The Movie:

Adam Mason's 2007 directorial effort, The Devil's Chair, which he co-wrote with Simon Boyes, begins with a man named Nick (Andrew Howard) confessing to us (using some Clockwork Orange style narration) about a fairly traumatic event from his past where he was 'fucked over by demons.' From there, we see him and his girlfriend Sammy (Pollyanna Rose) head into an abandoned asylum where they drop acid and fool around. Sammy sits in a chair and Nick sees that same chair react to her by basically brutally murdering her. Of course, Nick is the prime suspect as no one else is around and he's stoned out of his gourd and yammering about a chair, so they lock him up in a mental hospital for a while.

Some time later, Nick is released into the custody of a shrink named Dr. Willard (David Gant) who wants to get to the bottom of what really happened to Sammy that night in the old asylum. He gathers up some of his students and takes them, along with Nick, back to the asylum where it all hit the fan. Once they get there, however, they realize that there are many things that they don't understand about this place and that the only one who can help them is good old Nick, how is having problems distinguishing reality from whatever is happening upstairs in his twisted mind.

The problem with The Devil's Chair is that it just flat out tries too hard. The film is overdone in pretty much every way possible. The dialogue is so incredibly profanity ridden (and not in the creative Deadwood style that raises it to an art form) that the words soon lose their impact. The violence is the same way. While some of these scenes would pack a serious punch if they'd been dolled out in moderation, when you're bombarded with scene after scene of gratuitous nastiness without any additional character or plot development to back it up, the film loses its point. The film plays around with some interesting ideas and the premise of a drug addled sex binge leading to a hallucinatory supernatural murder is an interesting set up but the picture is edited with so much flash and so little regard to building an actual atmosphere that it's hard to care too much.

If that weren't enough, it's almost impossible to listen to Andrew Howard in this film without instantly thinking of Jason Statham, in fact at times you'd swear it was Statham in the lead. To Howard's credit, this isn't really his fault and he doesn't do a bad job with what is essentially mediocre material. Regardless, his gruff delivery and penchant for muttering don't help things even if he does do a fine job with the more intense last act of the film in terms of screen presence and genuine visible intensity.

In the end, The Devil's Chair feels like an overly long music video. Given Mason's background (he's directed over seventy music videos) that might be unavoidable but the muted antiseptic color palette (a la Saw) and the ridiculous over the top editing make a problematic film even worse by making it ugly to look at. You definitely get the impression that Mason's heart was in the right place, and again, the film has some seriously interesting ideas flying around its muddled storyline, but awarding an A for effort sadly does not result in a particularly good movie.

The Video:

The Devil's Chair arrives on DVD in an anamorphic 1.85.1 widescreen transfer that looks about as good as the source material can allow for. This film isn't supposed to look pretty - there's been some faux grain added to much of it and for most of the picture's running time the colors are intentionally screwy looking. While this is likely an attempt to make the film's look resemble what's happening to the characters and what they're going through at whatever point in the film you happen to be gazing upon, it results in a fairly ugly looking picture. The DVD is fairly well authored in that there aren't any noticeable compression artifacts, print damage or problems with edge enhancement, but again, the film isn't supposed to look pretty - and it doesn't.

The Audio:

Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound tracks are supplied in English, Thai and Spanish while a Dolby 2.0 Surround Mix is provided in French. Optional subtitles are provided in English, French, Thai, Korean, Chinese and Spanish. The opening narration is a bit on the muffled side but once that scene is over with the audio is fine. The soundtrack is a bit on the loud side in a couple of spots but this is the exception and not the rule as usually the levels are properly balanced. There aren't any problems with hiss or distortion to complain about and generally the mix is fine with some nice use of the rear channels to enhance the jump scares and to add atmosphere.

The Extras:

First up is a commentary track that comes courtesy of writer/director Adam Mason and co-writer Simon Boyes. The commentary is in English but subtitles are supplied in Korean and Spanish. These two get along quite well with one another as they talk about what was added to the original version of the film (the opening voice over was added after principal photography was done) as well as what it was like casting the picture and shooting so much of it in a creepy old building. The talk about the effects work, some of the ideas and themes that the film plays around with and about some of the cinematography and camera work used in the film. It's a pretty decent track that proves these guys had their hearts in the right place and put a lot of effort into the production.

Also included is a two part documentary, Blood, Sweat And Fears: The Making Of The Devil's Chair. The first part, Something From Nothing (30:39) covers the ideas behind the film and how the production was put together. The second part, Going For The Kill (26:29) discusses some of the more intense kill scenes that take place in the later part of the picture. Both parts contain plenty of interview clips with Mason and Andrew Howard as well as a few other cast and crewmembers in addition to a bunch of behind the scenes footage.

Rounding out the extras are trailers for some completely unrelated DVDs also available from Sony, some menus, and chapter selection. The trailer for the feature itself is not included, and that's annoying.

Overall:

While it's plenty gory, that doesn't mean it's particularly good. The Devil's Chair is an ugly and obnoxious film and despite an interesting premise and some seriously cool ideas, it's dull. Skip it.

Ian lives in NYC with his wife where he writes for DVD Talk, runs Rock! Shock! Pop!. He likes NYC a lot, even if it is expensive and loud.