'11-11-11' is Fine but Unremarkable.

The main reason I hate the 'Saw' series is because we are smothered with its gore frenzy feature that is supposed to please the horror genre aficionado. Include me to those aficionados, but inexplicably, I felt otherwise.

In the latest from Darren Lynn Bousman is an intriguing flick by title: "11-11-11". And this movie, in contrast to the 'Saw' films, smothers itself.

The film starts with Joseph Crone (Timothy Gibbs), an accomplished American author finds himself plowing between the lines of depression and writer's block after the tragic incineration of his son and wife triggered by an insane fan. Because of depression, Joseph comes face-to-face, almost, with death, after a car crash.

Of course, hewing to the witty convention of using the numbers to bring that quote: ominous feel, Crone learns that his crash happened exactly at 11:11 AM. With the help of his researching mind, he figures that the figure '11' has something significant in his past life and now he is haunted because he is about to witness more frequent 11-related chaos.

What Darren forgot is that to establish a solid film, one must not forget a single element. In this case, he focused on one element: the concept. The concept was excessively focused to the extent that it was in truth the 'oxygen stealer' disabling the other elements such as plot and structure to breathe. While it generates a decent amount of shock; in fact forcing my hands to swing up the air and then tremble suddenly, '11-11-11' also showcased in my opinion, convincing fear.

Dreaded by the fact that the film borrowed the shades of 'Signs': having someone to lose faith, I went to the kitchen to make an omelet. I could admit that I poke my head frequent times, but that doesn't erase the permanent ink of forgotten elements.

In contrast to Bousman's 'Mother's Day', '11-11-11' suggests a fine horror film as a whole, while it leaves nothing intriguing enough to leave after-frights.