October 20th

Sheltered (2010) directed by Josh Stoddard

I think I just found the one good movie in that $5 Highway to Hell Collection I bought. Just on production values alone, this movie's galaxies beyond the other two films I've watched in the set. Competent acting, professional-looking lighting, the sound is actually audible and free of hiss, and some imaginative editing; in this set, it doesn't take much to impress me.

Storywise, the film isn't particularly special. It has a bit of a Psycho riff, with a crazy-but-normal-looking guy running a bar in the middle of nowhere who invites a group of young folks to take shelter from a storm in his house. As they party in his house, the bar owner slowly loses control and begins to kill his guests. Along the way, we learn more about how he came to be the way he is. It's all fairly predictable and drags on a little longer than it should, but Gerald Downey's strong performance as the killer keeps things interesting.

One bit that I thought was fantastic, however, was a flashback to the killer Joey's childhood. After breaking into Joey's house and killing his parents, a killer sits next to Joey and has a conversation. The killer intuits that Joey is like him deep inside and they talk about "the voices" that they both hear whispering to them. It's an intense scene, reminding me a little of Frailty in its depiction of madness.