In the past few years there's been a trend in the serious themed horror realm to proclaim that their movie is "based on a true story". Perhaps this is to take some of the onus away from the filmmakers for coming up with some seriously twisted stuff, but maybe it's also a way to pull in more viewers since tons of people are just fascinated by true crime and the dark side of human nature.

Broken is one of those movies that makes this claim, and I'm not buying it for a second. I am, however, extremely thankful that my first impression from the trailer and promotional stills that this was trying to ride on the coattails of last years Wolf Creek turns out to be quite wrong. I'm also incredibly happy to proclaim that this is quite possibly the most mentally gruelling film you're likely to see this year. It's a movie that, while not shying away from some graphic violence, is more concerned with punishing you psychologically than attempting to just shock you with endlessly bloody moments. It's a movie that balances quiet moments with disturbing ones and it's a movie that's best experienced by yourself with no distractions to really let its impact sink in.

Tag team writer-director's Adam Mason and Simon Boyes start the movie off with an off-kilter credits sequence that uses tight angles and desperation to set the movie's tone early, plus it just so happens to end with our victim messily digging into a stomach wound. So, yeah, if you're at all squeamish this is about the time you're most likely to walk away from the movie - which would make you quite a fool as the film that follows in this scene's footsteps proves Mason and Boyes can not only make an effective film but also that they can pull it off for very little money.

Nadja Brand (who co-produced and is married to Mason) plays Hope, a seemingly regular single mother with a six-year-old daughter who we first meet trying to get back into the dating world. But all that's soon to change when the next day she awakens to pitch-blackness.

Waking up in a makeshift coffin somewhere in the middle of the woods, Hope is understandably confused, frightened, and horribly disoriented. Unsure how to escape and trying desperately to claw her way from her wooden prison she's soon drug out of the ground by her captor and strung-up by her neck to a tree, precariously balanced on a branch with fresh stitches on her stomach. What follows is an intense, and not very pleasant, sequence involving a cringe worthy razor blade moment that ends with Hope escaping the crude trap and being asked, "will you continue?"

From here Mason and Boyes put their main character through all sorts of mental anguish as Brand's character finds herself being held captive and being told nothing about why she's there or where her daughter is. She's forced to do menial tasks and is constantly the target of mind games but she refuses to just lie down and die. In fact, the longer she's trapped out in the middle-of-nowhere the more her resentment and determination to get away grows. And just when you think the movie's starting to grind its gears a new wrinkle is introduced when our unstable baddie brings another kidnapped girl back to the camp.

This all leads to one of the movie's most shocking moments (seems our new victim just won't shut-up. and she really should have) and a finale that proves just how far a human being can be pushed. Throw into this a finale that leads you one way only to slap you in the face with one Hell of a twist. It's a memorable way to end the movie and joins the last moments of Neil Marshall's The Descent as one of the best, non-cop out, endings to a horror movie in recent memory.

Mason and Boyes do quite a good job with little money coming up with some striking shots (such as purposely using a jittery camera during Hope's final confrontation with her captor) but their script is truly what makes Broken as good as it is. It doesn't go over-the-top and keeps the story fairly simple but the way they present it gives it an at times uncomfortable realism.

In regards to what's essentially a two-actor movie, Brand does a decent job as Hope and brings just the right amount of emotion to her performance. She makes the character convincing enough that when that finale does roll around its impact works. Eric Colvin's performance is more subtle in the fact that even though he doesn't really look the part of a disturbed individual he manages to transition the character from a fairly meek appearing man to an anger-filled psychopath. And let's not forget Abbey Stirling as our second hostage who does a good job using facial expressions to convey her character's emotional state. It's an all-around solid job by the cast.

Going into Broken I wasn't quite sure what to expect as my liking of the whole "torture" sub-genre of late has been a mixed bag but having had a day to absorb the film and to gather my thoughts I have nothing but praise for Mason and Boyes as they've made a movie that creeps under your skin and has way more going on underneath the surface than you might expect - and that's something that's rare in the horror genre this day and age.

Review based on unrated version. (Chris Hartley, 9/18/07)

Directed By: Adam Mason, Simon Boyes.
Written By: Adam Mason, Simon Boyes.

Starring: Nadja Brand, Eric Colvin, Abbey Stirling, Megan Van Kerro.

Picture Ratio: 1.85:1 Widescreen.

Picture Quality: While the film is meant to look drab and muted on purpose the transfer here works perfectly fine as it's a clean and solid picture throughout. I believe this was shot on HD and Dimension brings the movie to DVD looking like it should.

Extras: The first thing I should mention is the packaging. Usually I have no patience for slipcovers on DVD's as they just reprint the same shit on the box only with some mild embossing of some such boring thing but Broken's cover has the stitched split apart to reveal a gruesome surprise.

As for the actual special features we get a trailer, a still gallery, and a standard interview with star Brand taken from the Belgium International Film Festival. There's also an enjoyable making of featurette entitled "I Want You To Break" that goes over the history of the film and it's production as well as giving us some deleted scenes and the opportunity to see Mason call negative critics "c*nts". Also on hand is a commentary with Mason and Boyes that makes for an engaging listen and gives you an insight into what the two were trying to accomplish with their film.