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Chaos
DVD/APPROX. 70 MINS/2005/USA UNRATED
DVD/APPROX. 70 MINS/2005/USA UNRATED
7
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CHAOS is a great example of much ado about nothing. When the film was released in 2005, it spawned a lot of controversy, mainly because of a
review by critic Roger Ebert, who clearly had a problem with the film’s cruel tone and violence. Ebert’s review gave the film zero stars and pretty
much condemned it, yet it obviously had a strong effect on him. The director and producer of CHAOS responded to his comments in a much
publicized letter. Ebert then wrote an essay elaborating on his views, with the headline What Place Does Pure Evil Have in Films?
Producer Steven Jay Bernheim and Director David DeFalco have a featurette on the “Director’s Cut” of CHAOS, addressing Ebert’s essay and again
defending themselves.
All this back and forth is interesting, but, frankly, my question is: What about the damn movie?
Between the Ebert condemnation and a publicity campaign that declares this The Most Brutal Movie Ever Made you expect big things from CHAOS.
You expect to sit there and be very disturbed by it. Instead, I have to admit I was kind of disappointed. This movie was not half as brutal as I
expected it to be.
The film begins with a disclaimer about how kids go missing all the time and that this movie is a warning. Then, once that is over, we get into the
story proper. Emily (Chantal Degroat) gets a visit from her friend Angelica (Maya Barovich) who was away at college. The two friends haven’t seen
each other in awhile and decide to go to a rave. Emily’s parents Dr. Leo (Scott Richards) and Esther (Deborah Lacey) Collins are hesitant at first,
but then decide to let Emily go because she is a good kid and they feel they can trust her. However, the whole time they are away, Esther can’t
think about anything else but her daughter getting into trouble, and Leo has to constantly reassure her.
The rave takes place in the middle of the woods and is supposed to start once it gets dark. Emily and Angelica get there early and Angelica really
wants to “score some E.” They come across Swan (Sage Stallone), a dorky guy who looks like a stoner, and he says that he’s out of Ecstasy, but if
they come with him to his friends’ house, he can get more. He also promises to give it to them for free because they’re hot chicks. After some
debate (Emily doesn’t want to go), they decide to follow him.
Swan leads them back to the cabin where his strange “family” awaits. The group consists of his father Chaos (Kevin Gage), a hulking bald escaped
convict, and his two “companions” Daisy (K.C. Kelly) and Frankie (Stephen Wozniak). All three of them are on the run and clearly disturbed. They
had sent Swan to the rave to “get them some girls.”
The girls immediately realize they are in trouble and try to leave the cabin, but Chaos and company won’t let them. They tie the girls up and bring
them deeper into the woods in their van, to have “some fun.”
The girls constantly beg for their freedom, but the convicts have other plans. The girls escape a few times, but ultimately end up getting brutalized
and killed. Once the bad guys are done with them, they want to get away before any cops show up (at one point, Emily makes it to the road and
stops a car, but Chaos grabs her and drags her back into the woods, so they know there’s a witness out there). But their decrepit van won’t start.
The three bad guys (Swan meets an untimely end) end up at the house of Emily’s parents who quickly realize that these bastards had something
to do with their daughter’s disappearance. They’ve just gotten back from the woods themselves, where they went looking for Emily, and found
Angelica’s body. So they know that chances are their daughter is dead.
Chaos explains that they had car trouble and Dr. Leo offers to give them a ride into town in a few hours when he goes to work, and lets them stay
in a guest room to rest up. It doesn’t take Chaos long to get restless and decide to get rid of these people and steal their car, but what he finds
instead is two people who are armed and eager to get revenge on the killers of their daughter.
