Review: I’m not even honestly sure where to begin with this film. It’s horror, it’s an examination of the psychological aspects of a serial killer, it’s a father-son story, it’s so many things wrapped up into one delicious film that I feel like I could watch it again and again and still find new things to pull out of it. Starring Vincent D’Onofrio, Chained takes a close look what makes serial killers tick.
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| Grow-your-own-serial-killer, patent coming soon. |
It all starts
when a boy and his mother are dropped off by the boy’s father for a day at the
movies. The father insists that they take a cab when they go home, as he’s off
to go to work. This well-intentioned suggestion turns into a nightmare when the
cab driver who picks them up decides to take the boy and his mother home with
him, changing the boy’s life forever as he watches the man drag his mother from
the cab. The last sight the boy ever has of his mother is of her screaming and
fighting her attacker. Her screams echo from within the confines of the house,
as the boy is left locked in the cab, awaiting his own fate.
Thus we meet
Rabbit, who will become the adopted son of Bob, D’Onofrio’s character. It’s
never quite clear why Bob chooses to keep and raise Rabbit, though it could be
as simple as a human being’s longing for immortality through their children.
Rabbit tries to escape in the first week he is kept at Bob’s house, so for the
majority of his life he is kept on a long chain that only allows him to move
about the one-story home’s small space. He is then subjected to a long series
of women that Bob brings home, rapes, tortures, and then murders. The
relationship between the two is just astounding. Bob, little by little, comes
to see Rabbit as more than just some kind of pet – he’s a living human being,
and just maybe he can take after his “old man.”
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| Cause, I mean, why wouldn't you want to take after the man who killed your mother and is hold you hostage? |
We also get
flashbacks of Bob’s life, giving us an inkling of how he became the monster
that he is today. It’s sort of enough to
make him a sympathetic character, but all too quickly we are brought back to
the reality of the person that he is – and knowing his past does not at all
absolve him of his present crimes, especially not when he attempts to force
Rabbit into taking a woman’s life as well. Rabbit does what he can to try and
pacify everyone, because he honestly doesn’t have a mean bone in his body.
Where abuse turned Bob into a murderer and abuser, it has the opposite effect
on Rabbit: he instead has become a passive entity who would rather curl up and
disappear than hurt another living being.
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| Temptation is one thing that Rabbit is very good at avoiding, even when its in his face. |
Overall, the
film is incredibly powerful, especially when it comes to the climax and the twist in the ending. Of course there’s a twist! Did you really think it
was going to be that straight forward? Hello, this film comes from the daughter
of David Lynch. It was never going to be simple and straight forward. The
chemistry between D’Onofrio and Eamon Farren (Rabbit) is indescribable.
Honestly, D’Onofrio carries the whole film, but it would definitely fall flat
if the actor playing his son didn’t live up to expectations either and Farren
fills Rabbit’s shoes perfectly. It’s really difficult to see anyone else in
either role. This is an excellent film and should be on any horrorphile's favorites list.
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