A surprisingly good movie…
If anyone has seen New Terminal Hotel then you’ve basically seen Do Not Disturb, because they are the same film, from what I can tell. I haven’t seen New Terminal Hotel but I just watched the trailer and it looks almost identical, but I think it’s been recut and shortened. Beyond that I couldn’t say, but whatever has been done has worked, making this is a very good horror, with appealing characters but some iffy performances by one or two cast members, however, everything else is solid. A lot of the film is played out in a sort of off tempo, skewed manner, where the outside world doesn’t really exist, and is seen through the eyes of a man who has been robbed of everything he loved. His revenge takes the form of removing minor organs from the victim, but even though he does so callously he’s clearly a decent man who has snapped.
I haven’t seen Stephen Geoffreys in anything other than Fright Night, when he played the wonderful Evil Ed character, and you can’t help see his old self come through in his role of Don Malek. His almost lethargic style suited his character well, and was really a display of how well he can do when in the right situation. Not award winning by any means, but great for the low-budget horror scene, and I see he has a couple of projects on at the moment, so perhaps he’s ready to do more movies which is good news for his fans.
Click here for the poster and cast list
The lovely queen of scream, Tiffany Shepis plays Ava Collins, Don’s agent and also a character who inadvertently becomes a very willing participant in his acts of extreme violence. She believes in Don’s writing but keeps on at him to start writing again. Corey Haim plays a barfly with an accent that shifts from British to American but never settling on either, which was pretty weird. It may have served a purpose in New Terminal Hotel but in this case it’s just plain odd. His acting looked ok, if a bit forced.
*****
Don Malek is a writer, who fell in love with an actress. The actress met up with a movie studio head, Stanley, who ends up on trial for her murder. He is eventually cleared, but Don wants revenge for what’s happened, then moves to really seedy neighborhood, claiming he’s going there for the ambiance, but in reality he is planning his revenge. Don has a crazy, very loud and obnoxious neighbor who he must contend with, and after the second murder, a cop starts to ask Don questions, and things really heat up after he’s caught on tape with the first victim.
The music was something of a letdown in one or two of the scenes, but on the whole, it worked very well. The production values were understandably not the best but the film never felt cheap. Overall the acting was better than a lot of horrors but as previously mentioned, there were a couple of the guys who were a touch wooden with their deliveries and ultimately unconvincing. That asides, I really did enjoy this horror and I’m glad Corey’s last movie was at least good. Definitely worthy of recommendation.