You may have noticed by now that CHAOS has the same exact plot as a certain 1972 movie entitled LAST HOUSE ON THE LEFT (which itself was
a remake of sorts of Ingmar Bergman’s THE VIRGIN SPRING). However, the filmmakers give LAST HOUSE ON THE LEFT no credit and even claim
the script is based on an “original idea” and the real-life exploits of killer Pee Wee Gaskins. (Is this a growing trend? I had a similar reaction to
HAUTE TENSION, which really seemed to be an uncredited remake of Dean Koontz's INTENSITY?). The funny thing is, despite all the controversy
surrounding CHAOS, it’s a less brutal movie than LAST HOUSE ON THE LEFT. In LAST HOUSE ON THE LEFT, the brutality was long and drawn
out for stronger effect and the parents didn’t realize the truth right away (and had much more interesting ways of dealing with their daughter’s
killers). While there are certainly disturbing scenes in CHAOS, the girls are killed pretty quickly once the bad guys get down to business. In all
respects, LAST HOUSE ON THE LEFT is a stronger and more horrific film.
I see CHAOS as simply another in the long line of recent remakes of classic 70s horror films. Taken in that context, CHAOS is above-average. The
acting, for the most part is very good. The girls are very convincing as innocent victims. And Kevin Gage is really effective as CHAOS (although I still
think David Hess in LAST HOUSE ON THE LEFT was even scarier). DeFalco’s does a good job directing and clearly has talent. The film moves very
fast and pulls you into it. There is some suspense and the bad guys are suitably vicious.
As someone who grew up on 70s horror films, and who really digs movies like the original TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE and, of course, Wes
Craven’s LAST HOUSE ON THE LEFT, CHAOS offers nothing that I haven’t seen before and there’s nothing particularly original about it.
It might be interesting to note that CHAOS is not the only movie Roger Ebert has singled out in recent times for being without merit due to its
nihilism. He had a very similar reaction to the Australian film WOLF CREEK, another “college kids in jeopardy” film with a very despairing tone. I
thought WOLF CREEK was very atmospheric, somewhat thoughtful, and very effective. I think it was a better film than CHAOS, but I find Ebert’s
reviews of both films to be very reactionary.
Me, I have no problem with nihilism in film or in fiction. And I’ve seen much more brutal and disturbing films than CHAOS. For what it is, I thought it
was a decent horror flick. But it certainly doesn’t seem to live up to all the controversy. There are also 2 versions of CHAOS, make sure you sniff
out the Directors Cut.
review by critic Roger Ebert, who clearly had a problem with the film’s cruel tone and violence. Ebert’s review gave the film zero stars and pretty
much condemned it, yet it obviously had a strong effect on him. The director and producer of CHAOS responded to his comments in a much
publicized letter. Ebert then wrote an essay elaborating on his views, with the headline What Place Does Pure Evil Have in Films?
Producer Steven Jay Bernheim and Director David DeFalco have a featurette on the “Director’s Cut” of CHAOS, addressing Ebert’s essay and again
defending themselves.
All this back and forth is interesting, but, frankly, my question is: What about the damn movie?
Between the Ebert condemnation and a publicity campaign that declares this The Most Brutal Movie Ever Made you expect big things from CHAOS.
You expect to sit there and be very disturbed by it. Instead, I have to admit I was kind of disappointed. This movie was not half as brutal as I
expected it to be.
The film begins with a disclaimer about how kids go missing all the time and that this movie is a warning. Then, once that is over, we get into the
story proper. Emily (Chantal Degroat) gets a visit from her friend Angelica (Maya Barovich) who was away at college. The two friends haven’t seen
each other in awhile and decide to go to a rave. Emily’s parents Dr. Leo (Scott Richards) and Esther (Deborah Lacey) Collins are hesitant at first,
but then decide to let Emily go because she is a good kid and they feel they can trust her. However, the whole time they are away, Esther can’t
think about anything else but her daughter getting into trouble, and Leo has to constantly reassure her.
The rave takes place in the middle of the woods and is supposed to start once it gets dark. Emily and Angelica get there early and Angelica really
wants to “score some E.” They come across Swan (Sage Stallone), a dorky guy who looks like a stoner, and he says that he’s out of Ecstasy, but if
they come with him to his friends’ house, he can get more. He also promises to give it to them for free because they’re hot chicks. After some
debate (Emily doesn’t want to go), they decide to follow him.
