31 Days of Halloween: Rupture, the ultimate freak out fest

It’s Day 24 of 1428 Elm’s 31 Days of Halloween, and today we’re looking at the horror-science fiction hybrid directed by Steven Shainberg, the 2016 film, Rupture.

“I want to break free!” – Queen

Nothing to See Here

Noomi Rapace of Prometheus and Girl with a Dragon Tattoo fame (the original) stars in this chilling horror sci-fi hybrid, Rupture. She plays Renee, a struggling divorced Mom of an emotionally challenged boy, Evan. It is your typical set up where her ex doesn’t contribute enough monetarily and she is left trying to cope with more and more demands by herself.

After dropping her son off at his father’s, Renee decides to do something risk taking so she enrolls in a skydiving course. Why not? Whenever I have stressful situations in my own life, I take to bungee jumping from bridges because YOLO.

Unbeknownst to her, she is being tailed by the Bald Man (Michael Chiklis) and a nefarious woman named Dianne (Kerry Bishe). Yes, I am dead serious, Chiklis’ character goes by that moniker!

We don’t know why they are following her but it definitely gives off a creepy vibe. Suddenly, Renee’s car tire deflates and she is forced off the road. Luckily for her, two guys show up and offer her a hand.

However, while looking in the trunk for the equipment to fix her flat with the one guy, she is subdued and dragged into the back of what looks like a bread truck or some sort of delivery vehicle. What a way to start the day, huh?

Welcome to Your Personal Hell

After riding for several hours in a bumpy delivery truck, Renee ends up in some mysterious underground complex. While she is waiting for her destination, she talks to another captive, Blake (Jonathan Potts). He gives her this cryptic sequence and tells her to remember it, G10 12X.

Thoroughly confused, Blake is wheeled away. Then Renee is ushered into her “room.” She remains strapped to her bed. Enter the Bald Man and the diabolical Dianne who come in to observe and ask her bizarre questions.

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Meanwhile, she can hear the agonizing screams of the other occupants while they are being “interrogated.” This is an exercise in claustrophobia and paranoia. Every time new people come into Renee’s room, the tension is palpable.

Suffice it to say, Renee manages to escape and run around the complex down a never-ending supply of corridors and dank Freddy Krueger like boiler room areas. Of course, she is recaptured.

When Terrence (Peter Stormare) shows up, between his calm demeanor and the Bald Man’s menace, you don’t know who is more terrifying. There is quite a bit of skin sniffing that goes on. This is done in preparation for the “rupture.”

Terrence explains that she is the perfect candidate for this to happen since she has passed their pre-requisite tests dealing with personal fears (in Renee’s case it is spiders). Apparently, all she has to do is give herself the permission to transform.

Metamorphosis

It turns out that Terrence and his motley crew are aliens. Galvanic skin responses to fear apparently are the transformation trigger and how “they” can tell a subject is ready. They end up injecting Renee with an accelerator. However, that doesn’t have any immediate effect on her.

She asks them if it is G10 12X. This pleases them that she knows about this compound. This is the sequence of DNA that needs to “rupture” in order for the alien transformation to occur. It also helps as Terrence points out that Renee’s DNA is compatible with theirs and she is fertile.

Does Renee cross over? Will she be able to return to her life? You won’t find any spoilers here!

The Verdict

Rupture is directed by Steven Shainberg who brought us the sexy S & M flick, Secretary. This effort doesn’t in any way shape or form resemble that work. I have read the reviews and some haven’t been favorable calling it a student film.

For me, it was all about the psychological horror of the story. The set is claustrophobic, red and orange lighting on top of bland colors lends a sense of tension and urgency. Through those simple conventions a definite sense of underlying tautness succeeds in building the audience’s response.

The acting is excellent. Chiklis imbues the Bald Man with the right sense of impersonal malevolence. Kerry Bishe is absolutely unnerving as the icy, cool blonde lab assistant with a penchant for torture.

Peter Stormare knows how to bring the scary. Even in the darkly comedic Fargo, his deadpan expression and tranquil demeanor belie his true intentions making him even more ominous.

Noomi Rapace is always fascinating to watch. Her acting is truthful and she plays women who look vulnerable but have a core of inner strength very well.

Brian Nelson’s screenplay keeps the ball rolling. Even though this film is a slow burn, the script entices you with the characters and situations and sucks you right in.

There are definitely enough thrills and chills in this little flick. If you are looking for a screw-with-your-head type experience for Halloween, this is the movie for you.

Next: Psycho: 78/52 documentary showers you in Hitchcock’s genius (review)

Have you seen Rupture? Do you like psychological horror? Feel free to share your thoughts in the comment section below. We want to hear from you!