The Chair (2007)

Good concept, poorly executed.

n my opinion it was a great movie with some interesting elements, even though having some plot holes and the ending probably was just too messy and crammed together, but still fun to watch and not your casual movie that is similar to all other ones.

I have absolutely never seen anything like this movie before. You have to see this movie.

While it doesn't offer any answers, it both thrills and makes you think.

Timid, used student Danielle moves into a creepy place following the disintegration of her relationship and finds herself on the receiving end of an American director's vision of what a Japanese horror film would be like filmed in not-Japan land.This is more difficult than I thought. My name is Jay Rayner. I am an overweight, but highly groomed food critic who has taken some time of reviewing Celeriac puree and...that...in order to review a film, but it's hard than it looks! Honestly, if someone had presented me with a slimy panacotta I would go straight for the throat, but this film instead has very many merits in it's first half, as it goes for a Japanese style creep out what with the subtle scares and what not, but then goes a bit astray as the 'haunting' part goes out the window and a whole 'possesion' bit comes into play.I'm Jay Rayner. I have a beard that makes my face look like the world's worst fanny. Good day.

This film was almost good. It had a really cool concept about being possessed by a spirit and becoming them. It was also strange for it was a girl being possessed by a male spirit. But the film is based around building this torture chair and learning something from the past from the house that the main character is staying in. Here is the problem though, parts of the film just made no sense. Something would come up and you would wonder why it even happened. Also the film had scenes for the jumping scare factor, but seemed to ruin it. A girl sees a blanket, yes we all know there is something under the blanket because we saw earlier in the film, something was put there. So no, it was not scary on parts that worked out like that. I do respect the story of the film though, it was really a good idea. It just wasn't portrayed right.

Unlike so many other recent movies of all genres filmed in Toronto, this one does not make any blatant attempts to pass itself off as being set in the United States, or, worse yet, try to foist off total idiots as being Americans. So in THE CHAIR's opening minutes, when a neurotic psychology student on anti-psychotic medication moves into a creepy 150-year-old house as the sole occupant and immediately experiences frightening paranormal events, one can easily suspend disbelief and think "yeah, eh, in Canada they probably have just one opening for student housing at a time in a college town." And when the troubled student's sister, who holds down a 9-to-5 job, gets called across town at 4 a.m. every other night to stay in her sibling's bed until sunrise, NEVER ONCE SUGGESTING MAYBE BOTH SISTERS SHOULD SLEEP IN THE WORKING SISTER'S HOME, one can suspend disbelief again and muse "yeah, eh, maybe Canadian law makes it a hate crime not to humor the death wishes of the mentally ill." Therefore, while the movie itself rates an above average 6/10 as a horror flick, I highly recommend THE CHAIR for anyone interested in quaint Canadian customs.

Maybe it's a testament to the low-key sex appeal of its star, Alanna Chisholm. Or the generally good direction and cinematography, but this film was definitely appealing. I usually can't get into films shot on video, but this one looked pretty good.Also, even though it has a slower pace, it was unrelenting up until the very end. I think for horror movies to be effective, on some level they have to be mean-spirited toward the viewer. The writer/director has to want to inflict a little psychological trauma in that 2 hours. This film doesn't seem like it's got what it takes to deliver that type of wallop, so it takes you by surprise at the end when it does.I would recommend it.