CHAINED

"Chained" is a taxing movie. It will suck the life out of you and leave you empty. Those are words of praise, by the way. It's described as a psychological thriller but it plays much more like a sadistic horror. Vincent D'Onofrio plays a serial killer who butchers women almost nightly and buries them beneath his house. He lives on an open plain, isolated from anyone within earshot. He drives a taxi and selects only the right (female) passengers as victims. The story begins when he captures and mother and her 9 year old son. The woman is killed immediately and he keeps the boy as a servant. "This is your life" he tells the child. And so many years pass and as the boy grows older he is groomed and initiated into the world of killing. He witnesses brutal and disgusting slaughters... and that is all I will give you. It's obviously dark and twisted and Vincent D'Onofrio delivers a belter of a performance. He's brilliant. Director Jennifer Lynch's first film was the infamous Boxing Helena and she has only reemerged over the past few years with a few more movies and she's finally starting to shake off the whole "David Lynch's daughter" stigma. She's proving to be a talented filmmaker and Chained is possibly her best. The title does suck though and both she and D'Onofrio fought to have it released as "Rabbit" (the boy's slave name). While the title "Rabbit" is too closely associated with her dad's work, surely some other title would have suited the film better. Regardless this is worth your time. Nasty good!

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