NINE DEAD is a film entirely derivative of one of the SAW sequels in its storyline of a group of nine strangers who are kidnapped and trapped in a room by a mysterious killer. As he promises to kill the group one by one, they must work together to find out why they've been chosen and how they can hope to free themselves from their terrible situation.This is a B-movie through and through, with a premise that naturally evokes tension let down by some very pedestrian execution. When former SABRINA THE TEENAGE WITCH star Melissa Joan Hart is the best they can do for a big-name star then you know the film is in trouble. Thankfully NINE DEAD avoids going down the 'torture porn' route which is to be commended, but the twists and turns are so resolutely silly that you can't help but be disappointed. The best thing about it? Daniel Baldwin's random, 10 second cameo.

9 people are kidnapped and tied up and told that unless they discover why they are there one of them will be killed every 10 minutes. It's a reasonably familiar tale but it's fun watching them try and discover why they are there. The film features the usual eclectic mix, drug dealer, cops, priest etc. These type of films rely heavily on having interesting characters to watch and although there are plenty of clichés on show, I found the characters pretty entertaining. There isn't any SAW like gore in this film and most of the violence is off screen. I was a bit surprised to see Melissa Joan Hart from Sabrina the Teenage Witch fame in this and she is pretty good in this. The rest of the cast also put in decent believable performances.As the captives piece together the puzzle and the numbers deplete it all winds down a bit to a slightly disappointing climax. The end scene being one of the most abrupt and unexplained I've ever seen. Overall I found this a fairly enjoyable if limited thriller and probably wouldn't rush to watch it again.

SPOILER ALERT! 9 Dead was such a stupid movie! I knew within 20 minutes of the movie they were all there for taking away someones childhood. I even guessed that the killer wasn't lying about calling the cops for figuring it out. It's a shame Melissa Joan Heart was such a horrible actress in this as she is the only one I recognized in this film. The movie ends with her killing everyone when the whole time it may of been recorded so she left evidence that her character was obviously a bad person. The killer admits that they figured out what they all did to help get his son into prison and die and keeps his promise about calling the cops and letting them free if they were to figure this out. The plot starts with 9 people (Melissa) being one of them and he kills one person every ten minutes they don't come up with why they were all there. (Melissa) kills the last two including the killer then magically dodges from the cops as she tramps poorly away in her high heels as the credits begin. Sure the plot sounds pretty good on paper but the acting, direction of the suspense and camera shots were all terrible! I've never even been this upset before to write a review, let alone a negative one.

Clarissa explains it all vs. Saw II : I really don't think there is a better way to sum this movie up. It's not 'horrible' and there are some anecdotes that actually make it a bit funny in a campy way if you are a cynical evil person like myself :) But to explain the above statement, the movie is a reductive of a Saw/Red Room type help captive facing death formula. More interesting than an episode of Criminal Minds, but not much gorier, no truly unique or cool deaths but a few plot twists and turns that are interesting enough to finish watching - if not just to prove to yourself that you are more intelligent than the bozos the film focuses on.A lot of people probably hated the ending, but i thought it was pretty funny and smug. Would have benefited by rolling Britney Spears - Crazy during the end credits. If you haven't seen that video since 1998 - whatever you should look it up.