The Chair feels like two movies formated into one, both have their ups and downs. The first half is a choppy but pretty spooky haunted house formula. Furthermore, If i didn't know better, I'd also call it a forerunner to Paranormal Activity. The second half is more of a Saw- formula, with more blood, adrenaline, but at the same time, more contrivance. The Chair as a whole deserves credit for being neither dull nor derivative (as so many b-movies are) but there is a sense of unevenness to the finished product. That and a sort of, scrappy/unprofessional screenplay degrade the Chair from good to 'almost' good. In the end it's silly but I think it will please horror movie goers.
Upper Year College student Daniel has just moved into a new place. A very old, red brick house. In less than a day, she becomes convinced that it is haunted. She starts doing a little experimenting: filming herself at night, going through closets. After doing some extensive research, she finds material which causes her not only to wanna write her masters thesis on horror related topics, but she is driven to perform some very sadistic behaviour, which is increasing becoming a concern (and a threat) to her friends and family.
Director Brett Sullivan knows what he is doing when he steps behind a camera of sits in front of the editing software. He effectively uses technique rather than traditional shock factor to scare the audience. While not the scariest of films, I don't exactly have a long list of films that achieve the kind of effect that the Chair does. some films on that list like Friday the 13th predate the chair, others like Paranormal Activity come after. But this is all contained within the first half. The second part of the feature, is where the blood gets spilled. Sullivan again avoids the superficial approach, relying more on grotesque ideas rather than quantity of bodily fluids to startle the audience. It works, but not flawlessly. This is the dumber half of the Chair.
speaking script-wise, it's not like the first half was perfect either. Most of the dialogue in the Chair is not that great. Nobody has much to say, but at least the delivery shows signs of attempt. Indeed the movie is just as dependant on a strong leading role as it is on suspense. Alanna Crisholm (in her only movie role) makes a pretty credible lead, given the limited room she has to work with. She sells it to us quite well through her face and her body gestures.
The Chair has quite a bit going for it, but not quite enough. It needs a bit of a reworking perhaps, because it stills feels a bit unbelievable in places. It looks as if it is intended to appeal to two different types of horror lovers: the Blair Which lovers and the Saw Lovers. As a horror film, The Chair is successful, but it remains a bit unstable and under fleshed. I did enjoy it though