No Happy Endings: Kidnapped (2010)

Kidnapped (Secuestrados) (Spain, 2010)
Rating: ***
Starring: Fernando Cayo, Manuela Velles, and Ana Wagener

Though the title's a bit misleading (nobody got kidnapped. Nobody), think of this movie as a study of all things you shouldn't do in a home invasion.

Opening with a man with his head bagged in plastic, blindly stumbling his way to the road before getting hit by an oncoming car. Surviving this, he begged the frightened driver to pull out his phone and call a number. As it turns out, he is the father of a family in danger and whoever have done this to him already made their way inside his house.

Cut to another man driving to his mansion located at the up-top of a gated Madrid community; he's moving there with his wife and his teenage daughter, who are both going through your usual mother-daughter bickering. It's a typical sight for him and things aren't anywhere as out of the ordinary for a usual day. That is until night falls and they came: armed with guns and a sledgehammer, three thugs in balaclavas break into the family's home and hold them all hostage. One of them orders the father to drive a thug out to town and transact every penny the patriarch have in his bank, while the rest stays to keep an eye on their prey. What comes next is a night of survival, where one wrong move can cost anybody's life...

Kidnapped (2010) is a depressing study on fear and tension, wherein everybody's chance of survival is a gamble and only time can tell when and how things will sort out. Putting together one of the most adrenaline-fueled home invasion I've seen, the film's fast pacing gave little dilly-dallying and rushes ahead on delivering the most harrowing things to happen in a household, including rape and oh so many murders. It's really tough to watch, but the movie flows with some frighteningly beautiful cinematography (I mean, split-screen! I love split screens!) and top-notch gore effects (Especially the vase-to-the-face bashing), the net result is a movie that's aiming to cringe and upset, and by the time it comes, it works and doesn't let up.

My only concern about the movie, though, is the execution of its characters; while the man of the house wise-up and do what the thugs are ordering him, the two female leads have pretty much done nothing but run and scream, which is a big no-no when it comes to surviving home invasions. I know the victims are scared and possibly lined up for murder but could they at least try and think up a calm plan to live through the night? I've read that the director wanted a realistic fright flick, but seeing two women blindly running through the house kinda steps on a borderline between realistic and cliched fiction horror, although I guess you could always say not everybody can think as calmly as possible when at the mercy of some guy with a gun, and there's gonna be those people who will act out of instinct. Which explains the gallons of blood...

And as the entire movie forces its audience to endure the hysterics the film dwells in, it all boils down to an intense final act and a closing that shouts nihilism and bodycount. Whether you like it or not, it may leave you something to ponder about once the ending credits starts, a feel of emptiness or catharsis perhaps. One thing is certain and that it will divide viewers to either appalled haters or intrigued fans.

You can say Kidnapped (2010) done what it's supposed to do as a home invasion thriller; despite a couple of flaws, it still taps that anxiety of bad folks breaking into your house, only this one went on an extra mile with some slasher flick influence. (Masked men chasing folks in their own house?) If you love to scare yourself with thinly-plotted home invader horror flicks, you can't pass this one!

Bodycount:
1 male had his throat cut with kitchen knife
1 male had his head bashed to a pulp with a ceramic weight
1 male bashed with a sledgehammer
1 female shot on the face
1 male shot on the head
1 female repeatedly knifed in the gut
Total: 6