Articles - Features

3 Best Single Room Thrillers

Wednesday March 03, 2010

Cat-and-mouse chases across the busiest lanes of LA and China, Bullets barging out laced with so many characters in plot. If at all, these ingredients defined what a ‘thriller’ is all about; we bring you an exclusive look on 3 taut thrillers shot at not more than couple of locations with few characters.

These movies redefined the genre of ‘Thriller’ and leaped with laurels amongst the global audiences.

1408

The film is loosely based on Stephen King – Father of horror and thriller genres. Just as the title suggests, the entire story takes place within a hotel room – 1408. John Cussack, who swept us out with his performance in Roland Emereich’s ‘2012’, enacts the role of Mike Enslin - a skeptic writer who doesn’t believe in supernatural issues. He is far away from happiness after the death of his sweet daughter Katie.

He receives a postcard of Dolphin Hotel in city of NY carrying the message – ‘Don’t enter 1408’. Perceiving this to be a big challenge, Mike enters the Dolphin Hotel only to know that the management doesn’t rent the room 1408. The hotel’s manager Gerald (Samuel Jackson) warns Mike that his life wouldn’t last for more than an hour in 1408. Even, he agrees to pay him a big sum to leave the place and indeed provides him the records of previous deaths that took place in room.

But nothing stops him from embarking the speculative challenge. But what happens next in room 1408 is unbearable situation that puts Mike into an extreme disorder.

The film is directed by Michael Hafstrom with Matt Greenberg and Scott Alexander crafting powerful screenplay…

VACANCY

If ‘1408’ was a hardcore horror, ‘Vacancy’ is an edge-seated thriller with its nitty-gritty elements. A married couple David and Amy Fox finds themselves deserted in midst of highway road when their car breaks down. They luckily get into a motel room and feel elated as a set of DVDs. They get annoyed with those films as it’s about cruel slayings of persons in a room and later unravel a biggest terrifying secret. All these films have been filmed in the same room, where they are put up and it’s the death of previous guests who checked in there.

Much before they decide to escape from the motel, there are soon haunted with similar experience. Can they make it together or fall into the plans of deadly psychos forms crux of the story.

The complete film has been shot inside the same motel with few exterior shots. ‘Vacancy’ is acclaimed as best thriller with unexpected twists. The film is conceptualized by Mark L Smith and is directed by Nimrod Antal.

DISTURBIA

Directed by D.J. Caruso, the film revolves around a student Kale Brecht (Shia La Beouf) house-arrested for hitting his teacher. Stagnated at home, Kale has a friend visiting him at times, but it’s too boring for Kale to spend his time in loneliness. He starts peeping on his neighbors by using binoculars and one night finds that his neighbor Mr. Turner is a serial killer. Now, it’s do-or-die situation for Kale as he deeply gets preoccupied in unraveling mystery behind his neighbor.

The first 35mins of the flick may get you trivialized with little disappointments as the story with lighter moments of fun and love. But as it proceeds towards the Act-2, it’s gonna be a nail-biting situation.

Tags: 1408 | john cussack | michael hafstrom | vacancy | mark l smith | nimrod antal | disturbia | dj caruso | shia la beouf