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There is nothing better on a crisp October evening then picking up a nice horror flick. While at the video store there were a few flicks in hand but this one looked so creepy and the back said it won 3 horror festival awards, so we were sold. One thing that's begining to become bothersome is how great they make the covers of these films look (This has something to do with the obscure title of our review). Talk about misleading. Especially since a lot of these ultra-low budget flicks are spending most of the budget on the packaging. They'll fool you everytime. Our last horror review was Halloween Night wich drew us in on a cool looking cover and description but let us down worse then ever before. Thankfully The Chair wasn't a total waste but still pretty weak.

The film starts off with psychology student Danielle Velayo as she moves into a large brownstone type home (which is director Brett Sullivan's actual house) to escape from some issues she's been having at home. Right off the bat the atmosphere of the home gives off some very creepy vibes. The film certainly had that going for it. As Danielle is unpacking she is on the phone with her sister who seems concerned. See Danielle had some extreme paranoia disorder which she needs to take medicine to control. To get herself relaxed she decides to hop in the bath to unwind a bit. She hops in, turns up her radio, and starts to um..play with herself. Yeah it was out of left field but thats okay. While she's gets cooking she hears a noise downstairs which forces her to jump up and check it out. Nobody was there so she decides to hit the sack. Once in bed she hears strange noises and see's on of her books fell. She fixes them and looks up a few seconds later to see them arranged in a completely different way. Now at this point you're creeped out. The next night she positions a video camera on hersef to see what's going on at night. As she reviews the footage she see's a strange black mist floating around her. Then see's it go out the door and into a room next door. Now you're really creeped out. It would sem the sensible thing to do is run like hell and never go back but she remains in the house. So far the film has been very successful despite it's extreme low budget. The entire film is shot in this house but they were really making it work.

She decides to call up her sister to have her stay at the house for a few days to see if the strange things keep happening. Once the sister is there the occurrences still go on forcing them to research the house online. They come to find it's known to be haunted by the ghost of a murderer who prayed on children about 100 years earlier. Again they choose to stay in the home and continue to poke around. They discover a secret room that filled with all these newpaper articles about the killings that took place. Once this room is discovered Danielle begins to act very strange. From this point the film drags and drags on to the point of exhaustion. Danielle is becoming possesed by this spirit which is forces her to do strange things but the pace it takes to show her transformation is a complete waste. It could've been done in about 10 minutes instead of 30. We don't even have the energy to explain the rest of the film so we won't.

Overall this film was pretty lame. It's really unfortunate because the first 20 minutes were really creepy. However beyond that point it takes far too long to get the story under way. Also shooting nearly the entire film in the director's home takes away from the story. With no change of scenery you feel like you're watching the same scene over and over again. So much could've been done to make this a true horror movie. The whole haunted house angle has so many possibilities. There isn't anyone who isn't creeped out by the thought of ghosts. They just didn't take it where they should have. As much as we wanted to it was just not possible to like this movie. We were really rooting for it too knowing how low the budget must have been. We recommend you pass this one up despite any of the positive reviews out there.

I found the movie to be very slow and rather boring. Danielle is a student and on medication trying to find a theme for her thesis. She moves into a house and while there discovers a hidden room with articles about a hypnotist and a child murderer. She starts acting a little off and eating catfood, while her doting sister doesn't seem to notice anything. Long story short she gets possessed. Danielle's sister realizes something is amiss when Danielle tries to kill her. Luckily she escapes and drives to dig up a grave and fortunately runs into Danielle's professor who knows about everything going on and enlightens her into how to help cure Danielle and put an end to the murder's spirit. UGH....yep very quick end...and the "twist" at the end is rather lame and you can see it coming a mile away.

I was browsing listmania lists on Amazon and saw this on several peoples lists as a recommended film. I was amazed and thought this must be a mistake, these people can't have seen the same "The Chair" I saw...but obviously they did and so I felt compelled to say for the record, avoid this movie. The cover makes this film look like it could be a interesting movie with a novel twist, but that being said the content of this film is far from interesting and has surprisingly little to do with the chair. I understand that this movie was low budget, and I appreciate film-makers who are able to create amazing art without a lot of funds, but the chair is a case of getting what you paid for.

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2.0 out of 5 stars Don't waste your time...
Started off ok, fans of paranormal and horror films would take interest in this film at the start... Read more

Published 22 months ago by Lora Poorman

5.0 out of 5 stars the greatest movie i love it!!
this movie is so good that i almost watch it every day/night but they have the chair 2 coming out late this year in 2011 or 2012 =]

Published 22 months ago by E. J. Luke

5.0 out of 5 stars Not A Very Comfy Chair...
I enjoyed THE CHAIR, simply because it offered something different and interesting in the way of a storyline. Read more

Published on June 17, 2009 by Bindy Sue Frønkünschtein

5.0 out of 5 stars A gift...
This movie was purchased as a gift for my granddaughter. No I didn't watch it, I don't like movies like this. So I can't recommend it. She was pleased to receive it though!

Published on March 21, 2009 by Beverly D. Grant

4.0 out of 5 stars Surprising little under-the-radar flick.
The Chair (Brett Sullivan, 2007)

Impressive, intelligent low-budget horror flick from Sullivan (Ginger Snaps 2). Read more

Published on December 7, 2008 by Robert P. Beveridge

4.0 out of 5 stars Alanna Chisholm makes this film a winner
Horror films are a gamble but it's easy to tell fairly quickly when it's time to hold 'em and when it's time to fold 'em. Read more

Published on August 16, 2008 by Phillip Royer

5.0 out of 5 stars Origami gone wild
Let's see. Low budget picture I never heard of then throw in a cast of actors I had never heard of and give us a recycled plot of a killer from 100 years ago possessing the body... Read more

Published on May 28, 2008 by Music Lover in Omaha

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