A sweaty, paranoid man (Michael Eklund as Ryan James) suddenly finds himself in a deserted underground parking garage, (or parkade as the characters call it) the seeming victim of vengeful supernatural forces. Grudgingly coming clean to cops who pull James in on a series of fatal drug overdoses, the dealer weaves a mad yarn involving Satanic abduction and judgment for himself and a select group of sinners. What's certain is that more people have died mysteriously than the dealer might account for, as James and oddly pensive Detective Porhowski (Sarah-Jane Redmond) are inexorably pulled into a web involving trial by forces from the darker side of the Bible.

Needlessly touting a plot 'inspired by true events,' The Entrance transmogrifies centuries-old religious fear-mongering fables into a story that would stand alone fine without the 'reality' hype. We're not talking about Ted Bundy or even the facts that inspired Blatty to write The Exorcist, at the end of the day the conceit is almost boilerplate; sinners are mysteriously captured, tormented and killed. Clearly the idea is an old one, and it keeps moving through the years, resulting most notably now in the grueling Saw franchise. But The Entrance wisely eschews the high-concept gimmickry and gore of Saw for straight creep-outs, atmosphere and ambiguity.

Featuring some fine performances, most notably the truly disturbing 'parkade' janitor, (Ron Sauve) The Entrance takes itself and the intelligence of its viewers seriously. Little is spelled out for you except some giveaway symbolism; characters are complex, and neither the dealer nor the cop is particularly likable or sympathetic. Their very disagreeableness somewhat blocks entrance to the movie, actually, but a disturbing air of nighttime desolation and hopelessness will surely appeal to viewers ready for something more than the usual pandering fare.

What the movie earns in sincerity, however, it loses by squandering dread upon a few cheap jump-scares involving a demonic tormentor, a trope that flies (literally) counter to the show-nothing ethos of the rest of the film. When sinners are inevitably punished, a faceless force exacts revenge that will remind long-in-the-tooth fans of those Maxell cassette ads from the '80s - an invisible crushing force that blows your hair and throws you back into the wall. It's nice once-in-a-while to not see someone's face ripped off by a bear trap, but this bleak, deserted landscape calls out for the slow burn chills of the better Japanese horror films (Ringu, Kairo) from the last ten years.

Suddenly at the 75-minute mark, The Entrance slams shut with a resounding but unsatisfying thud, fueling as much enjoyable speculation as WTF head scratching. Laudable for taking the high road, creating a black atmosphere on the cheap, and pulling uniformly fine performances from its actors, The Entrance sadly falls short in a few categories. A grim mood loses punch when scares come from easy jolts and devilish punishment looks like getting shocked by a giant hairdryer. Less damning but still disappointing (given the overall quality of The Entrance) is the ambiguous muddle at the end, a climax during which a number of possibilities are left murky or are so shrouded as to be completely unseen. For your DTV rental dollar, you can do a little better, or far, far worse, so if punishment's your game, give The Entrance a try, just don't expect to leave the courtroom with a neat little verdict.

The DVD

Video:
A 16 x 9 widescreen presentation (1.78:1 ratio) for The Entrance looks pretty good. Stylish cinematography highlights some great atmospheric locations, atmosphere that is further enhanced by the color scheme, which is on the washed-out, blue-tinged side of the spectrum. The image is a tiny bit soft, but no film grain or damage is evident. I didn't notice any edge enhancement, and compression artifacts are limited to some instances of heavy noise reduction use (parts of the image seeming to move independently of each other) during a few darker scenes featuring medium close-ups of actors' faces. This is the most annoying digital glitch in my book, so it certainly earns a few 'dingy marks,' as my math teacher Mr. Howard used to say.

Sound:
Taking into account my set-speakers only set up, the English Dolby Digital 5.1 Audio track is quite nice. No conflict between dialog and the evocative soundtrack occurs, while that soundtrack - and the heavily atmospheric sound effects - are superbly presented. The spooky whooshing noises and gothic choral songs nicely enveloped me in lush and distressing fashion.

Extras:
Closed Captioning, and Optional English and Spanish Subtitles satisfy a few needs-based extras (it's my new classification) along with good old Chapter Selections and the usual gaggle of Previews for other Lionsgate releases, most of which look far more flashy and insulting than The Entrance. The only substantive extra is a 16 minute The Making of The Entrance Featurette, which is a bit by the numbers; somewhere between an EPK and a real behind-the-scenes document. Standard tales of working on an extremely limited budget and dealing with the vagaries of development reveal some whys and wherefores behind the leanness and ambiguity of The Entrance, which is of interest.

Final Thoughts:
Taking the notion of divinely administered penitence, (a story as old as the hills) The Entrance pours on dour atmosphere, divulging no easy answers while refusing to take the horror fan for granted. Unfortunately we really want a few answers, (at least during the final minutes) and we want some of that atmosphere to translate into genuine fear, instead of only being jerked out of our seats by a few sudden slam-bang gotchas. But considering the rafts of DTV horror clogging our retinas with derivative, insulting crud, the eerie, intelligent horror of The Entrance is a welcome change. When scanning row upon row of questionable fear fare, soon as you happen upon The Entrance I'll jump out of a neighboring aisle and scream Rent It!

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