Sunday 4 July 2010

Film Review: TRIANGLE (2009)


Writer/Director: Christopher Smith
Running time: 99 mins (approx)
Certification (UK): 15

UK release date: 16th October 2009

Watched on DVD Sunday 4th July 2010.

PLEASE NOTE: THERE MAY BE SPOILERS IN THIS REVIEW.

I heard a few good things about this one when it was released, but didn’t get the chance to see it at the cinema. Fortunately I have managed to track it down on DVD for a viewing. There have been many films where the same day or the same event is repeated over and over again, most notably Groundhog Day (1993). This is one of those films, but with a large amount of mystery, tension and yes, even a bit of horror thrown into the mix.

A group of friends have arranged to go sailing, Greg, the skipper of the yacht, his friend Jack, a couple Downey and Sally have brought along Heather, who they are trying to fix up with Greg, and finally Jess. Jess has an autistic son, Tommy, who, she says, is at school, even though it’s a Saturday. She seems distracted and sleeps for a good two hours at the start of the cruise. Things seem to be going well, there’s a good breeze and the sails are full when suddenly the wind drops and they are left becalmed. They spot a violent storm coming in and when it hits the yacht is turned over. Clinging to the bottom of the hull, it looks bleak until an old fashioned cruise ship appears. The climb aboard but can find nobody about. Jess has the feeling she has been on this ship before and when someone starts killing them you know it’s going to get scary! And that’s where I’ll leave it, but needless to say, this is where things really start to get interesting.

It’s a pretty well made film with a really great plot and some decent special effects, especially in the storm sequence. Decent performances from all of the main cast, Melissa George as Jess, Michael Dorman as Greg, Jack Taylor as Jack, Henry Nixon as Downey, Rachael Carpani as Sally and Emma Lung as Heather.

I know the description above sounds a bit like every ship-board horror you’ve seen before, but believe me it goes on to be something completely different. Even to the point of explaining just why Jess is so distracted when she boards the yacht. I know some people won’t get it, but believe me, it’s really worth watching. Very much Recommended!

My score: 8.4/10

LINKS:
IMDb Site: http://uk.imdb.com/title/tt1187064/
Trailer: http://uk.imdb.com/rg/VIDEO_PLAY/LINK/video/imdb/vi2981299481/

No comments: