"The Black Room" starts out at a very good pace and puts the audience into the action from the very beginning. Personally I do like that, especially since sitting for close to an hour whilst the movie is Building up atmosphere and setting the scene can be somewhat tedious. So being through right into the action is always a refreshing change of pace for a horror movie.
The intro sequence, I must take a moment to address that, because it was so out of place with the rest of the movie. Especially because it felt more like a 1970s psychedelic hallucinatory dream high on drugs, and topped off with some odd disco-inspired upbeat music. But about 45 minutes or so into the movie, then that intro actually makes sense.
The effects in "The Black Room" were rather impressive, and visually they were quite convincing. So the special effects and CGI effects team really did a good job in bringing the effects to life on the screen. But the scene where Paul was getting electrocuted in the basement was not the most convincing of scenes due to the questionable effects.
Personally I don't really get the whole thing with hands reaching out from the back for the characters in the movie repeatedly. It was okay the first and second time, but kind of got a bit too repetitive after that.
There is a focus on sexual tones in "The Black Room", which was done adequately enough without crossing the threshold and slipping into being sleazy. But taking into consideration that the movie does deal with a demonic incubus entity, the sexual undertones of the movie do make good enough sense.
"The Black Room" actually has some pretty good names to the cast ensemble. Sure, this is not Oscar winning material, but if you have watched horror movies before, then you should be more than familiar with the likes of Lin Shaye, Dominique Swain and Natasha Henstridge. Lin Shaye had a very small role to play in "The Black Room", which was a shame, because she usually brings a lot to a movie with her mere presence. Natasha Henstridge actually carried the movie quite well, and it was nice to see her back in the horror genre. It was also quite a hoot to see James Duval making an appearance in this movie, despite also only being in a minor role.
Once the movie takes on a possession aspect, there is also an element of comedy added to the movie, which actually sat quite well with the other aspects of the movie. Especially since the comedy was subtle and quite well used.
While this is listed as a horror movie, it is not the type of horror movie that will leave the audience trembling with dread and fear. It is an entertaining enough movie for what it was, but there are better choices if you prefer to be scared witless. "The Black Room" is, however, a rather different kind of horror movie and one that actually was entertaining enough for what it turned out to be.
