Macabre...ish Horror Review: Die

Die, 2012/94 min.

 

 

 

A suicidal man (Stephen McHattie) takes out a die and demands his son, Jacob, roll it. After the boy rolls a three. He then demands his son return to bed and takes out bullets and a revolver, puts the gun to his head and pulls the trigger.

 

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Six struggling, self destructive people, among them is a cop (Elias Koteas) and a wife with a gambling problem. They all wake up  to find themselves imprisoned in a strange facility, in individual glass cells, with no idea how they got there or why they’re there.

 

A mysterious man (John Pyper-Ferguson) emerges and takes two of the men out of their cells and takes them over to a table with a case holding a dice and a revolver. 

One of them is restrained to a chair, the other must cast the die. He rolls one, one bullet goes into the gun, the cylinder is spun and he is ordered to shoot the other man.

 

The other captives look on in horror.

 

Later the remains are found by the police, a millionaire dressed like a beggar, propped up in front of his own building. 

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These people are being held captive for the purpose of subjecting them to trials, an experiment where they are forced to decide each other’s fate over a game of dice. 

 

Each of them have one thing in common, they’ve all attempted suicide and failed and now they will each decide, life or death for another captive.

 

One has met their captive before. He’s engaging, soft spoken and friendly. The gambler, Lisa (Emily Hampshire) recognizes him. She won a lot of money from him and quickly squandered it at the casino. 

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Each game is slightly different and is based on each of their preferred method of attempted suicide. And whether or not the victim lives or dies is based solely on chance. Either way, life or death, the victim is released after their game. 

 

This Canadian thriller was directed by Dominic James. The cinematography is dark and stylized, sometimes oppressive, it sets the tone well for the subject matter. Lots of flashbacks and back story. It’s graphic and violent. Story and concept are pretty good.