A badly written, poorly directed and appallingly acted mess.
Captivity (2007)
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Reviews Counted:71
Fresh:5
Rotten:66
Average Rating:2.7/10
Consensus: Lacking scares or psychological insight, Captivity is a distasteful entry in the 'torture porn' subgenre.
Rated: 18 [See Full Rating] for strong violence, torture, pervasive terror, grisly images, language and some sexual material.
Runtime: 1 hr 38 mins
Genre: Horror/Suspense
Theatrical Release:22-06-2007
Synopsis: Top cover girl and fashion model, Jennifer Tree (ELISHA CUTHBERT) has it all - beauty, fame, money and power. Her face appears on covers of hundreds of magazines. At the top of her game, Jennifer... Top cover girl and fashion model, Jennifer Tree (ELISHA CUTHBERT) has it all - beauty, fame, money and power. Her face appears on covers of hundreds of magazines. At the top of her game, Jennifer is America's sweetheart. She is loved and adored and sought after. Everyone wants her. But someone out there has been watching and waiting. Someone wants her in the worst way. Out alone at a charity event in Soho, Jennifer is drugged and taken. Held captive in a cell, Jennifer is subjected to a series of terrifying, life-threatening tortures that could only be conceived by a twisted, sadistic mind. Inspired by the fact that over 850,000 are reported missing every year in the United States, many of whom are never seen again, CAPTIVITY follows the story of one woman who is abducted and tortured, held against her will in a place where days turn into weeks. Her will to escape and survive is challenged every moment by a maniac's desire to demoralize innocent victims and play out his sick game that has been played many times before Jennifer was taken. A combination of SAW and HOSTEL meets SILENCE OF THE LAMBS, CAPTIVITY is a psychological thriller/horror film that shows us the true terror of the crimes of abduction and confinement that are committed every day by serial killers and psychopaths at large. Directed by acclaimed filmmaker Roland Joffe (THE KILLING FIELDS, THE MISSION), CAPTIVITY delves deeply into the minds of both captor and victim with a fresh and terrifying view of this epidemic horror. Being released this summer in theatres nation-wide, CAPTIVITY has been called one of the most controversial films of the year. It's a disturbing and raw, yet classy and thought provoking film which will leave you terrified, and looking over your shoulder as you leave the theatre wondering if you could be next. --© After Dark Films [More]
Starring: Elisha Cuthbert, Pruitt Taylor Vince, Laz Alonso, Daniel Gillies
Starring: Elisha Cuthbert, Pruitt Taylor Vince, Laz Alonso, Daniel Gillies, Michael Harney, Mark Damon
Director: Roland Joffé
Director: Roland Joffé
Screenwriter: Larry Cohen, Joseph Tura
Producer: Mark Damon
Composer: Marco Beltrami
Studio: After Dark Films
Reviews for Captivity
Larry Cohen, an experienced horror hand, wrote this, and Joffé does his best to keep the tension boiling up to a ridiculous climax. Even so, everybody involved should be ashamed of this nasty farrago.
Veteran writer Larry Cohen has shown a knack for claustrophobic thrillers (Phone Booth), but this tawdry effort is almost entirely lacking in stealth and suspense.
With only hunky Daniel Gillies on hand to offer help and essential hair products, the question is can her career survive such a lame script? In a word, no.
It flunks because it’s one of the daftest, dullest films I’ve seen in an absolute age.
Like Black Snake Moan, this is a film where poster campaign proves more provocative than content.
Captivity is an abomination, and perhaps a new low in the torture-porn genre: a film I liked even less than Hostel.
The film itself is a very sorry and unthrilling piece of nastiness, peddling some pretty crass nonsense about what it imagines to be female psychology.
Roland Joffé's feeble attempt to swing with the latest horror-flick fashion for gratuitous sensation is embarrassing
A film of two halves, while the first is original, bleak and psychologically disturbing, the second couldn't be more conventional if it tried. By the end, we're the ones feeling like we've been drugged and duped - into watching this nonsense.
Joffe and his screenwriter Larry Cohen deserve a little credit for pointing up the psychological horrors where they can, but Captivity is still a grubby, exploitative film with an extremely guessable twist and universally dull performances.
The film’s clunky point-of-view shift and obviously re-shot climax are likely to have you choking in disbelief.
Torture junkies should remember it’s only four months to Saw IV -- so you can afford to avoid Captivity.
Does exactly what it says on the tin, grabbing viewers unawares and keeping them in its thrall for an hour and a half of non-stop, heart-pounding exploitation kicks.
[Joffe] makes us almost willing to overlook the unspeakable sadism of the first half -- but no, it’s asking too much.
Without even calling into question the morals of a film which seems to exist only to depict the suffering of multiple women through hideous tortures, the film is still an empty mess, offering only a minor afterthought of an explanation to who is doing the
This rank-and-file entry in the new brutality (directed by an obviously disinterested Roland Joffé) is just a snooze.
Inexplicável, como o director de A Missão pode ser também o responsável por este filme vazio, estúpido e repleto de momentos acidentalmente hilários em função de sua imbecilidade.
Latest News for Captivity
January 22, 2008:
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December 19, 2007:
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The poster submitted by ThinkFilm for Taxi to the Dark Side -- the Alex Gibney documentary opening January 11 -- has been rejected by the MPAA. More...
August 09, 2007:
Box Office Guru Preview: Chan and Tucker Back in Action
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July 20, 2007:
Larry Cohen Plans Remakes of It's Alive, Black Caesar, and The Stuff
Long before he wrote movies like "Phone Booth," "Cellular," and (ugh) "Captivity," filmmaker Larry Cohen was making horror movies about killer babies. And (guess what?) he just... More...
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