Movie Review: Walled In (2009)

The movie stars Mischa Barton, Deborah Kara Unger, Cameron Bright, Eugene Clark and Pascal Greggory.

I came across this movie earlier this week and, mostly because I wasn’t really sure what it was, I decided to watch it with my wife. We finished it last night and, after seeing it, I can’t help but have a bit of a mixed opinion about this thriller.

The movie actually starts out OK. The nearly-empty apartment building had a creepy vibe to it even before we learned its history. And, the few people that still lived in it only helped to add to that creepiness. This included the Norman Bates-like Jimmy (Bright). He seemed friendly and helpful enough. But, it was pretty obvious there was something seriously wrong with him; especially since he seemed to be a little too close to his mother (Unger).

Unfortunately, as the movie progressed, I found I was less and less impressed with it. Yes, there are some interesting twists, including the discovery of what really happened to the murderous architect (though, in all honesty, that wasn’t that much of a surprise either). But, at the same time, the movie also seemed to fall apart as we got further into it.

Part of the reason for this was, as I watched the second half, I ended up feeling like there was a chunk of this film missing. There were times, for example, when Sam (Barton) acted like she had some sort of traumatic past that was affecting her (she, at times, for example, appeared to be very scared of the dark). And, I’m still unsure why, exactly, she was hearing the victims’ voices when there was no other indication, at any point in the movie, the building was haunted. You can’t tell me she had a nervous breakdown in that short of amount of time just because she learned about the building’s history.  In other words, the movie probably would have been much better had they taken a minute or two to explain.

The film was also kind of predictable at the end, something that rarely helps a movie. Not to mention, Jimmy, in addition to being insane, had to be one of the stupidest people on the planet.  He wants Sam all to himself, something that, ultimately, means he has to stop the demolition. Yet, he practically invites her crew out there by sending them her recommendations then seems almost surprised when they showed up. What was he expecting to happen? As I said, it fell apart.

I like the setting of the movie and the way it set the mood with the apartment building’s dark history. However, the movie could have used a bit more editing because the overall execution did leave me disappointed.

My Grade: C