Send Help

Directed by Sam Raimi, Send Help details the bloody chaos that ensues after two work rivals (Rachel McAdams’ Linda and Dylan O’Brien’s Bradley) find themselves stranded on a remote island. It’s familiar yet promising subject matter that is, at the outset, employed to exceedingly agreeable effect by Raimi, as the filmmaker, armed with Damian Shannon and Mark Swift’s screenplay, delivers a briskly-paced, larger-than-life endeavor that benefits from its tongue-in-cheek approach and compelling central performances – with, in terms of the latter, both McAdams and O’Brien offering up compelling work that remains a constant highlight within the increasingly erratic proceedings. And while Raimi has peppered the spare narrative with several standout sequences and digressions, including (and especially) Linda’s brutal and gleefully unhinged encounter with a wild boar, Send Help progresses into a static and frustratingly repetitive midsection that slowly-but-surely alienates the viewer (ie the wheel-spinning atmosphere is nothing short of palpable). By the time the protracted (and woefully unsatisfying) climax rolls around, Send Help has confirmed its place as a passable horror effort in desperate need of serious streamlining (ie the picture has no business running a minute over an hour and a half).

**1/2 out of ****