Review: Closed Circuit Extreme

Text © Richard Gary / Indie Horror Films, 2014
Images from the Internet

Closed Circuit Extreme

Written and directed by Giorgio Amato
Jingai Films / Dania Films / Manetti Bros Films
98 minutes, 2012 / 2014
www.mvdvisual.com

At last, a new found footage film! Haven’t seen one of those in… okay, enough with the sarcasm.

Closed Circuit Extreme is an Italian film shot in English with thick accents (though I had no problem understanding the dialog). Its premise is simple, if not overly logical.

A man, David de Santis (Stefano Fregni) – as in “David of Satan” – is suspected by a college age couple of being a serial killer, and of doing in one of their friends. In order to trap this guy, they repeatedly break into his house and set up a series of five CCTV cameras throughout, and then daily downloading the footage (at his house…guess they don’t have Wi-Fi in Italy, ahem) while he’s at work.

This is a disagreeable couple. Daniele (Guglielmo Favilla) knows the danger they are in, and Claudia (Francesca Cuttica) randomly touches and moves stuff, looks through David’s drawers, all the while he’s yelling at her to stop. For once I agree with the man in the story. Usually it’s the women who are more even-headed. She seems pretty non-pulsed that they are in the house of someone they believe has killed their amica.

The entire film is edited from the CCTV images, which keep cutting in and out and filled with repeated and annoying static noise. This is, I am assuming, to remind the viewer that it is the CCTV they are watching, like anyone needs any hints.

For more than half the movie, we watch the possibly dangerous man as the eats in front on the television, naps on his couch, and goes to sleep in his bed. Truly the banality of evil, you might say.

Sporadically, he interviews possible nannies for a child you never see, for him and a wife you never see, and obviously neither exists. It’s well into the second half of the film when you see David of the Devil for who he really is. His brutality is shown in detail, with some nice physical effects thrown in, though nothing really comes as any surprise.

Part of the reason there is no bombshell is what the failing of the storyline is to me: this is “police evidence,” so as we meet the characters there is an on-screen blurb that tells you the name of the person, where they are from, and the date they die (or not). This takes away much of the suspense, leaving just the killings (etc.). Oh, this person dies. Oh, this one doesn’t die, we learn on the introduction of everyone. Sigh.

The scenes of brutality are few and far between, and the body count on screen is pretty low. There is little gore per se, though we see a lot of blood on clothes and body parts. In fact, this film could have been an hour and it would have been enough.

The extra is the trailer, but what I find confusing, is after the film between minutes of black nothing, we see some silent clips of the film we just saw. Che cosa?

The way in which the film is successful is that it really does show that evil is just moments. Okay, here is a bizarre analogy, so bear with me. When you get a year-end letter, where you read the exploits of someone you know, it seems like the year was filled will events (e.g., “We went on vacation!” “I got a promotion!”), when actually, most of the period was probably mundane and ordinary, when you fill in the gaps. This film attempts and succeeds in showing that kind of “between” moments, which makes the contrast of violence seem more shocking.

Where it doesn’t succeed is, as I said, in TMI by broadcasting outcomes upon introductions.