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41%
Overall Rating
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Ranked #13,055
...out of 20,698 movies
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Somewhere, in a sleepy rural area, an underground organization is operating. People are being kidnapped, beaten, and tortured beyond comprehension. They are then reprogrammed to succumb to the will of their vile captors for their sick games and sold for the highest price.
--IMDb
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Review by Chad
Added: December 5, 2008
I have to admit that I have a bit of a soft spot in my heart for trash films. I realize that the "trash film" label sounds a little condescending and I also realize that any "real" critic would turn their nose up at a film from this genre (My Name is Bruce said it best: "Forget thumbs - Ebert wouldn't wipe his crack with this trash"), but me? I love them when they're done properly. These are films that have absolutely zero artistic value and they're almost always far from award-worthy, but storyline be damned, they give the audience what they want to see: blood, gore, depravity, and of course, a couple of boobie shots. Does this necessarily make the film an automatic turkey? Some would say so, but again, they hit the spot for me when I'm in that sort of mood.
As mentioned, there's not much in the way of storyline. We begin with a happy couple - David (Jason Senior) and his pregnant wife Anna (Lisa Marano) - making their way from one state to the next after visiting a doctor about some troubles with the baby, and midway through the trip, they decide to stop at a motel to catch some sleep. Faster than you can say "Hostel!", a pair of thugs - Geno (Eddie Benevich) and Ty (Todd David Humes) - barge into the room, tie our heroes up, and drive them to a little place out in the middle of nowhere. There, we discover that these two thugs work for Mr. Pollino (Michael A. Migliore), a charming fellow who partakes in the human slave trade in addition to selling these victims to sadistic bastards who love to get their hands red without having to do any of the dirty work. That's really about it unless I spoil the ending for you dear readers, so again, a strong storyline is not a selling point for films of this nature.
Again, you can't really fault the film for following the "rules" of this little genre - you can only critique how well it abides by them. With that out of the way, the film does deliver some disgusting goodies for those of us who enjoy this type of trash. We've got the typical everyman characters - a normal Joe and Jane who could represent any one of us - in an unfamiliar environment, we've got two sleazy thugs who live to terrorize, and of course, we've got a despicable boss who sees his fellow man as nothing more than meat to be sold. Add all of that together and throw in a handful of kills, sprinkle liberally with female humiliation, top it off with a couple of scenes that are sure to offend anyone who has been brought up on the timid Hollywood way of presenting horror, and congratulations: you're looking at the film known as Stockholm Syndrome.
You know, I think it might be best to let the film speak for itself here, so let's try this: do you want to see a doctor rip a fetus out of a woman's stomach with a clothes hanger before decapitating it with a cleaver? Are you in the market for a preacher raping a young woman with a razor-lined dildo before forcing her to deep-throat it? Do you like mindless violence and buckets of blood? Can you live with all of that in lieu of a solid storyline? If so, welcome to your new favorite genre, and this particular film is a solid example of what can be done with it.
Surprisingly, the acting found here was better than what I'm used to seeing from these types of films. Sure, you're not going to see anyone pick up any Oscars for their performances here, but everyone was as convincing as you could ask for; hell, I even managed to get attached to the lead couple in the short time that we spend with them before their world collapses. Jason Senior and Eddie Benevich were particularly good in their respective roles, but even though I enjoyed those two the most, I can't point to any of the other cast members and say that they did a bad job.
I really only had one complaint about the film, and said complaint may very well be fixed in the final release of the film (I watched a screener copy which may or may not be the same thing that will be sold to the general public). My issue revolves around the varying audio levels, and by that, I mean that you have to turn the volume way up to hear the dialogue, but you then have to quickly turn it back down when the screaming / yelling / puking / anything above a normal speaking voice happens or risk blowing out your speakers. I'm certainly not deaf and I'm far from one of those audiophiles who complains about sound quality, but I shouldn't have to keep my hand on the remote throughout the entire running time.
Still, this is a minor issue when you're dealing with a film that doesn't rely on a strong storyline to make its point, and again, it may be fixed before the filmmakers are ready to take your money for it. Getting back to my opening point, I want to point out that Stockholm Syndrome is not a great horror movie, nor is it a great movie in general; it is, however, a fantastic release in the "trash film" genre, and while these movies aren't for everyone, those of you who do like them will find a lot to love here. 8/10.
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