Logical inversion is a free powerful plot trick. Typically, filmmakers take any familiar situation, a cliched storyline or a genre stamp and turn it upside down, less often reverse the story or change the viewing angle. But Vincenzo Natalie exceeded all expectations during the creation, at first glance, of an ordinary mystical thriller, because the plot in it was told on behalf of an otherworldly essence - ghosts. The film "Limb" received diverse reviews, its IMDb rating is 5.90, and the year of release is 2013.
Short storyline
The plot of the film "Limb" introduces the viewer to the main character Lisa (Abigail Breslin), who will be 16 years old the day before. Every day it repeats exactly the previous one, representing an ominous routine ritual. Her brother is obsessed with Pac-Man, her mother is busy cooking, so she sends her daughter to wash the laundry in the basement, and her father fixes the car enthusiastically. It is not surprising that the girl, suspecting something was amiss, understands that the family lives in a circle because she died. At the same time, she hears some strange voices, finds a secret door. And at that moment when it turns out to be very close to a solution, the usual course of their life is disrupted by the appearance of a terrible creature, which they call the Pale (Stephen McHatti). He very eloquently explains to Lisa that you should not stick your nose into other people's affairs. The heroine is convinced that her whole family has been dead for a long time, but on the way to the afterlife they are stuck in some kind of limb-purgatory. Their souls are captured by a brutal serial killer, so they are forced to live their last day again and again.
Some reviewers, leaving reviews of the film "Limb," reproached its plot for secondary purposes, comparing it with The Sixth Sense and other genre examples. But Vincenzo Natalie managed to bring an element of innovation to the well-known topics.
Mystic rebus lover
Despite the fact that all the directorâs most famous works are in many respects similar, they catch immediately, even at the synopsis level, so Vincenzo Natalie has the status of a master of highly conceptual cinema. He specializes in creating thriller-puzzles, for example, "Cube" - about the unfortunate, imprisoned in a mysterious, constantly transforming room, to survive incessantly solving deadly puzzles. Or "Emptiness", in which friends, waking up, discover that the whole world has been swallowed by a blinding snow-white emptiness. In âChimeraâ, ambitious scientists cross the DNA of an animal and a person, as a result a creature appears malicious and aggressive, extremely hostile to any representative of humanity.
Carried away by the concept
And here is the âLimb,â in which the classic story of the ghost house is narrated from the perspective of one of the spirits. In this project, the Canadian visionary realized himself in full measure, he only fragmentarily inserted canonical genre scenes into the narrative, only at the moments of the victimâs clash with something terrifying beyond. Often there is a description of the movie "Limb", which says that the story is spent most of the time from the other world, whose inhabitants through the mirror observe the world of the living. According to the audience, in terms of manipulating the layers of reality and time, âLimbâ is several times greater than the famous âSilent Hillâ.
Plot-changeling
In other reviews, the description of the movie "Limb" is provided in a different focus. Their authors draw the attention of the public to the fact that if you turn the picture back and turn your attention to the history of living heroes, you get a primitive, rich cliche mystical thriller that looks without much enthusiasm. An average American family with two heterosexual children settles in an old mansion that has become a haven for the spirits of a killer maniac and his unfortunate victims - indeed, where is it more banal? But the director, having made a ghost a key character, untied his hands. As a result, he boldly added to the story a non-trivial expositional act of âawakeningâ Lisa from an eternal routine and an attempt to figure out what is happening to her and her family. It is because of this, according to critics in the reviews, the movie âLimbâ simultaneously resembles any horror film about haunted houses (a girl explores the secret corners of a building) and the legendary âNightmare on Elm Streetâ, because death is essentially the longest dream, from which you canât wake up, and every step of the heroine is closely watched by the ominous owner of the house, arising, as if from nowhere, at the most inappropriate moments.
When the story reaches its climax, the real and other worlds merge together, so that the climax of the battle with the monster as a whole does not shine with originality. But a consolation, as the reviews of the film "Limb" say, will be an incomprehensibly touching and light epilogue.
Acting Ensemble
The actors of the film "Limb" are carefully and tastefully selected. Not stars of the first magnitude, but professionals in their field.
The main role is played by Abigail Breslin. In 2007, at the age of ten, Abigail was nominated for an Oscar for excellence in the film Little Miss Happiness. A barely lit star realized its chance, passed the test of fame at a young age and is now being actively removed. Before âLimbâ, she starred in the comedy horror âWelcome to Zombielandâ, itâs hard not to remember her heroine.
In the work, Vincenzo Natalie made his character incredibly spectacular Stephen McHattie. His otherworldly murderer looks amazing in every scene. The filmography of the actor includes a lot of blockbusters, among which are âKeepersâ, â300 Spartansâ, âFountainâ and others. Its appearance, including its wrinkled face, the famous squint, look appropriate in the western, in the action movie, and in the horror. It is a pity that he does not shoot as often as the audience would like.
It would be worthwhile to note the performer of the role of the father of the family Peter Outerbridge, who had previously starred in the sixth âSawâ, âSteep Turnsâ and later in the movie âLucky Number Slevinâ. At Limba he played professionally, realistically and convincingly.
Cultural flirting
Despite the fact that, according to many experts, the movie "Limb" does not draw on a work of genre art, the film is interesting for its originality. And in the person of Abigail Breslin, the director found the perfect protagonist, and a really creepy villain came out of Stephen McHatti. Therefore, as a result of the pros, the film is much more than the minuses.