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Average User Score: 5 (18 sources)

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StarBlade_0_0_9

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A famous model is kidnapped by someone and is trapped in a prison cell.

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Posted mar 25, 2008 2:48 pm pt

westcoastwillam

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It's not a great movie by any stretch but it is a little above most horror movies that i see at the video stores, I think the movie had a few to many holes and your thinking why the hell this and why the hell that but it wasnt near as bad as...
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It's not a great movie by any stretch but it is a little above most horror movies that i see at the video stores, I think the movie had a few to many holes and your thinking why the hell this and why the hell that but it wasnt near as bad as people made it out to be the gore and shock terror factor is what it really good about this movie.

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Posted mar 5, 2008 6:48 am pt

NosmoKing1984

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I'll start with the good first. The film seems to have a fair pacing and quickly gets to the point. The atmosphere is quite dark and creepy which makes you feel kind of uncomfortably, but in a good way.

Now with the bad. This film...
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I'll start with the good first. The film seems to have a fair pacing and quickly gets to the point. The atmosphere is quite dark and creepy which makes you feel kind of uncomfortably, but in a good way.

Now with the bad. This film is grotesque and gruesome for the sake of being gruesome which is always a bad thing. There are scenes that are too weird to even raise interest at all and you come away feeling like they were trying too hard to make this a horror movie. This could have been so much more than it is but it ultimately comes off feeling amaturish and boring.

The part that I first suspected this would be a badly written puddle of drool was when the two characters being held captive are scratching paint off a window. This just didn't make sense at all as you can't paint both sides of a window and scratch the paint off both sides at once. You'd need to scratch it off both sides.

I also found the acting to be a little weird, I never felt like Elisha Cuthbert was actually scared for her life or in a state of shear terror, just mildly scared. There are scense where she is waking up, after being captive for days, looking well rested and ready for another day. I find it hard to believe that someone being held captive, knowing they could be killed any second, would be so well at ease as to have a good nights sleep as she does in the film.

This film falls flat on it's face at the little details, these little details ruin all credability and makes it very hard to believe in the characters. I wouldn't recommend this film to anyone, watch Saw instead, it's far better.

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Posted nov 2, 2007 12:39 am pt

angel_drem

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It is kind of new story I think it is great and I like it

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Posted jul 27, 2007 11:20 am pt

• [+] Village Voice
  
  70
  Roland Joffé creates a visually interesting and aurally unsettling vibe, and the story from B-movie maestro Larry Cohen keeps it simple.

  by Luke Y. Thompson | Read Full Review »
• [+] TV Guide
  
  50
  Quite possibly the final word on a much-maligned genre.

  by Ken Fox | Read Full Review »
• [+] Variety
  
  50
  Destined to be better remembered for its grisly billboard imagery than for its relatively tame torture-porn tropes, Captivity is a thoroughly nasty piece of work that nonetheless earns credit for generating modest suspense after a predictable but effective plot twist around the 50-minute mark.

  by Joe Leydon | Read Full Review »
• [+] Entertainment Weekly
  
  42
  Roland Joffé brings an artful video-grunge look, and not much else, to this "Saw" clone.

  by Owen Gleiberman | Read Full Review »
• [+] Empire
  
  40
  Torture junkies should remember it's only four months to Saw IV -- so you can afford to avoid Captivity.

  by Kim Newman | Read Full Review »
• [+] Chicago Reader
  
  30
  It's not scary because not one second is believable.

  by Andrea Gronvall | Read Full Review »
• [+] Film Threat
  
  30
  A terrible rehash of better torture genre exploitation, with none of the charm.

  by Felix Vasques Jr. | Read Full Review »
• [+] The New York Times
  
  30
  The movie has been thoroughly eclipsed by "Captivity" the marketing.

  by Jeannette Catsoulis | Read Full Review »
• [+] The Onion (A.V. Club)
  
  25
  In a genre where killers love to play head games, it's a clever idea (Cohen's?) to have this one remain mute, but that leaves Cuthbert to carry much of the psychological load, and there's no substance to her character, apart from the suggestion that she's being punished for her vanity.

  by Scott Tobias | Read Full Review »
• [+] Premiere
  
  25
  Thoroughly irritating little film.

  by Glenn Kenny | Read Full Review »
• [+] Boston Globe
  
  25
  A wan, derivative entry in the torture-porn cycle.

  by Ty Burr | Read Full Review »
• [+] The Globe and Mail (Toronto)
  
  25
  A lurid thriller that marks a new career low for both director Roland Joffé (The Killing Fields, The Mission) and co-screenwriter Larry Cohen (Phone Booth, It's Alive).

  by Jason Anderson | Read Full Review »
• [+] New York Post
  
  25
  Captivity is torture porn without the sex. Cuthbert squirms, screams, weeps and pleads for her life with great conviction. Slick, sick sleaze.

  by Rocco Landesman | Read Full Review »
• [+] The Hollywood Reporter
  
  20
  The end result doesn't even satisfy on its own sleazy terms. Not only does it lack the satirical nihilism of the "Hostel" films or the admittedly clever torture machinations of the "Saw" series, it doesn't even provide its target young male audience with the requisite nudity.

  by Frank Scheck | Read Full Review »
• [+] Los Angeles Times
  
  20
  It's the movie business equivalent of encountering someone you once knew begging for money on the street.

  by Robert Abele | Read Full Review »