This is a pretty solid little thriller/horror flick. It has enough disturbing imagery and uncomfortable themes to keep even the most hardened of genre-fans entertained and captivated from start to finish. It boasts some solid performances and some inspired direction, and in the end, it provides a creepy enough atmosphere for me to recommend it to people I know are horror fans.

I've actually read the source novel for this one and what I saw was certainly not what I read. The novel is slim, garish and unpleasant, but this just goes down the arty route and pads it all out with endless mini twists, turns, small talk, and extra extraneous characters who add nothing. The one thing that appealed was the music from old Argento flicks, a nice touch certainly, but the rest is absolutely pitiful.

This is an oddball film with writing that is either ingenious or sick or both. Reed (Christopher Abbott) who appears to be a designer/draftsman has an infant daughter and a piercing fetish. He leaves for a business trip on which he plans to pick up a prostitute and stab her with an ice pick, something that stems from a childhood incident...I think.

Now the prostitute (Mia Wasikowska) has her own twisted plan which doesn't include getting stabbed with an ice pick. The picture is filled with twists and head fakes that keeps you on your toes, wanting to watch things play out as the two work to outmaneuver each other.

Guide: F-word, sex, nudity (Mia Wasikowska, Maria Dizzia)