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In the middle of the time of Darkness Falls and House of 1000 Corpses, here comes an intelligent, mostly original horror films that tries to go back to the hey-day of Friday the 13th and the like. It has some gruesome murders, some good scares, some cheap scares, good acting, and a great ending.
The MPAA states that Identity is rated R for “strong violence and language.” The violence wasn’t that strong, but some of the images were horrific, such as the one in that shed (I won’t say any more). I’m glad that there’s a horror movie that a) doesn’t go for the teenager, PG-13 crowd, or b) goes for the all-out gore. It was also scary for a lot of the time, although it made me jump some times, going for cheap scares. A lot of times, I thought there would be one when there actually wasn’t one.
Cusack was convincing as a limo driver, he’s a good actor to begin with, and here’s just another one of his movies. Liotta, who usually doesn’t do much for me, was good, although he can’t really sway from being a cop. Amanda Peet, who played a hooker named Paris, put in another outstanding acting job, proving her versatility. She can do slapstick comedy (The Whole Nine Yards), drama (Igby Goes Down), and now scary horror films. McGinley was had me believed that he was a worrying husband, although I didn’t recognize him. Maybe I have his image from Office Space in my mind.
For some unknown reason, the ending of Identity reminded me of the ending of Vanilla Sky. They both explained a lot at the end, although in the latter, there were still questions, while here I understood everything. I thought it made perfect sense, and the last scene is priceless. It will keep you guessing, with different thoughts as you go through it, and, I can assure you, none of them will be right.
Music makes or breaks a movie, and here, it makes. It adds complete tension to many scenes, although it is basic and stereotypical horror music. The characters were all weird, and comes from those characters one of my favorite lines: “You aren’t pregnant? Then why the hell did we get married?” I really enjoyed Identity, it is a creepy and fun ride that you probably won’t forget for a while.
Rated R for strong violence and language.
Review Date: April 25, 2003