A man recently released from a mental institute
inherits a mansion after his parents die. After a series of disturbing
events, he comes to believe it is haunted.
Director:
Dennis IliadisWriter:
Adam AllecaStars:
Topher Grace, Patricia Clarkson, Genesis RodriguezCountry:
USALanguage:
EnglishAlso Known As:
Home See more »Filming Locations:
USACompany Credits
Production Co:
Appian Way, Blumhouse Productions, GK Films
Fun fact: this movie has been kicking around since 2014, when it
played the Carmel International Film Festival under the title “Case
#13.” As of this writing (January 15, 2018), “Case #13” and “Delirium”
are listed as two separate movies in the IMDb directorial filmography of
Johnny Martin, a longtime stuntperson and actor who made his feature directorial debut with this picture.
Even
if it had actually been released in 2014 (the sole showing, according
to the IMDb, was at the Carmel International Film Festival that year),
“Delirium” would have felt at least a trifle dated. The opening scene
sets up a large portion of the premise: subjective camera in the mode of
a million other found-footage horror movies. And of course it’s
nighttime. And of course there are a bunch of bros with flashlights.
Running. Towards something. Being chased maybe. But they’re somewhere
they’re not supposed to be. And there’s an abandoned swimming pool
that’s pretty funky. And a red rubber ball that comes from out of
nowhere. And a little girl sitting in the corner of the of the pool away
from one of the bros. Will her face be bloodied, or horribly scarred,
or in some other way misshapen, when she turns to face the bro? Of
course it will be.
Written by Andy Cheng and Lisa Clemens from a story “by” Martin (I
put quotes around that word because given how much blatant borrowing
this scenarios does from “The Shining”
and other horror classics or near-classics, the scenario is more a
collage than an original creation), “Delirium” then goes back in time
and unsuccessfully attempts to differentiate the bro characters and give
them a sense of mission. The bros, a self-described “Hell Gang,” are
initiating a new member, and there’s a dare involved. Get to the porch
of a deserted mansion where a crazed doctor murdered more than a dozen
of his own children, and stand at its porch in the dead of night.
Chronicling the whole thing on video will be Chase, and most of the
movie is told from his camera’s point of view.
The action
proceeds in what I came to see as movements; first there is the “What
happened to Eddie” one, in which the Hell Gang start worrying about
Eddie, the initiate who seems to have gotten to said porch but hasn’t
come back. Then there’s the “What’s wrong with Chase” movement, in which
Chase, nerdy-intellectual of the group (I guess, given his glasses)
seems possessed despite his deep knowledge of the grisly events that
took place in the house the Hell Gang have broken into in search of
Eddie. Then there’s the “No, Muzo” movement, in which the boys tell the
jock, Muzo, “no.”
Various ghosts and ghouls enter the shots at
times, and there’s even a naked seductive girl ghost (and yes, she is
introduced in a manner that recalls “The Shining”). In spite of creating
a mental atmosphere of mildly irritated indifference in this viewer,
the movie has some real film making talent behind it. Director Martin has
a way with a camera, and in cutting between the “found” footage stuff
and an ostensibly objective camera within scenes he creates some unusual
rhythms that would, I think, have yielded genuine suspense had they
involved characters that weren’t complete yawns. Had this been the work
of a young novice filmmaker, I would say it showed some promise. But as
it happens, Mr. Martin is approaching his mid-fifties. He should look
for better writers, to begin with.
*
Thanks for reading and have fun watching movies.
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