Corridor, The (2011)
Drew Tinnin
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Starring Matthew Amyotte, Nigel Bennett, and Stephen Chambers
Written by Josh MacDonald
Directed by Evan Kelly
If you’ve done your homework as a horror fan, accepting an invitation to a cabin in the middle of nowhere to catch up with some old friends is probably something you might think about turning down. Unfortunately, the four middle-aged men in Evan Kelly’s The Corridor hardly think twice before making the trek up to a remote location for some much needed male bonding – and they really should know better.
Granted, friends Bobcat (Matthew Amyote), Lee (Nigel Bennett), and Everett (James Gilbert) are a tad reluctant to join their troubled childhood friend Tyler (Stephen Chambers) for the weekend after being attacked by him as his dead mother lays on the ground in a crazed sequence that opens the film.
As they meet for the first time since that violent confrontation, Tyler assures his friends – who are now scarred physically from the attack – that he has recovered his mental capacity and is taking medication he calls “blockers” to ensure another incident never takes place again. Watching old VHS tapes of Bobcat’s High School football glory days, the old dynamic begins to return, and it looks like these guys might actually benefit from the reunion. That’s until the still unstable Tyler ventures out into the woods to discover a strange, other-worldly force field – the mysterious energy forms a box around its subject and causes an immediate nosebleed as its signal amplifies.
To Tyler’s amazement and relief, his counterparts experience the phenomenon as well. As all four step into its path, the box becomes a long hallway, and they all suddenly become psychically connected to each other. Their thoughts become linked, and as a sharp descent into madness begins, Tyler – who remains sane because of his medication which blocks the signal – fears that his diseased mind has been unlocked and shared with his mates.
Instead of an evening pow-wow that may have culminated in relationship building and trust, the group’s reconciliation becomes a graphic display of torture-turned-therapy where scalping and rock, paper, scissors with guns become the new psychology.
As things become even darker, Tyler begins to find a connection between his mother’s insanity and his own, revealing this mysterious energy in the woods might be the root cause. The mystery remains shrouded in The Corridor, but one interpretation allows the movie and its themes to center around coming to terms with the death of a loved one. Tyler, through no fault of his own, has a very troubled and twisted mind, and the unique experience of encountering The Corridor allows him to process his guilt and his grief in spectacular fashion.
The Corridor may keep you guessing, but there are enough clues to piece together what the purpose of The Corridor is, even if the events that unfold never unveil exactly what it is. The dynamic between the actors, the graphic but controlled violence, and the psychedelic, sci-fi wonderment of The Corridor make it well worth your time.
3 out of 5
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