Meadowoods

(2010) ***1/2

This is one of several interesting discoveries that JPX baited me with this year. It involves three outcast college students who conspire to film the murder of an innocent peer. Team leader Travis is a charismatic sociopath who brings out the absolute worst in others. He enlists the help of Steph, a nihilistic (and equally sociopathic) ball of hate as well as Ryan, the impressionable camera guy. You get the sense that deep down Ryan is a decent yet malleable guy who gets in way over his head.

Travis proposes a lengthy, dramatic murder. All stages of the crime will be carefully documented to be uncovered in the distant future, long after their own deaths. It will blow everyone's minds! They settle upon a simple yet excruciating murder method and carefully select Kayla, an awkwardly sweet music student as their victim. In preparation, Ryan conducts a frightening interview (under the guise of a classroom assignment) and questions her about her fears. He doesn’t accept her answers "spiders" or "finals" and after further probing she reveals her fear of dying alone. Knowing what the three have in store for Kayla, her confessional is painful to watch. He then coaxes her to sing one of her songs and she obliges, oblivious of her agonizing near future. The actress who plays Kayla does a superb job conveying a trusting, unsuspecting soul. She doesn’t deserve a paper cut, let alone a torture chamber.

It’s difficult to pinpoint the exact moment where things go too far. It begins with a sinister conversation in a coffee shop and then inches towards reality when they take the next step of purchasing supplies at the hardware store. Ryan is the only one who voices any objection but his personality is quickly steamrolled by the other two.

Meadowoods is a scary and mean-spirited film. It never tries to explain why Travis lacks compassion by pointing fingers at bullies, violent video games or Marilyn Manson. And mericfully they do not attempt a satirical statement about the ‘effects of living in today’s desensitized technology based society’ or some such jibber jabber. Like Dylan Klebold, Travis was simply born without a conscience. That’s all you need to know to believe and fear him. At first Steph appears to be your typical jaded, sarcastic misfit but the more you get to know her, the less you want to know. While Meadowoods lacks the shocking violence and gore of The Human Centipede 2, the psychological torture they inflict makes it a similarly captivating yet highly stressful experience.