Young Nick West (Andrew Howard)
breaks into an old abandoned asylum with some tarty looking girl (Polly Brown) in order to do some drugs. Whilst
looking round the building, they come across a strange looking chair, that looks more like a torture device than
something that would have been used in therapy. But, for whatever reason, the young girl decides to sit in it
(never a wise move in a horror film).
Almost immediately, she finds herself bound up and unable to move, as strange torture devices suddenly appear from the chair and begin to dig into her. High on LSD, Nick is unable to do anything to help. Subsequently, the local police don't believe his story about the chair coming to life and killing her, so he finds himself accused of her murder and locked up in a mental health clinic.
Some 4 years later, having apparently recovered, he is released into the care of a Dr Willard (David Gant), who wants to take him back to the old asylum as part of his therapy. But it seems his story about the chair could be all too real, as one of the girls in the group he's with sits in the chair and disappears. Other people in the group go to look for her, only to wind up meeting somewhat grisly ends, as they too decide to sit in the chair and end up falling prey to the bizarre torture devices that spring from it, before disappearing.
Dr Willard seems to know a lot more about the old building than he's letting on, particularly the unorthodox practices the old warden used to indulge in, back when it was a fully functioning facility. Realising that Dr Willard is not all he appears to be and there might be a way of bringing the others back, he decides to sit in the chair himself, but it seems things might not be as Nick perceives them....
Borrowing from the likes of "Hellraiser", the film doesn't start too badly and I was initially able to see past the films low budget and shaky acting and was even pleasantly surprised to see comedy actor Matt Berry turn up in a minor role. Sadly though, the film took a nosedive towards the end once the inevitable plot twist came (which I won't spoil for you) and it began to drag terribly. As a result, I ended up watching the last 15 minutes or so in fast forward and was distinctly unimpressed by the ending.
If you like low-budget British horror films, you may enjoy this, but otherwise, leave well alone.
