Cinema review
Directed by Tom Shankland
Starring Stellan Skarsgard, Melissa George, Selma Blair
Release date 22 February 2008 (UK)

A troubled detective with a dark past attempts to find out who has been capturing, and torturing, a series of apparently unrelated victims. However, the answer lies closer to home than he thinks…

The so-called ‘torture porn’ genre may have given us such stinkers as Captivity and Wolf Creek, but W∆Z proves that the trend is not a total loss. Here, Skarsgard and 30 Days of Night star Melissa George investigate some of 2008’s nastiest demises – all carried out by a mysterious female with a mean strike a mile wide. However, what neither of them knows is that there is a method to her madness and, while that hardly makes the film’s slaughter defendable, it does at least give the audience something to think about - namely: how much pain would you endure for someone you love?

Part slasher movie and part Saw-style horror, W∆Z features excellent performances and an endearingly twisty storyline. Moreover, unlike Hostel Part II and the aforementioned Wolf Creek, the most painful demises are saved for the men in this movie and male viewers might well be crossing their legs tightly at one scene. If there is one complaint to be made it is that the talented George is largely left in the background – although Hellboy star Selma Blair gets to chew some scenery in a maniacal turn that has to be seen to be believed.

It all adds up to the best serial killer shocker since David Fincher’s Seven and that is heady praise indeed! Calum Waddell

VERDICT: 8/10
Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned.