Netflix'ns: Nine Dead

Netflix'ns is a series of review shorts of films, new and old, seen on Netflix, be it DVD or streaming. For better or worse, I sat through these films and have lived to tell the tale. These are not so much reviews as just comments on the film watched. Some will be first time views, others will be revisits. This is a work in progress.



There is not a whole heck of a lot to Nine Dead. Still, for Chris Shadley's first film it i quite good. The filmmaker has had quite a career working in the camera department over the years, which continues now. I wonder when he will get back behind the camera again as a director. This movie showed some promise and it would be interesting to see what sort of progressions he's made since Nine Dead.

The plot for this movie is a reworking of Saw, only with fewer traps and more people. It starts with 9 strangers being kidnapped by a masked man and handcuffed to polls in a windowless room. The masked man tells them they are connected and they must figure out why they are there, if they can guess correctly, he will free them and turn himself in. Of course there is a hitch, every 10 minutes he will return to the room and kill one of them.

That's all there is too it. The bulk of the film is filled with the 9 (or less) arguing about what is going on, yelling at each other, insulting each other, and finally actually talking to each other to figure the puzzle out. The movie takes place almost entirely in one room and relies heavily on the dialogue.

The acting is decent, the script is decent, the tension works, and the ending is utterly horrendous and does the overall experience a major disservice. I was left wondering if something happened to the Netflix stream, like maybe something was left out. Nope, not the case, that is the actual ending.

I do recommend giving it a shot, just don't say I didn't warn you when it ends.