Gore and bore, that’s what I would like to say about many of the horror films that need to rely on their gore elements to get their story across. However, what if the story does not get across? That is the problem with Chain Letter a film that showed so much promise from the beginning, but became one big mess of a story at the end.
Chain Letter is a film about the evils of technology, in a town called Carlson, which is said to be the technology capital of the world. The films main characters are all high school aged kids with their heads buried in their cell phones when they are out of the house and in the computer when they are home. When some of the students are being found dead, the police and some of the kids link the killings to a chain letter that they all received with instructions to send it to four friends or die within 24 hours. In Saw and Hostel like fashion a mysterious killer (that reminded me of the WWE wrestler Kane when he was in See No Evil) goes around stringing his victims up with chains and killing them in original and odd ways. However, when one detective gets close to solving the case, we soon learn that the killer is an experienced hacker and knows how to manipulate the system. With, the students slowly figuring out what’s going on, they all might be too late before they are the next victims to hang from the chains.
If that quick synopsis above confused you, then I apologize, that was the best way I could describe a film that had so many plots holes I lost track of the story. We know that the plot is about a killer who defies technology, yet knows how to use it better than the people he is killing. It’s hinted that he had some help, but the story is left so wide open that we’re left with a blank page in front of our faces and left to make up the rest with our imagination. We learn nothing about the killer and why he is doing this. All we know is that he’s a really skilled blacksmith that can make a hell of great chain link. So much so that when the detectives show the chain links to people who might know who the killer is, they gasp with horror and all say “Where did you get this”? The question is never really answered in the film. We just know that some people are not who they seem, and maybe the killer has help, but we do know that he likes to kill people with chains in odd ways and has a taste for killing teenage kids who spend way to much time on their cells phones and computers.
There is however an upside to the film and that lies within its production value. I’ll admit the script is weak, but the production value is very good. The sets and location were all dressed nicely, and they all had that dark feel to it that reminded me of a combination of film looks such as Scream, Saw and the original A Nightmare on Elm Street. The editing was not bad although the editors really tried hard to make the script make sense, but you can only work with what you have in front of you. Still, not a bad job piecing the film together. The acting is not half bad; there are a lot of familiar faces in the film such as Keith David, Nikki Reed, Brad Dourif, Betsy Russell, Michael J. Pagan, Michael Bailey Smith, Terrence Evans and Charles Fleischer. The best part of the film however, was its effects which in a Saw and Hostel torture porn tradition were original and unsettling. The make-up effects were top notch and the kill ideas were originally planned and thought out, but sadly that was the best thing about the script.
The Blu-ray disc is bare bones and just includes the film in 1080p High Definition Widescreen 1.78:1 with English and Spanish subtitles. There are no special features at al other than scene selection and audio setup.
Chain Letter is a film that falls flat on its face when it comes to the story. I have always said in the past that a lot of films try to explain the story to much and that certain scenes should be cut out. In the case of this film, it needs to do more explaining. There is no who or why in this film when it comes to the killer; no back story, no name, no nothing, just that he can mend a mean chain link. The story is told with very little explanation. If someone can fill me in, please do, because there are more plot holes in this film then there are in Swiss cheese. On the flipside, it is a film that was produced well, and I have to give the filmmakers credit on that account. They do know how to make a film look good, but in the end it’s the story that counts. It did keep my interest, but I thought all the confusion would come together at the end, and it, unfortunately did not and left me hanging to make up my own conclusions to fill in the blanks. Give it a shot if you dare, maybe you can make more sense of it than I did. Yet, the consensus among other critics and me is that we’re all just confused.
– Horror Bob
- Interview with J.R. Bookwalter - January 22, 2015
- Interview with Andrew J. Rausch - January 22, 2015
- Interview with Rick Popko and Dan West - January 22, 2015
- Interview with Director Stevan Mena (Malevolence) - January 22, 2015
- Interview with Screenwriter Jeffery Reddick (Day of the Dead 2007) - January 22, 2015
- Teleconference interview with Mick Garris (Masters of Horror) - January 22, 2015
- A Day at the Morgue with Corri English (Unrest) - January 22, 2015
- Interview with Writer/Director Nacho Cerda (The Abandoned, Aftermath) - January 22, 2015
- Interview with Actress Thora Birch (Dark Corners, The Hole, American Beauty) - January 22, 2015
- Interview with Actor Jason Behr, Plus Skinwalkers Press Coverage - January 22, 2015
