Malestrazza(Pascal Greggory)is an architectural genius, with something like 27 buildings to his credit, inspired by the Egyptians and their innovative Pyramids..but, he's also a psychopath who walled in many of his tenants and when he was caught, it resulted in his mysterious death. Mischa Barton is Samantha Walczak, sent to the Malestrazza apartment to inform the tenants of it's condemnation proceedings and is to prepare her company with the proper instructions on where to detonate the building. This apartment complex is a dynamo in that it has secret passages and even perhaps undiscovered rooms..Sam notices that the blueprints to the building are "off" and she would like to figure out if there's places still yet to be found. Certain tenants remain in the building while most fled after the corpses of occupants were pulled from their manufactured "sarcofaguses" created by Malestrazza located in his "sleeping quarters"(he had no furniture, just books). Sam meets a mother and son, Mary(Deborah Kara Unger)and Jimmy(Cameron Bright)whose patriarch was one of Malestrazza's victims. Jimmy develops a crush on Sam, while Mary tries to convince him that any future with her could never be. Also in the building is oxygen-deprived Burnett(Eugene Clark)who clings to his tanks for any air, living on a minuscule disability check per month. Denise(Jane Redlyon)is an old kook who seems to live in her own world, seemingly able to shoo away the horrible reputation of the apartment(like Burnett, there may be no place for her to go so she just accepts what has happened, placing it all in the back of her mind). Sam does take a liking to Jimmy(why is anyone's guess, most viewers, I imagine, will be beckoning for Sam to stay away from this kid)and he shows her Malestrazza's "place of rest", including the holes in the wall where the victims were chiseled out. Soon, Jimmy, out of desperation to keep her from leaving, will allow Sam to see Malestrazza's "lost architecture documents", and, sure enough, the woman will seek to find what lies in the massive space at the center of the apartment. And, what(and who)lies in that hole will test Sam's fragile psychological state(the apartment was already "getting to her", voices speaking, nightmarish images tormenting her)as Jimmy has a little surprise in store.
Those who are claustrophobic might find WALLED IN a bit horrifying as it deals with finding yourself trapped without an exit. Even worse is being trapped with a deranged crazy she thought had perished. Barton glams down for this role, never wearing any make-up, mostly dressed in drab masculine types of clothes(Jimmy wonders if she's a dyke)and has quite a tortured character. Pascal Greggory has one of those kinds of characters which makes your skin crawl, the kind of creep you certainly don't want to be stuck in a pit with.
I've always thought Cameron Bright was a creepy kid and his Jimmy in WALLED IN is no different. I think many, from the moment he appears on screen, will know Jimmy has "issues"..he's definitely not the kind of kid you'd probably turn your back to or trust in a dark hallway. Unger has her usual nutjob role, a woman seriously warped by her husband's death, baggage she hasn't been able to free herself from..the quiet and calm, her sultry voice, it's all masking an inner turmoil that remains. The only reason, she explains to Sam, that they stay in the apartment is because Mary feels close to her husband's spirit. But, in doing so, neither her or the son can truly recover and move on, and we can see that both have been "compromised" by the building. What Jimmy does to Sam, I figure most will welcome his eventual fate. If you like movies about spooky buildings hiding something possibly sinister, WALLED IN just might be worth your while.
Those who are claustrophobic might find WALLED IN a bit horrifying as it deals with finding yourself trapped without an exit. Even worse is being trapped with a deranged crazy she thought had perished. Barton glams down for this role, never wearing any make-up, mostly dressed in drab masculine types of clothes(Jimmy wonders if she's a dyke)and has quite a tortured character. Pascal Greggory has one of those kinds of characters which makes your skin crawl, the kind of creep you certainly don't want to be stuck in a pit with.
I've always thought Cameron Bright was a creepy kid and his Jimmy in WALLED IN is no different. I think many, from the moment he appears on screen, will know Jimmy has "issues"..he's definitely not the kind of kid you'd probably turn your back to or trust in a dark hallway. Unger has her usual nutjob role, a woman seriously warped by her husband's death, baggage she hasn't been able to free herself from..the quiet and calm, her sultry voice, it's all masking an inner turmoil that remains. The only reason, she explains to Sam, that they stay in the apartment is because Mary feels close to her husband's spirit. But, in doing so, neither her or the son can truly recover and move on, and we can see that both have been "compromised" by the building. What Jimmy does to Sam, I figure most will welcome his eventual fate. If you like movies about spooky buildings hiding something possibly sinister, WALLED IN just might be worth your while.