100 FEET

Marnie Watson is under house arrest for the murder of her husband, a corrupt and violent police officer who vented his anger by beating her. The woman wears an ankle monitor that alerts the police to any movement that takes her outside the perimeter imposed by the authorities. But Marnie's forced confinement will be particularly eventful, as the spirit of her husband, killed in that very house, is intent on revenge. Take the mediocre thriller about domestic violence and (self-)defense "Get Out of My House", mix it with "Poltergeist", and add, as a complication, the ingredient of house arrest that strongly recalls the recent "Disturbia", and you will have a clear idea of what "Perimeter of Fear" (original title "100 Feet") is. "Clear" perhaps not entirely, given that the three films in question would hardly have succeeded in blending to give life to a hybrid. And yet, director and screenwriter Eric Red ("No Control"; "Bad Moon") has managed it, perhaps not creating what could be called a "good film" in all respects, but showing a certain ability to make credible a story with many potentialities of being disappointing, without managing to fully exploit its strengths. In a situation of confinement like the one shown in "Perimeter of Fear", the most obvious card to play would have been that of claustrophobia and the suggestion dictated by the closed environment in which the film takes place. Strangely, Red does not play at all on the location, he is not interested in creating in the spectator's mind an ideal topography of the house in which the story is set and the vaguely Gothic physiognomy of the interiors is not exploited at all. Excluding in such a decisive way the scenographic exaltation and the terror dictated by the spaces, "Perimeter of Fear" relies entirely on the individual appearances of the ghost, which do not tend so much to the subtle fright of neo-oriental inspiration, but rather throw themselves into the violence that the apparition generates, bringing to mind "Entity" more than any ghost movie the American school has created. The look of the ghost is rather well hit because it effectively reflects the ectoplasmic imagery that we all have stored: anthropomorphic features, blurred outlines, and a pale face transfigured into an image of terror. The ghost's actions, as mentioned, always lead to pure violence, creating a clear parallel with his wicked actions in life. Among all the scenes that feature him, the most memorable is undoubtedly the one in which he beats the wife's lover to death, by the way, the only scene that leads to explicit gore. Unfortunately, Red, who has the scripts of "The Hitcher", "The Dark", and "Blue Steel" in his career, has not provided adequate character development. If the stereotype of the violent husband who was also a corrupt police officer and now a vengeful ghost does not create problems, on the contrary, it fits functionally into the screenplay, absolutely wrong is the characterization of his former colleague, played blandly by Bobby Cannavale ("Snakes on a Plane"; "The Supermarket Cop"), that is, a by-the-book police officer who, without a real reason, goes from being a true adversary of Marnie (he is convinced of the woman's guilt) to her bodyguard (he is ready to believe her reasons for the murder). Marnie, on the other hand, is a somewhat too linear and one-dimensional character: the viewer knows from the beginning of her reasons and her status as a victim, perhaps it would have been interesting to find in the woman's personality a minimum of ambiguity that did not cut with the axe the roles of good/evil that have been assigned to her and her husband. To play Marine, there is the good Famke Janssen ("X-Men"; "I'll Find You") who, beyond the banality of her character, manages to hold the entire film alone, showing that she has a talent perhaps a bit underutilized in Hollywood. The finale, aimed at blockbuster sensationalism, ridiculously (and surely unintentionally) echoing Tolkien-like scenes, would have been for a rewrite. In conclusion, "Perimeter of Fear" is definitely a watchable and in its own way "original" film, but it is still far from being successful.