CHAINED

2012

DIRECTOR:  JENNIFER CHAMBERS LYNCH
WRITERS:  DAMIAN O'DONNELL AND JENNIFER CHAMBERS LYNCH
STARRING:  VINCENT D'ONOFRIO,  EAMON FARREN, AND EVAN BIRD

I WOKE UP EARLY THIS MORNING AND THOUGHT WHAT I ALWAYS THINK WHEN I HAVE SPARE TIME...LET ME FIND THE BLOODIEST FUCKING MOVIE I CAN THAT'S FREE ON DEMAND.  SO I CAME ACROSS CHAINED WHICH IS NEWLY ADDED.  AS I STARTED IT, I DID MY TYPICAL IMDB RESEARCH TO BROWSE THROUGH THE SYNOPSIS ALONG WITH A FEW REVIEWS TO SEE WHAT TO EXPECT.  

TO MY SURPRISE, THE VIEWER'S RATINGS WERE PRETTY FAVORABLE.  MOST INSISTED IT WAS HARD TO WATCH, YET HAD POWERFUL ACTING IN IT.  I MUST ADMIT, I WAS A LITTLE UNEASY AT FIRST AND WAS EXPECTING THE WORST.  IS IT ODD THAT MY VERSION OF GRUESOMELY VIOLENT SCENES WERE WAY MORE HARDCORE THAN THE ACTUAL SCENES THE REVIEWERS WERE REFERRING TO?  I MEAN, THE ONLY TIME I LITERALLY CRINGED IS WHEN ONE CHARACTER WAS STITCHING UP A WOUND.  I'M NOT SURE IF MY MIND IS SO DEMENTED FROM WATCHING HORROR MOVIES, OR IF ALL OF THESE REVIEWS WERE WRITTEN BY PEOPLE WHO TYPICALLY FIND THEMSELVES STARRING AT A TELEVISION WHERE LITTLE DISNEY CHARACTERS DANCE ACROSS THE SCREEN.

CHAINED IS ABOUT A SERIAL KILLER WHO CAPTURES THE SON OF ONE OF HIS VICTIMS AND TRAINS HIM TO BE A HELPER IN A WAY.  HE CHAINS HIM UP FOR YEARS, TRANSFORMING HIM INTO A SERVANT WHO COOKS AND CLEANS UP THE GORE THAT SPILLS FROM ALL THE WOMEN, BUT HE ALSO DEVELOPS A TWISTED FATHER/SON RELATIONSHIP WITH HIM.  ALTHOUGH THE KILLER IS A VICOUS ATTACKER WHO RUTHLESSLY RAPES AND MURDERS WOMEN WITHOUT REMORSE, HE DOES NOT ENDURE THIS BEHAVIOR ON THE KID.  I MEAN, OBVIOUSLY THIS IS FUCKED UP NO MATTER HOW YOU LOOK AT IT, BUT I JUST WANT TO EMPHASIZE HOW THE KILLER IS MORE INTERESTED IN TAKING THE BOY UNDER HIS WING AS OPPOSED TO HARMING HIM.  THIS FORESHADOWS THE TWIST AT THE END.  

OVERALL, I THOUGHT THIS MOVIE WAS A SUCCESS.  I DO AGREE THAT THE ACTING IS FLAWLESS.  VINCENT D'ONOFRIO IS ON POINT WITH HIS CHARACTER AND REALLY NAILS THE SERIAL KILLER PERSONA.  EAMON FARREN IS CONSISTENTLY SOLID AND PERFECTS THE TRANSITIONING OF HIS ABUSED CHARACTER'S PROGRESSION.

I ESPECIALLY LOVE HOW THE MOVIE IS TOLD FROM THE KILLER'S PERSPECTIVE.  IT'S LIKE WE ARE INSIDE THE MONSTER'S HEAD THROUGHOUT THE ENTIRE STORY WHICH IS UNIQUE FOR FILMS LIKE THIS.  WE EVEN SEE FLASHBACKS OF THE SERIAL KILLER BEING ABUSED AS A YOUNG BOY, ALLOWING US TO FULLY ABSORB HIS CHARACTER AS A WHOLE.  ALTHOUGH THIS WAS NOT THE MOST DISTURBING MOVIE THAT HAS EVER SCARRED ME, THERE ARE SOME TWISTED VISIONS DISPLAYED.  

THERE ARE TWO THINGS I FOUND MYSELF SHAKING MY HEAD OVER.  THE ENDING CONTAINS A TWIST, HOWEVER, I FEEL IT WAS RANDOM AND UNNECESSARY.  THIS MOVIE IS ROOTED THROUGH A CHARACTER DRIVEN PLOT AND WOULD HAVE BEEN JUST AS EFFECTIVE WITHOUT THE TWIST.  I'M NOT SAYING THE LAST SCENES WERE TERRIBLE, THEY JUST WERE NOT JAW DROPPING.  

SECONDLY, I AM INTRIGUED BY REAL LIFE SERIAL KILLERS AND AM SOMEWHAT FAMILIAR WITH THEIR MANNERISMS.  DESPITE THE FACT I THOUGHT THIS WAS ESSENTIALLY EXECUTED, I FOUND IT HARD TO BELIEVE THE KILLER WAS NOT AS OBSESSIVE COMPULSIVE AS I WOULD REALISTICALLY IMAGINE HIM TO BE.  AFTER KILLING HIS PREY, HE ROUTINELY GOES THROUGH THEIR WALLET AND KEEPS THEIR CASH AND DRIVER'S LICENSES.  TYPICALLY, KILLERS TREASURE THESE ITEMS AS THEIR TROPHIES, OR REMINDERS OF THEIR CONTROL AND KILLING CONQUESTS.  THINK ABOUT DEXTER FOR EXAMPLE.  HE KEPT HIS BLOOD SLIDES HIDDEN AND ONLY DELICATELY TOUCHED THEM.   THE PREDATOR IN THIS MOVIE CHAOTICALLY THROWS THE CASH INTO A JAR.  HE ALSO PLAYS A GAME WITH THE LICENSES AND DEALS THEM OUT LIKE A DECK OF CARDS.  MY POINT IS, THE FACT THAT THE CHARACTER DOESN'T CHERISH HIS TROPHIES IS A TAD UNREALISTIC.  

I GENUINELY DIG THE FACT THAT THIS MOVIE WAS WRITTEN AND DIRECTED BY A WOMAN.  CONSIDERING JENNIFER CHAMBERS LYNCH IS THE DAUGHTER OF DAVID LYNCH, HER TWISTED, YET BRILLIANT AND UNIQUE STYLE IS SELF-EVIDENTLY JUSTIFIED.