Broken is a film from the U.K. that takes a whole new turn at the survival horror sub-genre. While the film is being compared to the likes of Saw and Hostel, I saw it as being a film that had a lot more intelligence behind it. Now don’t get me wrong I thought that both Saw and Hostel had better pacing and both had a simple plot to follow. Broken is a film that drifts away from the like of the normal everyday horror plot, it does not have your normal everyday group of teenage kids with one heroine who comes though at the end. It’s not full of a lot of guts or gore for no reason unless it’s needed and it also takes place for the most part in one central location.
Broken is about a women named Hope whom is taken captive by a woodsman who seems to make his way into the backyards of people every once in a while and kidnap women. “The Man” as he is called in the film, first ties up the women to a tree and where they wake up just to find that they have been cut open in the belly and have had a razorblade inserted in them. If they want to go free, all they have to do is stick their hand into the opening in the belly, pull out the razor blade and cut the rope. They are also given the option of either shooting themselves or sewing up their own belly and living. However they are not let free by the man, but rather become his personal servants in his woodland camp of sorts. The Man lives off the land, and does not have many belongings. The stuff he does have is only used for survival in the wilderness. Some pots and pans, a knife, gun a few plants, and a tent, some chains and so on… Hope is a women that gets though all of the torture and quickly becomes the man’s slave. However Hope is only keeping trying to keep herself sane for the sake of her daughter, which she is not sure the man has either killed, taken captive or if she was the only one he kidnapped. As the film move along the man takes another women captive and the plot begins to move full steam ahead as Hope begins to gain confidence in herself and gears up to challenge the man.
The thing with the script to Broken is that it’s a hard one to really get into. All the pieces are there, but they are not presented in a way that a normal horror fan or audience for that matter would understand. The good thing about it, and I mentioned it above is that the script is original. We don’t have just another slasher film that’s just one kill after another for no reason but to scare the audience. This script was written not to gross you out, but to psychologically plays with your mind. The character development is pretty good, but for the most part the script tends to develop more of Hope’s character, and leaves “The Man” to be more of a mystery with very little back story. The story has a simple theme but it written in such a complex way that one can easily get thrown off by the slow pacing, however the plot twists halfway though, and that’s when all the action takes place.
The acting in this film is very good, there is not a big cast as the film only has about five actors in it. Two of them are are lead roles of “The Man” and Hope. Hope is played by actress Nadja Brand, whom is not only the lead in the film but gives the overall best performance. Playing the role of a women taken captive is a hard part to take on in itself. Not to mention that she had to shoot the majority of this film dirty and on her hand and knees most of the time in this film. I not only give her credit for her acting ability, but for being a trooper during the shooting of the film. I also must mention actor Eric Colvin whom played “The Man” Eric did a great job at keeping his character a mystery most of the time and keeping the character as dark and brutal as possible. The rest of the small cast did a decent job as well, but their parts were not as big as the two mentioned above. Still they deserve credit for contributing to their performances to the film.
The film has some decent production value. There really is not much to go on here, as the film takes place in the woods. however the director did a good job at using the woods to his advantage by actually showing us how dark the woods are and was able to use it to reflect the feel of the film. The film does have some very good make-up effects. Now what this film did right with the make-up effects is that the director knew the right time to use them. Rather than just pumping this film full of gratuitous gore and guts, they used the effects at the right time. With most horror films there are always scenes which are thrown in there for the sake of giving the audience something to shriek at. with Broken, we get the gore and kill scenes as it comes with the story, not because someone needs to die to keep the audience entertained.
Broken is a different kind of horror film. It’s one in which is very well made, but the story in my opinion moves very slow. What I like about the film is that it’s original. It’s a film that gives us a real perspective on what could be considered true horror. The idea for the film was based on a few true events about serial killers. I only think hardcore fans of horror and those that can respect the artistic perspective behind the film will really be able to get the most from this film. The basic fan will probably wither shut it off or dislike it. It’s a different kind of horror film that can be considered a breath of fresh air in horror.
– 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
