GNAW - DVD review

Periodically, something genuinely scary comes along that manages to throw a wrench into the horror genre's machine. I think about "The Blair Witch Project," "The Ring," and now "Paranormal Activity" as examples. Good films that freak you out quite nicely are worth checking out anytime you're able, but especially as Halloween approaches.

Periodically, something really gruesome comes along that may not be scary, but gives you a chill because it is extremely intense, bloody, torture-based and violent. I think about the "Saw" and "Hostel" films, plus a recent release I reviewed for DVDTOWN called "No Through Road." Good films that are able to make your skin chill from unease and discomfort rather than fear are sometimes worth checking out, but in particular as Halloween approaches.

Periodically, a film tries to be both scary and extremely unsettling with its violence. More often than not, it doesn't work. "Gnaw," a recent release from MPI and Dark Sky Films, is just such a movie. Its attempts to scare don't hold their weight, and its attempts at unsettling violence don't hold any momentum. Plus, in trying to be original, it commits a big error and refers to a horror classic ("The Texas Chain Saw Massacre") on its keep case that it just doesn't get anywhere near on a successful level.

Do you ever wonder why so many horror films begin with young people going away for the weekend in some remote location? Apparently this phenomenon isn't limited to just American horror flicks, as "Gnaw" was made and set in England. Disproportionately, horror films starring teens are enjoyed by other teens, which means, in theory, those in "Gnaw" probably watched one or two in their day, right? So, why would they go into a wooded, isolated area with no cell phone coverage that one person randomly suggested? Plus, does it flow that a random strange woman owns the massive property they occupy during this getaway, but states she'll be away on business, only to reappear and provide her own unique customer service? Hmmm…smells fishy. At least I hope it's fish.

The film begins as a very attractive girl runs from an old, beat up truck driven by a not so nice looking gentleman with an animal head type hood covering his upper body. She stumbles and falls on a dirt road, and he spears her with long handled farm trowel. She is not dead though, and wakes up chained to a table in what is a combination farmhouse and slaughterhouse. He teases her sexually, running his hands along her legs and upper body before slicing off her nightgown with a kitchen knife and cutting into her stomach.

Next comes a pointless montage showing newspaper headlines about missing persons in the English countryside. No suspects, no clues, no witness and no need. We later get a look at some things the so-called Slaughterman (Gary Faulkner) has kepy from his victims: shoes, cell phones, photos, and other randomness. Incidentally, the Slaughterman doesn't have a single spoken word during the film. He is never referred to as anything other than "he" during "Gnaw," and that's including those scenes where the only person he could possibly be related to, Mrs. Obadiah (Carrie Cohen), the nutty woman who owns the property where these young folks decide to stay, has lines. In case you didn't decipher it yet, the Slaughterman does the killings and processing. Mrs. Obadiah does the cooking. More on that momentarily.

So, after the cute girl is killed and the newspaper headlines are shown, we meet the victims, er, um, uh, characters. Lorrie (Sara Dylan), Jill (Rachel Mitchem), Matt (Oliver Lee Squires), Jack (Nigel Croft-Adams), Hannah (Julia Vandoorne) and Ed (Hiram Bleetman) are all compadres in some regard. We don't really get details, and it doesn't really matter. I didn't find any character likeable or pleasant, as they all have some vice or secret they're keeping from the rest. Some have slept with others before, while others want to sleep with some and don't get the chance. All look like they were well casted and fit the parts they're meant to portray, and they actually interact quite naturally.

There's minimal development for each during the film, but I can tell you that Ed and Hannah are an item. They both die. Jack is that cocky jerk you know who you really want to get what's coming to him. He too dies. Lorrie had a one-night stand with Jack and is now carrying his unborn child. Eventually, she dies, but there's a pretty strange twist at the film's end with that child and the Slaughterman. Matt is the underdog character who really needs to spend a night with a woman to "mature," but he's also that guy girls probably prefer as a friend rather than a sex partner. He also dies. Jill sees the Slaughterman pulling out Jack's tongue with some pliers and runs away, only to be caught and, yes, die.

Now just what happens when these characters meet their maker? They get turned into a few things, including meat pies, hamburgers and soups. The surviving characters eventually figure this out, but only after they find a ring, a fingernail and some other body parts in their edibles. Mrs. Obadiah is a wiz with those culinary delights, but the quality choices come from the Slaughterman's hard work in killing and processing the victims. Are these two related? Are they in cahoots? Is it a simple "you scratch my back, I'll scratch yours" partnership? Bah, who knows.

And more importantly, why do these two do what they do? Are they just cannibals who enjoy human flesh, is their habit related to a satanic ritual, or is there a much more complex reason(s)? We never really get an answer. If you've ever seen a James Bond movie, you know there is a moment where the bad guy spends far too long explaining his evil plot to Bond, usually when he's got Bond "right where he wants him." He goes on and on about how he spent time and money and energy getting it set up just this way, only to have Bond use those precious moments to think up a way to get out of the situation. In "Gnaw," the villains have little to say when it comes to explaining their motivation. Maybe they just woke up one day and said, "Hmmm…human flesh might be a nice change." Frankly, I didn't care, and it didn't matter.

The typical scare elements you'd find in any horror flick are there. Women wandering around dark corners in skimpy outfits, gentlemen unafraid of the dark go out into the wilderness, eerie music playing as characters tip toe into and out of spooky surroundings. If you're an avid horror fan, you can probably predict just when the scare is about to go down in "Gnaw." In trying to be fresh and original, it turns out flat and textbook.

Video:
"Gnaw" looks decent enough in its 1.78:1 anamorphic widescreen transfer. There's a rough, grainy feel to the picture that would have bugged me if it didn't take place in rural England, but these elements actually enhance the viewing experience rather than take away from it. There's interesting balance between brights and darks throughout the film, and the gory effects look real enough.

Audio:
No problem picking up any sound, be it spoken words, screaming, metal tools cutting into human flesh or background music. We're offered a Dolby Digital 5.1 surround soundtrack and a Dolby Digital 2.0 option. The 5.1 is obviously richer and deeper, but the 2.0 will probably cut the mustard. The audio filled my living room quite nicely, and even though the images on screen didn't exactly scare me, the audio connoted an eerie feeling now and again.

Extras:
Nothing really out of the box here. A featurette titled "The making of ‘Gnaw'" is provided, as is an audio commentary with director Gregory Mandry and the film's theatrical trailer. At some point, a horror film needs to give its special effects folks a space to detail just how they do what they do in all them death scenes. While "Gnaw" wasn't all that great, the effects were okay, and this seems like a logical location to me.

A Final Word:
I didn't find "Gnaw" entertaining, scary or extremely unsettling. It's a film with little context, and while its premise is extremely simple, it still needed a solid foundation to stand on. If you're not one for thinking about the stuff you watch on DVD, this likely won't bug you all that much. But if you want a smidge of plot and back story, even in a genre that chews on and spits out the same characters, film series and already used scare tactics so often you can become numb, you won't find it here.