EXTREMITY (2018)

Studio:      Dread Central Presents
Director:    Anthony DiBlasi
Writer:      David Bond
Producer:  Corinne Ferguson, David Bond
Stars:     Chad Rook, Chantal Perron, Dana Christina, Dylan Sloane, Ashley Smith, Yoshihiro Nishimura, Ami Tomite, J. LaRose

Review Score:

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Summary:

To confront her psychological trauma, a troubled woman participates in an extreme haunt with terrifying consequences.

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Synopsis:     Show/Hide Spoilers

Still traumatized by childhood abuse perpetuated by her father Max as well as her mother’s suicide, Allison Belle ends up institutionalized after trying to kill herself. Dr. Silvia Nichols’ treatment encourages Allison to face her fears directly, although Dr. Nichols discourages Allison’s desire to participate in an extreme haunt called ‘Perdition.’

Allison and her girlfriend Erica argue about Allison’s fascination with horror entertainment while watching an exploitation slasher movie. Following their fight, Allison goes on a drive where she hallucinates seeing the Lipstick Killer from the movie murdering a woman in the road. Allison receives a call from Bob, Perdition’s proprietor, informing Allison that she has been chosen to participate in the haunt.

Disregarding Erica’s concerns, Allison goes off her psychiatric medication and drives herself to the pickup point for Perdition. Allison and fellow participant Zachary Young are forcibly abducted and taken to the haunt’s remote location. Japanese vlogger Konishi and her cameraman record Allison and Zachary’s experience while also filming behind the scenes with scare actors Nell Leycock and her sister Morgan, John Hainey and his wife Cathy, and military veteran Phil Cutter.

Among other tortures, Allison is made to watch a peepshow that alternates between a clown attacking Zachary and a seductive woman forcing Allison to masturbate. Allison and Zachary are also forced to race from a pursuing attack dog.

Allison’s claustrophobia is triggered when she is locked inside a coffin. Allison flashes back to her father burying her alive in snow as a child.

Phil interrogates and tortures Allison until she confesses that her deepest fear involves her father. Phil attempts to learn more, but Allison head-butts Phil and breaks his nose.

Allison is repeatedly dunked in a water tank, which triggers flashbacks of her father doing the same in a bathtub. After removing his Red Skull mask, Bob confronts Allison in an attempt to get her to open up further about her father.

Phil warns Bob that something is wrong with Allison and advises sending her home. Desperate to pay his ex-wife Rene child support for their son Taylor, Bob insists that he needs Perdition to be a success. The two men have a fight, after which Phil leaves.

Konishi and her cameraman have a similar argument about Allison. The cameraman insultingly tells Konishi that he only took the videographer job to have sex with Konishi.

Nell and Morgan take Allison and Zachary to a snowy location where they are forced to race. When Zachary loses, Nell gives Allison a gun. Nell compels Allison to see Zachary as a potential college rapist and then pull the trigger. Allison envisions Zachary as her father, whom she once stabbed in the neck, and fires. Zachary seemingly dies from Allison’s gunshot. Nell and Morgan freak out over having accidentally given Nell a loaded weapon instead of a gun with blanks.

Allison ends up restrained back at Perdition. Bob confronts Allison to explain that they cannot go to the police about Zachary’s death.

Allison’s father Max enters to confront his daughter. Max apologizes for his past abuse, but touches Allison in a sexually suggestive manner. Allison breaks free from her restraints and suddenly stabs Max repeatedly.

The cameraman flees. Her mind having cracked, Allison takes Konishi captive. Zachary returns, revealing he was an actor all along. Allison beats him to death with a spiked baseball bat.

Allison takes Bob captive. Bob briefly speaks to his son on the phone before Allison murders Bob by peeling off his face. Allison allows Konishi to go free.

Allison returns to her father. Allison cuts Max’s arms so that he bleeds to death. Allison flashes back to her mother promising to get them away from Max. The woman tells Allison, “don’t call me mommy, I’m your sister.”

