Lust and gore abound in trashy horror film ‘The Black Room’ – Los Angeles Times

Veteran exploitation filmmaker Rolfe Kanefsky has directed a handful of horror pictures over the years, but has spent more time helming soft-core erotica, which probably explains why his supernatural thriller The Black Room is unusually sexy. Its a throwback to the days when B-movies loaded up on skin as well as blood.

Natasha Henstridge and Lukas Hassel costar as Jennifer and Paul Hemdale, a middle-aged couple who move into a nice-looking old house, then realize its haunted by an evil spirit that draws strength from human sexual arousal. Before long, husband and wife are being molested day and night by an unseen force.

The Black Room has moments where the practical makeup and gore effects combine with the wildness of the premise to create something imaginatively bizarre. At times, Kanefsky seems poised to say something about how sexuality is intertwined with power, in marriage and in the culture.

But the story goes nowhere, in large part because the two leads take too long to realize somethings awry. The film ends up being more about whats done to them than what they do to fight back.

The movies monster explains that its easy to weaken humans with pleasure because its hard to fight what feels good. Sharing that same strategy, The Black Room is unabashedly trashy with scene after scene of nudity and gore but doesnt offer much beyond sensation.

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The Black Room

Not rated

Running time: 1 hour, 31 minutes

Playing: Laemmle Music Hall, Beverly Hills

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Lust and gore abound in trashy horror film 'The Black Room' - Los Angeles Times

Reviewed and Recommended by Erik Baquero