House of 9

House of 9

Agatha Christie taken to its most pyschological edge. Easily the best British horror film made in the last ten years at least. Nine random people are kidnapped and sealed in a escape-proof house. They will be fed and mostly looked after, but no one will get out until the game is over. And the game is quite simple - you have to be the last surviving person. And as a prize you get 5 million.

Now what takes this premise and stops it being any old shtick we've seen before is that it doesnt instantly become a gorefest or whatnot. The film makers instead seem to be doing a study in human pysche - if 9 unrelated people were put in such a situation, how long before even one snaps. It shows that even those with good virtue can become as bad as the more dark villainy types. And it possesses one of the most satisfying and shocking twist endings I've seen in a long time. More shocking than Haute Tension (or Switchblade Romance if you must) and better plotted.

Oh, and it has Dennis Hopper in it.

This should have been one of the best recieved films of last year. Instead, it was little heard of.