Delirium

An often extraordinarily tedious horror effort, Delirium follows Topher Grace’s Tom as he’s released from a mental institution after a 20 year stint and forced to spend a month cooped up in his dead parents’ enormous estate – with the movie detailing Tom’s growing suspicion that he’s not alone in the expansive home. It’s a familiar premise that’s employed to instant (and increasingly) tedious effect by director Dennis Iliadis, as the filmmaker employs an excessively deliberate pace that highlights the various deficiencies within Adam Alleca’s unreasonably spare screenplay – with the egregious emphasis on the is-it-real-or-is-it-just-in-Tom’s-head element certainly perpetuating the movie’s often interminable vibe. And although Iliadis has peppered the one-note narrative with some positive attributes (eg Grace’s admittedly strong turn as the tortured central character), Delirium‘s repetitive midsection, which seems to consist solely of scene after scene of Tom skulking the home and looking frightened, ensures that the movie runs out of steam long before it reaches its comparatively electrifying third act. (It’s worth noting, however, that even this portion of the proceedings contains a generic, paint-by-numbers feel that proves rather disastrous.) The end result is a disappointing misfire that’s too similar to other, better movies to make much of an impact, and it’s ultimately difficult to envision this thin story working even in the context of a short film.

*1/2 out of ****