Allison leaves the building to record a triumphant exit video on her cellphone. When she sees Nell and Morgan approaching unaware, Allison speeds toward them in her car while wearing Bob’s Red Skull mask.

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Review:

Allison’s traumatic history of childhood abuse, a failed suicide attempt, and an unhealthy obsession with horror would raise immediate red flags on any psychological wellness check. Fortunately for her, immersive attraction ‘Perdition’ doesn’t perform due diligence on a prospective patron’s background, or doesn’t care. In one of the plainest antagonist incentives imaginable, Perdition proprietor Bob needs big bucks to pay child support, and he banks on Allison’s experience somehow being key to his extreme haunt’s viral success.

Against the advice of her therapist as well as her girlfriend, Allison dumps her psychiatric medication on the ground and proceeds to the pickup point. Along with fellow Perdition participant Zachary, Allison forcibly faces her deepest fears as scare actors test her limits through various physical and mental tortures.

With Perdition pushing them past their breaking points, will you care what becomes of Allison or Zachary? Probably not.

Someday, someone may make a legitimately frightening fictional film that accurately reflects the immersive terror of an extreme haunt. “Extremity” isn’t it.

Director Anthony DiBlasi’s movie lands high among the most detached experiences I’ve had watching a thriller. Boogeymen like Freddy Krueger tap universal fears involving nightmares. Woodland-set slashers do the same for anyone who has heard noises in the night while outdoors. But masked men in clown suits chasing attraction attendees merely presents costumed chaos. “Extremity” encounters steep difficulty scraping up scares because personally tailored frights are exclusive to the people onscreen, making vicarious involvement unfeasible.

Dribs and drabs deliver details of Allison’s past via piecemeal flashbacks. For much of the movie, no reason exists to tether emotional investment to her trauma since she’s a vacuous victim of vague violence. Allison’s most defining personality trait is her uncanny ability to alienate anyone trying to help her heal, erecting another impediment to endearment.

We literally know nothing about Zachary. Given these two indistinct lumps for leads, “Extremity” fights to find some sort of engagement in interchangeable scenes of hallway chases, big baddie Bob verbally sparring with Allison, and random acts of torture like waterboarding, coffin claustrophobia, and a perverted peepshow forcing Allison to masturbate.

Where is the suspense among repetitive sequences of skull-masked actors muah-ha-ha-ing as they dunk Allison underwater or force Zachary’s face to the floor? “Extremity” doesn’t know. David Bond’s script searches high and low for a story, auditioning several subplots that fail to stick along the way.

Japanese vlogger Konishi and her unnamed cameraman hang around recording Allison’s experience for Bob’s YouTube channel or something. Their obtrusive arc culminates in ‘Cameraman’ confessing to Konishi, “I only took this job to f*ck you,” followed by an implication that Konishi goes down to her knees to convince him to stay. Hard hitting intrigue there.

When they aren’t providing unnecessary distractions themselves, Konishi and Cameraman collect yawn-inducting interviews and immaterial BTS bits from crewmembers. Phil plays coy about interrogation techniques learned in the military that he applies to Perdition performances. John bores us with blather about expressing himself artistically through various character work. Like Allison’s therapist and girlfriend in their brief moments, barely anyone registers a blip on your attention span’s radar.

Piling on more pointlessness, Bob’s sidekick Nell bitches to Morgan about another actress stealing her coveted role as the nude peepshow girl. Nell refers to Morgan as her sister, but their suggestive kiss and subsequent stroking sends other signals. Similarly, I’m not sure what to make of ‘Allison’s Mother’ telling Allison in a flashback, “don’t call me (mommy), I’m your sister, okay?” Maybe “Extremity” means to add insinuations of incest to its laundry list of inanities with more pedestrian shock value than meaningful substance.

Reconsidering, I suppose “Extremity’s” uninteresting agenda does emulate the senselessly demented, narratively bereft sleaze of an extreme haunt like McKamey Manor. Boomeranging back an ironic line from the movie’s laughably insincere derision of uptight prudes who make “horror is evil” claims, “Extremity” amounts to directionless “smut dressed up as entertainment.”

Review Score: 30

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