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| Copyright: IFC Films |
Would You Rather is a horror/thriller built on a very simple
premises. It involves a children’s game played by a group of people were only
pain exists and every decision leads to it.
In the film, actor Jeffrey Combs, a TV veteran (in a Star
Trek TV universe he played nine different characters) is the biggest pillar
holding the story from crumbling. He plays Shepard Lambrick, head of a
mysterious group that offers a young woman named Iris a chance to save her
leukemia stricken brother.
His offer includes money, but also the influence that would help her brother to receive the necessary medical treatment. Everything she needs to do is to come to a dinner party, and along with other competitors, try to win first place in a game. Iris, broken by her failed attempts to find help and lacking any other ideas, hesitantly accepts.
His offer includes money, but also the influence that would help her brother to receive the necessary medical treatment. Everything she needs to do is to come to a dinner party, and along with other competitors, try to win first place in a game. Iris, broken by her failed attempts to find help and lacking any other ideas, hesitantly accepts.
Combs as the twisted millionaire Lambrick gives the right
pace for this unusual and partly successful film. He leads the games which
force players to decide between variations in several rounds of sadistic
challenges. During the party, the eight contestants have to choose very quickly
between the two alternatives, which include injury to the player that chooses
and/or other players. Armed guards are present so no one can leave the game,
and it’s played until only one competitor remains.
Lambrick is also significant because he explains each round,
providing rules and ruling on irregularities - Combs plays his character so
extravagantly and pretentiously that at times he may look like he’s joking, but
it actually works fine within the plot. On several occasions, the movies
reminded me of a more violent and less funny version of the film Clue.
Combs is also by far the most memorable member of the entire
cast, even though Sasha Gray is also present (and still struggling with regular
acting). Iris is played by Brittany Snow who most of the time seems lethargic
and in some sorts of shallow stupor. When she gets the opportunity to show a
greater range, she uses her talent very modestly.
Would You Rather can be labeled as a low budget cousin to
the films from the Saw series, with its pseudo-horror scenes that explore the
human reactions in the face of inevitable suffering and pain. But unlike those
films, this movie takes place in a single room with elegant wooden furniture.
Lambrick’s challenges do not include complex devices, but instead involve
wooden sticks, razors and ice picks, which give the plot a bit more realistic
and macabre tone. It’s also, however, worthy to mention that Would You Rather,
just like the Saw films, has a weakly written and unstable scenario.
The intention of this film was to show a few gory scenes
that will make the hairs on the back of your neck stand up, while at the same
time clinging to a greater level of visual style that than the ones seen in
other films from the torture porn genre. With the exception of the amazing
Combs, it delivers hardly anything else.
