Interesting movie, but I don't feel it was casted well. The movie seems influenced by Misery, but the cannibal sisters are nowhere near as convincing as Kathy Bates. There is another actor in this movie who plays the grandson of one of the cannibal sisters, and is a budding serial killer. The actor is almost laughable at his attempt to portray a young psycho, I believe he was from the Disney channel originally. Overall, besides these faults, the movie is worth a watch and eventually the shortcomings are worth the watch. I'm interested to read the novel that the movie is based off of, it at least piqued mt interest that much.

This movie (of which the title of my copy on DVD read: "Mayhem") started out so well: for the first half hour it's exciting, original and entertaining. The two cannibalistic sisters are a treat to watch, especially the fat one (Sage Ellen, she's very, VERY good!!!), they're played with a sardonic kind of humour and panache. Of course the whole situation reminds one of Misery, and even Dreamcatcher came to my mind, due to the snow, the cabin and the snow scooters. But still the story seemed to take it's own original turn, for instance I really liked the fact that there's no explanation whatsoever for the behavior of the sisters, which gives it exactly the creepy and inescapable feeling that is needed.Unfortunately, after the main character Tom Kempton (Alex McArthur) is saved, the movie sort of collapses, all the tension and pace evaporates in a sullen and overlong mid-section, where nothing much happens: the guy broods endlessly over what he had to endure by his tormentors and decides to stalk a supposed daughter of one of them. Here the movie takes an ill-fated twist. Apparently the director (Hancock) tried to give it a David Lynch-like broody and mysterious atmosphere, but alas, he's no David Lynch, and the goings on are not only boring but also very improbable. The only good thing about this part – as about the whole movie - is the excellent musical score, which is no wonder, since the composer is Angelo Badalamenti, who composed the music for numerous great movies and (not?) coincidentally also did Mulholland Drive.The last part of the movie gets it again into a sort of thriller-mode, with wild attacks by psychopathic killers: the (grand)son that inherited the bad genes and the sister that miraculously survived, though it's never explained how. It's definitely too much, as if the director or writer had three alternative endings in their mind and decided to use them all one after another.It also seemed to me that there was much potential in the story that wasn't used to it's fullest by the writer. The bad son supposedly had done some hideous deeds of his own: it's disappointing that we don't see anything of it and the (circumstantial) evidence that's produced is hardly as chilling as everyone seems to make of it. His mother is a daughter of a cannibalistic killer, so why not let her, like her son, display some evidence of inherited evil?? And why not let the main character fall in love with the woman he stalks, I was all the time waiting for it to happen! That would at least have added an interesting layer to the story. Now it felt as if all potentially interesting story lines dead-ended or fell down with a puff.All in all it's rather an unbalanced movie, with a very promising start but a disappointing last 2/3. Mister McArthur doesn't really help, apart from his good looks he's not very convincing as an actor, at least in this movie, he walks around like he didn't much believe in the whole project himself, and the husky voice he uses in virtually every scene made him sound like he's in a radio play impersonating someone in perpetual sexual heat, it gradually annoyed the hell out of me! I did like Maria Cina though, she's beautiful and seems like a solid actress. And young Fred Meyers had exactly the repulsive looks and attitude that fitted the character of a psychopathic teenager. It's all the more sorry that both of them had to work on such a weak script. My final verdict: 4 out of 10 (but Sage Ellen gets a 10 plus!!!)

I liked it. It's a pretty good film once it gets moving. Locations were nice and the shots were well composed. I think the music could have created a little more emotion but it was used pretty well for the most part. I'd recommend it.

Highly recommended. This film constantly takes the viewer in directions he/she does not expect. Just when you think you know where it's going, it takes the viewer into a new unexpected plot twist. Great characters, directing and (let's not forget) writing. Try to see this, it's not what you think it's going to be