before, or aren’t used to the Twilight Zone form of storytelling.  A good portion of audiences will find a lot to like in this film, and, like I said, my main issue with it is that I watch too many damn movies.  And, while I didn’t find holes in the main storyline, there are too many unanswered questions that linger when the film ends.  SPOILER WARNING (highlight text to read): Such as, what caused the storm?  Why was the ocean liner empty?  Is Jess dead and this is hell?  Just a bit confusing.

Triangle is due out on DVD February 2, 2010, and I recommend checking it out.  It’s not the most perfect film, but it’s intense enough to keep you interested to see where the story goes … even if you may already know.

Paul Awesomeness Score - 6
Paul Awesomeness Score - 6

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