What Lives in Room 214? is a short surreal horror film, written and directed by Brandon Rice (Bluefin). Its 52 minute runtime may be short, but I believe it still counts as a feature film. I think I once read somewhere that 45 minutes is when a short becomes a feature, but I may well be mistaken!. The title of this film intrigued me, what indeed would turn out to live in room 214?
Cory King (Adam Joseph Turner) is an actor who has recently became a local celebrity in a small town where he was the star of a well-loved indie film. Enjoying his fame, Cory has decided to stay in the town, living in a corner room at a small motel. He had hoped that a close personal friend of his would come join him at the town, but she appears like she won't do that. One evening after going to an exclusive party, Cory returns to his motel room where bizarre things start happening. People inexplicably vanish, and a producer he met (Timothy J. Cox - Protanopia) is now the manager of the motel and refutes having ever known Cory. Most alarming, Cory discovers he is literally unable to leave the motel, a strange force preventing the man from taking the steps needed to exit. Months pass and Cory, trapped at the motel, passes the day by watching the same looping TV program on the only channel that works. Slowly, the man begins to go insane, seeing no way out of his situation.
I had a feeling that I was going to leave What Lives in Room 214? very confused, and indeed I did. This was very surreal and relied on dream logic to blend together its scenes. Cory spends the first half of the movie relatively happy, even if his insistence that he is well loved doesn't feel reciprocated from the inhabitants. The second half of the film turns into more of a nightmare, a feeling that the man is trapped somewhere outside of time and space. Some really weird scenes, best of which was some strange poker game that Cory finds himself randomly playing. I loved the back and forth between two of the poker players here, so strange, but also a lot of fun with their snappy dialogue. As an aside, I was a fan of the scene transition effect that looked like the film's film was burning up
The horror begins in earnest with this second half, which sees the film arrive at the present (an unravelling Cory laying on his motel room floor). There wasn't much done to explain things to the viewer, but I eventually put together something in my mind that I was kind of satisfied with. Without really knowing what was meant to be happening, I still enjoyed this. Cory was an entertaining if clueless protagonist, and I liked the conversations he got into with other characters. Highlight of this was the interaction with a comically aggressive neighbour at the motel.
What Lives in Room 214? was a strange one, and I know this review doesn't do it justice. To be honest, I watched most the film while waiting at a train station, and the subsequent review was written while I was on the train travelling home. Not the most ideal way to experience a movie, and was all a bit of an accident. What Lives in Room 214? is a low budget indie bizarro nightmare. The film maintained my attention throughout, even if I can't truthfully say I understood it very well.
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