Last Breath (2010)

Director: Ty Jones

Writer: Ty Jones

Composer: Vincent Gillioz

Starring: Mandy Bannon, James Brink, Jeff East, Meagan Flynn, Nate Foxworthy, Shelly Jennings, Ty Jones, Aaron Laue, Ryan Lefebvre, Trevor Martin, Aleh Neliubin, Alex Neustaedter, C.J. Newton

More info: IMDb

Tagline: Hold onto yours

Plot: A husband and wife, whose marriage is built on shifting sand, find themselves imprisoned by a sadistic killer - forced to make choices that will ultimately determine their family's survival or demise.

My rating: 6.5/10

Will I watch it again? No.

This one had me perplexed for a little bit.  Once things get going early on, it looks like it's going to be another SAW (2004) clone but then it goes in its own direction.  The ending elevates the picture quite a bit.  I REALLY liked the ending...a lot.  The husband and wife (Tina (Bannon) and Michael (Jones)) are tortured for a while and they're trussed up in a SAW-like manner, not knowing (like the viewer) what the hell is going on and who is this man that's causing this. But then something happens to the antagonist that gives reason to think that it might be something else.  Now it gets a little saccharine-y at the end just before the several minute, highly emotion explanation.  That part had me thinking this is some subversive Christian film which, hooray for them for sneaking that in, would cheapen the film as a whole (on one hand). But it's not that and I was happy for it.  I still suspect that religion is behind it.  It's a well-shot film and I'm disappointed by the low IMDb rating but I'm not all that surprised.   The pacing is fine and there's some gore for the horror fans.  It's a shame this is Jones' sole feature as director.  Cinematographer Jeremy Osbern has quite a lot of credits racked up.  The Shriek Show DVD presents the film in anamorphic widescreen and the extras include a commentary track, deleted scenes (5 minutes), audition footage (12 minutes), a behind the scenes featurette (12 minutes), an intro from the director (6 minutes), the trailer (anamorphic widescreen) and trailers for other films (7 minutes).