Gag (2006)

Credits / Details

27%
Overall Rating

Ranked #8,969
...out of 20,702 movies

Genres: Horror Sadistic Horror Slasher Film

Two professional thieves break into a house in search of a safe, only to discover a man beaten beyond recognition, tied down to torn mattress in a hidden room. They decide to help, only to become trapped by a serial killer whose torture methods will have them begging for death. --IMDb

Review by Chad
Added: November 12, 2007

After suffering through the brutal (and not in the good way) film known as Captivity yesterday, I was extremely hesitant to pop in another one of these so called "torture porn" films; after all, if a big budget film directed by Roland Joffé (of Super freaking Mario Brothers fame) that featured the lovely Elisha Cuthbert in the leading role couldn't put a smile on my face, what chance did a little DTV release that looked to have been shot on a three-figure budget have? Turns out that this one was a lot better than the aforementioned Captivity - wait, that's not so much a compliment as it is common knowledge, as damned near anything would be better than that piece of shit film. Let's try this statement again: it turns out that this one was better than a large chunk of the DTV films of this nature, and although it's not a perfect film, fans of this sort of thing will probably enjoy Gagging on Scott McKinlay's debut film.

The storyline for this one starts out much the same as just about every other film like this does: a naked woman is tied to a chair while some random guy tortures her by sliding a mouse down her throat with the creative usage of a long, plastic tube. We then cut away to two guys - Tony (Vince Marinelli) and Detroit (director Scott W. McKinlay) - who have set out to steal something from a dilapidated old house. After breaking in and searching for whatever it is that they're looking for, they discover a man (Brian Kolodziej) gagged and tied down to a bed, and as they attempt to set him free, another man (Gerald Emerick) shows up, attacks them, and eventually knocks them out and ties them up. What follows is your standard "torture porn" film, but this one has a few twists along the way that keeps things interesting.

Note that when I mention the twists, I'm not referring to the time-honored tradition of delivering a twist right before the credits roll; no, this one features a startling twist about thirty minutes into the running time, and it's not the sort of thing that I can rightfully spell out for you readers in this review. With that in mind, I want to point out that there is more to this film than the standard "torture / scream / neat kill method" fluff that we've grown accustomed to, but you're just going to have to pick it up for yourself to see what I mean.

I particularly enjoyed the fact that this one paid more attention to the storyline, plot twists, and character development than it did to the actual torture and violence. It seems that most of these filmmakers are under the mistaken impression that we, the audience, simply want to see ninety minutes of blood, guts, and maybe a boob or two, but they forget that their film has to have something to tie it all together in order to be memorable. This is not to say that Gag skimps on the red stuff as there is some neat torture and gore effects to be found here, but I was pleasantly surprised to find that there was some steak to go along with this sizzle.

I also liked the leading men found in this one, as each of them exceeded the expectations that I normally have when going into a low budget flick. This is not to say that they're award-winning actors, and there were a few awkward moments courtesy of their scripted lines (such as "I'll make his neck menstruate!"), but these guys were far more enjoyable to watch than I had expected going in. This was particularly important due to the amount of dialogue found here, and it was a treat to discover that the actors were both confident and natural when delivering their lines.

Fans of these so-called "torture porn" films should check it out, as it's more than acceptable for the genre and is actually pretty entertaining. It has everything one expects to find in these types of releases as well as a solid storyline to back it all up, and for that, I'm going with a 7/10.

#1: Crispy - added November 12, 2007 at 5:08pm
"...fans of this sort of thing will probably enjoy Gagging on Scott McKinlay's debut film."

BOOOOOO

#2: Chad - added November 12, 2007 at 5:11pm
Liked that one, did you?

#3: Crispy - added November 12, 2007 at 5:14pm
Dude, that was *bad* But then, I'm sure if I looked through some of my reviews I've dropped some stinkers too, so I can't say too much.

#4: Chad - added November 12, 2007 at 6:31pm
You gave Night Watch a perfect score, nothing can be worse than that.