stuart gordon's STUCK (2008)

Gordon's Re-animator is among the most confident, accomplished first features within and even outside its genre, so it's sad his output since then has been so underwhelming. the effective, occasionally fascinating Stuck comes as close as any to following up on his potential as a serious filmmaker, but the confines of its "based on a true story" frame (however much the ending deviates) are both helpful and hurtful to its overall effect; on one hand the extremely limited constellation of characters and events keeps Gordon focused on the suspense of it all, but once the scenario's options have been carefully, thoroughly exhausted Stuck ends up feeling much more like a macabre short story than a cohesive film. still, both Mena Suvari and Stephen Rea give vulnerable, against-type performances, and Gordon's taste seems reinvigorated...just in time to get crackin' on House Of Re-Animator.