I also have always liked the monster within idea. I like the zombies being us. Zombies are the blue-collar monsters.

-George A. Romero-

Mar 14, 2010

Triangle

I wish everyone had an appreciation for horror movies, especially the ones that actually make you think. I downloaded Triangle not knowing anything about it but it had that mouth breather from 30 Days of Night which was a terrific vampire movie by the way. Well the description basically says that a group of people on an afternoon boat ride come across an empty cruise ship that ends up not being empty after all. Unfortunately there is no way to explain this movie without giving it away

PLOT It is true, there is a group of semi-strangers taking a pleasure sail somewhere in Florida. Jess is somewhat the guest of honor, a young single mother of an autistic child who was invited by Greg, the owner of the boat, who I assume he is crushing on her. Joining them are four others, one of whom is a supper annoying ginger who just won't shut up that Greg invited Jess and is not paying her friend Heather any attention.

Just when everyone is passive aggressively being friendly to one another, the wind suddenly dies and a dark mysterious storm hits and turns the boat over, taking the ginger's friend Heather with it. As suddenly as the storm started, it stopped leaving the remaining five passengers waiting for rescue on the upturned boat. They waited long enough for their hair to dry when a large cruise ship slowly sidles up beside them allowing them to board. When they do, they find that no one else is aboard the ship. As the traverse the hallways looking for the crew, Jess begins to experience a strong sense of Deja Vu noting to Greg that she recognizes the hallways and believes she's been on this ship before. It isn't until the group gets split up that the shit really hits the fan and I can say no more without urging you to see it for yourself.

FINAL THOUGHTWhen the movie ended, I was in a state of surreal contemplation. I was turning the events over and it wasn't until I watched it for the second time demanding that my boyfriend see it, that everything came together and I appreciated it even more.

To anyone who didn't get it. You are probably mentally deficient in some way which is fine and all, I love the mentally handicapped, but you should probably stick to movies with Keanu Reeves or something.

4.5%

1 important opinions:

Ben S. said...

I decided to watch the film this morning, on your recommendation. All in all, it was a pleasant surprise.

As soon as she found her keys, I knew what plot device they'd be using, and in most cases that would lead to me figuring out the rest of the film well in advance of the conclusion. Triangle, however, played with my expectations in a way few horror films ever accomplish.

Whereas most films of this kind are content to let the mystery drive the film, giving the characters two hours to figure out what an experienced viewer might deduce from the trailer, it's a more character driven piece. The question isn't so much how this is happening, a matter that is wisely left unresolved (though the symbol on a drum provides a hint), but why the female lead reacts the way she does and the degree to which she is responsible for her own fate.

In the end, it's not the supernatural event that dooms her, but her inability to live with herself and her grave mistakes, a fact that's brilliantly rendered in a steadily growing pile of corpses. Even when confronted with that evidence, the gory proof that she is the true terror aboard the ship and the source of her own anguish, she cannot accept the truth, that the killers who look like her actually are her.

So she chases them down, becoming more monstrous herself with each iteration, never once realizing that the only way to free herself from the cycle is to accept that she cannot erase her mistakes. Even in a world where you can kill a person several times over, that fact of life remains immutable. Meanwhile, those who cannot accept the fact put themselves in the position of the oft-mentioned Sisyphus, who had to struggle to accomplish an impossible task for all eternity. The sole difference between the lead female and the king is that her curse is one she's placed on herself.

If you enjoyed the mental gymnastics required to make sense of the plot, you'd probably enjoy Primer, another film that uses the same plot device. I've also heard good things about Los Cronocrimenes (Time Crimes), though I haven't had the chance to watch it myself.

I also feel Cube is pretty similar, since it also deals with the theme of degeneration under extreme circumstances and man's penchant for self-destruction.