Nerds That Geek Movie Review: ‘Doom Room’

Written by John Edward Betancourt 

I think at some point or another in a horror fan’s life, they take the time to ponder upon the precise origin of the creatures they so enjoy on the silver screen. After all, the monsters that haunt the sub genres of horror, have powerful and rich backstories, ones that have been carefully cultivated over generations and it’s only natural to wonder as to whether or not the things that go bump in the night are grounded in sound reality or if there really is something mystical about these monsters. That curiosity matters simply because at some point during that all-important quest for knowledge, every horror fan out there eventually comes to discover that while these beings do indeed have some kind of mysticism surrounding their origins, in the end, they are all a variation upon the greatest monster to ever walk this earth; mankind.
 
For it is man that consumes everything just as the zombie does, and man is the one that becomes as feral and as savage as the werewolf and these iterations of the worst parts of us exist in film and television and print so that we can observe and ponder upon our follies from a safe distance. But sometimes, a horror filmmaker decides to examine the darkness that resides inside mankind without the use of metaphors or monsters, and removing that proverbial safety net and allowing for the ugliness we sometimes exhibit to become the focal point, makes for one supremely disturbing horror film and recently, I had the opportunity to watch a movie that takes the time to explore the evil and cruelty that we are sometimes capable of, in Doom Room.
 
Now, in this particular film, we are plunged into a unique situation with a young woman. For this young lady has just awakened in a strange room filled with odd trinkets and some disturbing items without any memory of how she got there, or who she is. And to complicate matters further, there are some equally disturbing individuals who continually appear and disappear from this room at will, and all of them seem to have their own mysterious agenda in wanting to interact with the woman and in order to keep her sanity, she will be forced to figure out who all of these slightly familiar people are and what they mean to her so that she can finally remember how she found herself in this room, and how exactly she can escape its horrors…

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​So, let’s make one thing inherently clear about this motion picture up front, this is a supremely disturbing and twisted horror flick, and I was ill prepared for the ugliness this film offers up. Because it really holds nothing back when telling its story, since the twisted cruelty of man is put on full display here and well, the awful things I witnessed here flat out made me squirm in my seat, it left me unsettled long after the credits came to a close and that…is honestly quite the feat for a horror film in this day and age. And while the subject matter is indeed uncomfortable to deal with, that’s quite frankly the mark of good horror, for a good scary movie should disturb you and rattle you and I am legitimately impressed with the darkness present in this story because just when you think it cannot get worse for this mystery woman, the story finds a way to delve deeper into the void.
 
However, what truly impressed me about this particular horror film, is how the movie is structured overall. For it wastes zero time in plunging us into this harrowing situation and we get right down to trying to solve the mystery of how the main character got here and you’re instantly invested in her journey and you find yourself equally as curious about the strange characters that inhabit her world. But of course, setting a movie in a single location means that the acting has to be on point to sell the story, and every actor present here does a phenomenal job of doing their part to keep the madness rolling. However, there is one actor in this film that deserves special recognition, horror legend Debbie Rochon, because she flat out steals every single scene she’s in thanks to her deliciously terrifying performance.
 
Yet, there’s more wonder to be found in the structure of this story outside of its top notch acting and quality scares, because there’s a lot of depth to be found in this film as well, since it offers an intimate journey through the young woman’s soul by highlighting some important choices of she’s made in life and the film takes the time to examine the guilt that people sometimes feel when we choose matters of the heart over logic, with a twist of course. And if it seems as though I’m being a bit vague on some of the plot points here, there’s a reason for that, I really don’t want to spoil the incredible twists and turns present in this story so that you can experience them yourself. Because this is a genuinely fascinating horror film, one that will absolutely stay with you for some time thanks to the disturbing elements that it presents, since it makes no bones about the fact that sometimes, mankind can be quite the monster…  

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