The Snare

I was intrigued when I first heard about a movie from C.A. Cooper called The Snare -- three people find themselves trapped on the top floor of an empty, off-season vacation retreat, subject to the whims of a malevolent spirit, á la The Shining. Cooper shot the film in sequential order, forcing his actors to live in the apartment and method act their way to starvation and desperation. He essentially documented their physical and mental decay while they acted out the story. I wondered, "Is it possible for a movie made this way to be anything other than a punishing, unedifying watch?" Based on this evidence: No, it's probably not.

In the opening scene, Alice (Eaoifa Forward) hurriedly covers her naked body with a towel when her crotchety father (Stuart Nurse) barges in to question her about the road trip she's planned with friends. His comfortable nature around his adult daughter's nudity, and the silent anguish on her face, confirm that, yet again, a horror heroine is recovering from sexual trauma.

Alice joins her friend Lizzy (Rachel Warren) and Lizzy's boyfriend Carl (Dan Paton) to drive up to a secluded oceanside resort for a party. When the elevator goes out, the trio is stuck on one of the top floors with no way down. As hours become days and then weeks, they begin turning on one another when it seems a malevolent spirit might be dooming them by infesting their food with maggots and cutting off their water source. Watching the women get brutally raped isn't enjoyable for a horror fan. Perhaps Cooper is working in a separate genre altogether, one that diminishes the art and magic of horror.