Chain Letter (film)

Chain Letter is a 2010 American slasher film directed by Deon Taylor. It was written by Diana Erwin, Michael J. Pagan, and Deon Taylor. The film is about six friends who are stalked by a murderer that uses chains to kill them if they do not pass on the chain letter to five people.[2]

Chain Letter
Theatrical release poster
Directed byDeon Taylor
Produced by
Written by
  • Diana Erwin
  • Michael J. Pagan
  • Deon Taylor
Starring
Music byVincent Gillioz
CinematographyPhillip Lee
Edited byJames Coblentz
Production
company
Deon Taylor Enterprises
Distributed byNew Films Cinema
Release date
  • October 1, 2010 (2010-10-01)
Running time
98 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$3 million[1]
Box office$585,362[1]

Plot

The film opens in a garage with an unconscious teen girl having her head wrapped in duct tape and her legs chained to the back of two cars. A man and woman walk to their cars on their way to work. As the couple start their cars they exit the driveway. The woman in the car notices the victim, but before she can warn the man, he drives off.

Neil Conners (Cody Kasch) receives a chain letter from an anonymous person telling him that he is the first person who links the chain, and it instructs him to forward it to five people or else he will die. His sister Rachael (Cherilyn Wilson) forwards the letter, but to only four recipients. Neil then adds his sister to the list and sends it.

Rachael's best friend, Jessica "Jessie" Campbell (Nikki Reed), receives the letter and forwards it to five friends. Johnny Jones (Matt Cohen) also receives it but refuses to send it, believing it to be ridiculous. While he is getting a drink of water at the fountain in the gym, a black-hooded figure slams his head on the fountain, knocking two of his teeth out. Unconscious, he is chained by his arms to a gym set and his are ankles sliced open. The killer then uses the chains to slice his face open, killing him. Jessie becomes suspicious as more people start to die.

While taking a bath, Rachael becomes suspicious of a possible intruder inside the house. She investigates and is attacked by the killer who whips her with a chain several times as she runs through the house to escape. Re-entering the bathroom, she locks the door and looks for a weapon, pacing back and forth with a cistern lid, waiting for him to attack. She walks up to the door and places her face next to it, listening. Suddenly realizing the killer is on the other side doing exactly the same thing, she backs away. A few second later, the killer breaks through a side wall into the bathroom, hitting her on the top of her head with the lid, splitting it open.

Outside the house, Jessie is greeted by Detective Jim Crenshaw (Keith David), who tells her to forward the chain letter on to him. Jessie figures out they are being spied on using a virus embedded in the chain letter so she informs Neil and Michael (Michael J. Pagan); she tells them to get new e-mail addresses and phone numbers, as she believes this will stop the killings. Later on, as more people send Neil the message, he panics and decides to delete all of them in order to confront the killer. The killer, however, is on the roof of Neil's room, and sends a chain smashing through his ceiling. Neil dies when he is dragged up to the roof of his house by a chain with various sickles and a hook.

The next day, it is revealed that the teen girl chained to the cars in the beginning of the film is Jessie, who is killed because she sent the chain letter to Detective Crenshaw without sending it to four other people. Michael tries to save her but is too late; when her father pulls out of the driveway, Jessie is ripped apart.

As the film ends, Detective Crenshaw is shown chained to a table while the killer makes chains.

Cast

Production

The film was directed by Deon Taylor and co-written by Diana Erwin and Michael J. Pagan.[3] It stars Nikki Reed, Keith David, Brad Dourif, and Betsy Russell.[4] Roxanne Avent, Nesim Hason, and Todd Slater produced for Deon Taylor Enterprises.[5]

Filming took place in El Dorado Hills and Placerville in California, USA.[6]

Release

Theatrical release of the film was on October 1, 2010,[1] with screenings in New York City, Los Angeles, Chicago, Houston, Detroit, and Atlanta.[7] The film was released in American cinemas on October 1, 2010.[8] The film is a box-office bomb, making just $585,362 on a $3 million budget. It made $143,000 from 406 theaters, or an average of $352 per theater.[9]

Reception

Chain Letter received mostly negative reviews from critics. On review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 33% based on 15 reviews, with an average rating of 2.1/10.[10]

Mike Hale from The New York Times panned the film stating, "Chain Letter is bad in depressing and irritating ways, from the incoherent story to the unimaginative brutality of the killings to the especially cynical, sequel-baiting ending".[11] Frank Scheck from The Hollywood Reporter gave the film a negative review, calling the film "a by-the-numbers example of torture porn".[12] Dennis Harvey from Variety panned the film, feeling that the film's themes on technology felt way too dated while also criticizing the film's "sloppy" screenplay, uneven direction, and resolution.[13]

Home Media

The film was released in both unrated and theatrical cuts on DVD and Blu-ray on Feb 1, 2011.[14]

References
  1. "Chain Letter (2010)". Box Office Mojo. Amazon.com. Retrieved July 2, 2011.
  2. "New Films Forwards 'Chain Letter'" – The Wrap
  3. "Nikke Reed Chain Letter Gets a New Movie Trailer". Shockya. May 3, 2010. Retrieved February 5, 2016.
  4. "Chain Letter to be Delivered Late". DreadCentral.
  5. Get Hooked on the New Chain Letter Website
  6. https://www.mtdemocrat.com/prospecting/hollywood-comes-to-the-hills/
  7. Cities Announced for 'Chain Letter' Limited Release
  8. 'Chain Letter' Continues On Through October
  9. "Horror flops at the box office; Let Me In, Hatchet and Case 39 all tank", by Erik Walkuski, JoBlo.com
  10. "Chain Letter (2010) - Rotten Tomatoes". Rotten Tomatoes.com. Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved 2 May 2018.
  11. Hale, Mike. "Another Argument Against E-Mail - New York Times". New York Times.com. Mike Hale. Retrieved 27 October 2015.
  12. Scheck, Frank. "Chain Letter -- Film Review". The Hollywood Reporter.com. Frank Scheck. Retrieved 27 October 2015.
  13. Harvey, Dennis. "Chain Letter". Variety.com. Dennis Harvey. Retrieved 28 October 2015.
  14. "Chain Letter (2010) - Deon Taylor". Allmovie.com. Allmovie.
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