The Corridor

I'm sure there's a formal genre that covers films about guys trapped in a spooky cabin in the woods. I can't really think of many at the moment. But it feels as though people away from civilization and driven insane by an ancient unnamed evil has been done a few times before. Even so, The Corridor comes across as a fresh take on things. Mashing up themes ranging from

• adults growing apart from childhood friendships,
• realizations that you're getting older and things aren't all going to work out as you'd hoped, and
• a mystical corridor of light in the woods that drives everyone into a homicidal rage. 

Or perhaps more accurately everyone except the friend just released from a mental facility for maybe killing his mom. Though we know for sure about his slashing one friend in the face and stabbing the other. Hmmm ... Maybe I should back up a bit?

The picture opens with a rush as we watch the complete breakdown of a man. His mother lies dead on the floor. Bursting out of a room he hacks away at everyone in sight, wounding two friends who are trying to help. Fast forward and five friends arrive at a cabin in the snow covered woods. They're there to scatter the ashes of the dead woman and mark her son's release from the institution he was at. The official story is that the mother committed suicide which caused her son to have a break from reality. Though as we learn it may (or may not) be more complicated than that.

In the early parts of the film the gang sits around, sharing secrets in small groups, giving each other grief, and rehashing old memories and dreams. You might be forgiven for drawing parallels to The Big Chill except perhaps for the little issue of one of the gang appearing to hallucinate. When he drags one of the "sane" ones out into the woods though it becomes clear he's not hallucinating. The woods has a glowing walled off area that has some unusual effects on anyone stepping into it. Including feelings of euphoria, nosebleeds, telepathic ability to read the thoughts of one's cohorts and the aforementioned homicidal leanings. Ironically the only one immune is the guy on psych meds which block the effect of the supernatural force. This force tends to extend in a corridor like manner as its control over people grows. So there's the matter of preventing it from reaching civilization. But first the one sane member of the group needs to prevent them all from killing each other.

Things slide pretty quickly into bloody mayhem at this stage. Perhaps a little too quickly for my taste. I was enjoying the dialog between the characters and wouldn't have minded the downward spiral to be stretched out a bit more. But at the same time once the the section starts where they stop being "real" and start being bat shit insane things more forward at a good clip. So as opposed to a fair number of other horror films there's not just endless scenes of people brutalizing each other.  This one is short and to the point.  While there is some gore it's in reality pretty restrained. The film though does suggest a lot of things that take place offscreen that the brain fills in the blanks on.  They're some pretty squirm inducing blanks at that.  The film did make me jump (and hard) at least once, though most of the terror isn't really scare focused.  More of a how far will these characters go freed of any moral constraints and with the ability to hear each other's weaknesses and fears.

Horror isn't my favorite genre and I wouldn't say this is one of my most standout experiences this year. I do tend to like my horror more tinged with a feel of malevolent fun, such as Rabies which also screened at Fantastic Fest. But I think there's definitely a lot to commend in The Corridor - most specifically the characters and dialog created by writer Josh MacDonald.  I wouldn't at all mind watching the first half again to listen even more closely to the discussions between the friends.  The other achievement of the film is the smart use of the closed in cabin spaces by director Evan Kelly.  I'll certainly be keeping an eye out for what comes next from these guys.



The Corridor won the best screenplay award at Fantastic Fest 2011.