Caught Inside

"Caught Inside" (2010) is an Australian psychological thriller about a group of surfers who sail to a remote island paradise for vacation. A couple of women join the expedition at the last moment and a series of events turns the holiday into a torturous adventure.

What I liked about this film, aside from the professional fimmaking and paradisical locations (Maldives), was the realism of the story and characters. The film skirts the borders of the slasher genre and I'm sure it was tempting for the writers to have someone morph into Jason Voorhees, but they wisely resisted.

***SPOILER ALERT***

Someone complained about how unbelievable it was at one point when a group of four or five from the expedition "cowardly" put up with the psycho's tormenting antics when he doesn't even have a weapon. But this is where the film shines as a PSYCHOLOGICAL thriller. Bull, the psycho, had gained the upper hand by this point in the story. The others are literally afraid of him and fearing for their lives. They're also in shock since this was supposed to be a paradise surfing vacation. The blond guy with short hair tried to scrap with Bull a couple of times and was easily humbled, not to mention beat up. It's a mental thing. Bull is the king of the mountain at this juncture -- "king" by brute force and arrogance alone. One of the girls, Sam, is anticipating getting raped and who knows what else. The teen dude doesn't know what to do, since he was Bull's little buddy, but now he sees what a total psycho he is. So they're all afraid and considering their options. No doubt they're thinking of ganging up on him, but they simply don't have it in them at this moment, so they endure his tormenting antics. They're also waiting for the right opportunity when their chances of success are best.

I didn't find this unbelievable at all; in fact, I found it very realistic.

***END SPOILER***

If you like films like the excellent "Dead Calm" (1989), be sure to check out "Caught Inside." It's not as good, but it comes respectfully close.

By the way, the Australian accents are thick so I recommend using the subtitles.

The film runs 93 minutes.

GRADE: B+

Couldn't watch last 20 minutes when everything becomes anti-climactic. Potentially good plot becomes implausible. Pity because setting and acting are good. Main problem is our credulity at group's incompetence or their pacifity when confronted with main character's villainy. I'd have loved to support this more as the actors do their best in a unique setting but the script let them down. Comparable to the much better Dead Calm.

Caught Inside is a taught psychological thriller set on a Surfing Safari in the Maldives with a thought provoking script that revolves around a central character who is not unlike Max Cady from Cape Fear.

Director Adam Blaiklock and the crew spent a month or so in the Maldives filming Caught Inside. From the outset a requirement was that the actors were all competent surfers and the surfing scenes are all shot with realism. The story is cleverly and quietly developed with moments of real suspense and surprise that make the audience gasp.

Ben Oxenbould plays Bull, at first glance popular with his peers, a larrikin who can charm anyone when he wants to. However we soon learn that he has a dark side. He has issues with women and anyone who disagrees with him and his disturbing sociopathic tendencies cannot be hidden in the confined spaces of the vessel.

He uses his strength as an intimidation to others but, interestingly, never takes on the Captain played by Peter Phelps. It is not clear whether this is due to some past incident, his respect for authority or the fact that the skipper might be stronger than him but anyone else who crosses his path is fair game.

Despite the fact that the Captain laid out the ground rules at the beginning of the trip, it becomes evident that the cruise participants are on their own – miles from anywhere. No one can help. This plays into Bull's hands as his manic tendencies become obvious. There are subtle hints that he has shown this type of behaviour before and he becomes more and more menacing and unhinged as the film progresses.

Caught Inside was filmed with a tight budget but it does demonstrate how important it is to base a movie on a great script. The film essentially revolves around Bull and Ben Oxenbould is truly exceptional in the role. He has been known as a comic actor with his performances in Comedy Inc but this film provides him with an opportunity to display a real talent for a complex character role.

In some ways the other actors are incidental to Bull but they are generally all very competent.

It is disappointing that Caught Inside hasn't reached a wider audience. The sad reality these days is that it is very difficult to get wide distribution without major stars and studio backing. Independent film makers face an up hill battle to get their films screened in cinemas.

Highly recommended.

This small-scale, lost –at-sea-with-a-maniac thriller made it's mark in the 'Freak Me Out' genre section of the Sydney Film Festival. A self-funded independent production, it's the confident debut feature from established commercials and short film director, Blaiklock.

This handsomely shot movie looks set to punch beyond its weight There's a yacht-load of good actors – especially the 'Monster' and the 'Damsel In Distress character – and the tense situation is well established with the breathless climax delivering plenty of thrills, though perhaps not as much blood and gore as modern genre fans have come to expect. With Darclight signed as world sales agent and interest coming from international festivals, this handsomely shot movie looks set to punch beyond its weight.

The Hedonist, a beautiful ocean-going yacht, heads for the Maldives Islands in the equatorial Indian Ocean with a party of six Australians on a 12-day chartered cruise of renowned surfing sites at remote islands. The captain (Peter Phelps) reminds them that on board he is the dictator The women holidaymakers are the only non-surfers: practical Alex (Leeanna Walsman) is making a video documentary of the cruise; glamorous Sam (Daisy Betts) is escaping a bad online experience where her privately videoed striptease was leaked to MySpace and scored over a million hits. Standing out from the men is Buill (Ben Oxenbould), a mighty-muscled, lank-haired misfit, at first apparently sweet-natured and helpful, but soon revealed as a sociopath and stalker with a volcanic temper.

Oxenbould is terrific as the King Kong of this island paradise, and Betts is nicely equivocal as the potential victim who sometimes enjoys employing her sexual attraction. A climactic meal scene where the fearsomely calm Bull serves up an uncooked fish is particularly powerful. The actors clearly do their own surfing in some rousing on-and-under-the-waves sequences

A plot is simple.

Surfers went in open sea to enjoy waves while spending some time on a ship.

There is a sex-game here.

Lustful noise irritates the less advantaged on a ship naturally.

To restore a social justice by way and logic too often happened in a real life, strong male made advances to a willing female.

She refused to submit.

He insisted and actions followed.

A bit boring story of behavioural patterns different people exhibit in a space closed.