Swan leads them back to the cabin where his strange “family” awaits. The group consists of his father Chaos (Kevin Gage), a hulking bald escaped
convict, and his two “companions” Daisy (K.C. Kelly) and Frankie (Stephen Wozniak). All three of them are on the run and clearly disturbed. They
had sent Swan to the rave to “get them some girls.”
The girls immediately realize they are in trouble and try to leave the cabin, but Chaos and company won’t let them. They tie the girls up and bring
them deeper into the woods in their van, to have “some fun.”
The girls constantly beg for their freedom, but the convicts have other plans. The girls escape a few times, but ultimately end up getting brutalized
and killed. Once the bad guys are done with them, they want to get away before any cops show up (at one point, Emily makes it to the road and
stops a car, but Chaos grabs her and drags her back into the woods, so they know there’s a witness out there). But their decrepit van won’t start.
The three bad guys (Swan meets an untimely end) end up at the house of Emily’s parents who quickly realize that these bastards had something
to do with their daughter’s disappearance. They’ve just gotten back from the woods themselves, where they went looking for Emily, and found
Angelica’s body. So they know that chances are their daughter is dead.
Chaos explains that they had car trouble and Dr. Leo offers to give them a ride into town in a few hours when he goes to work, and lets them stay
in a guest room to rest up. It doesn’t take Chaos long to get restless and decide to get rid of these people and steal their car, but what he finds
instead is two people who are armed and eager to get revenge on the killers of their daughter.
You may have noticed by now that CHAOS has the same exact plot as a certain 1972 movie entitled LAST HOUSE ON THE LEFT (which itself was
a remake of sorts of Ingmar Bergman’s THE VIRGIN SPRING). However, the filmmakers give LAST HOUSE ON THE LEFT no credit and even claim
the script is based on an “original idea” and the real-life exploits of killer Pee Wee Gaskins. (Is this a growing trend? I had a similar reaction to
HAUTE TENSION, which really seemed to be an uncredited remake of Dean Koontz's INTENSITY?). The funny thing is, despite all the controversy
surrounding CHAOS, it’s a less brutal movie than LAST HOUSE ON THE LEFT. In LAST HOUSE ON THE LEFT, the brutality was long and drawn
out for stronger effect and the parents didn’t realize the truth right away (and had much more interesting ways of dealing with their daughter’s
killers). While there are certainly disturbing scenes in CHAOS, the girls are killed pretty quickly once the bad guys get down to business. In all
respects, LAST HOUSE ON THE LEFT is a stronger and more horrific film.
I see CHAOS as simply another in the long line of recent remakes of classic 70s horror films. Taken in that context, CHAOS is above-average. The
acting, for the most part is very good. The girls are very convincing as innocent victims. And Kevin Gage is really effective as CHAOS (although I still
think David Hess in LAST HOUSE ON THE LEFT was even scarier). DeFalco’s does a good job directing and clearly has talent. The film moves very
fast and pulls you into it. There is some suspense and the bad guys are suitably vicious.
As someone who grew up on 70s horror films, and who really digs movies like the original TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE and, of course, Wes
Craven’s LAST HOUSE ON THE LEFT, CHAOS offers nothing that I haven’t seen before and there’s nothing particularly original about it.
It might be interesting to note that CHAOS is not the only movie Roger Ebert has singled out in recent times for being without merit due to its
nihilism. He had a very similar reaction to the Australian film WOLF CREEK, another “college kids in jeopardy” film with a very despairing tone. I
thought WOLF CREEK was very atmospheric, somewhat thoughtful, and very effective. I think it was a better film than CHAOS, but I find Ebert’s
reviews of both films to be very reactionary.
Me, I have no problem with nihilism in film or in fiction. And I’ve seen much more brutal and disturbing films than CHAOS. For what it is, I thought it
was a decent horror flick. But it certainly doesn’t seem to live up to all the controversy. There are also 2 versions of CHAOS, make sure you sniff
out the Directors Cut.
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