What a cruel demented movie this is, from the same distributors as "Wolves in the Snow", one of my favorite thrillers this year without a doubt. This Australian movie is much different, as it is about a man, Steve, celebrating his birthday. His morning starts with happy birthday stuff from his lovely family and his pretty wife Alexandra. But before leaving for work, his Wife tells him her main birthday present for him will be when he returns from work. He goes to work thinking everything is rosy, has a great day, they have a surprise party for him, and then he gets called in and receives a promotion. WOW, Steve is definitely having a great birthday, and he still has his lovely Wife's surprise gift to look forward to. When he arrives home, everything is dark, all the light bulbs have been removed, nobody is in sight, not his children, not his Wife, nobody. Furniture has been turned upside down, and Steve is still thinking Alexandra is playing a cute little joke on him and searches around his home, but finds nothing UNTIL!!!! In one room, he finds a package from his wife with a videotape inside, with a label that says "play me". His easy chair is all ready for him, with a VCR and television waiting. When he starts playing the tape, his Wife gives him a happy birthday message, and then goes into a slow strip tease for him, and Steve is smiles from ear to ear. BUT, things go rapidly downhill from there, and before long, Steve is starting to wish this whole thing is a bad nightmare. Steve gets subjected to remorse, deception and revenge, and then even a bigger shock, as the tape stops, but the video feed continues revealing that the next portion is indeed live, and he is locked in his house. This is a one of a kind psycho-sexual thriller, and I have never seen a movie like this before, and it had me mesmerized to say the least. It goes all the way from being highly erotic, to down right as mean spirited as hell. The studio that is putting these movies out, is the first to release award winning movies at theaters and on DVD at the same time. And based on the only two I have seen so far, the movies are remarkable. The subscription service is located at www.filmmovement.com , and definitely deserves attention.
