The Bermuda Triangle is one of the most fascinating combinations of mystery, folk law and bizarre coincidences on the planet. It’s about time a high end horror was produced inspired by it. And that’s the niche “Triangle” fills.

Even if the name refers to the yacht… not the triangle.

The film begins in what seems to be a fairly random sequence from the past, one which gives absolutely nothing away but still leaves you feeling chilled. The child’s fear, something which has been cleared away, the mother’s continuing appearance of not being quite there keeps everything slightly uneasy from the start, despite the higher tone of the cruise they set out on.

The basic story of the first third of the film is about the cruise, a freak storm which capsizes their boat and washes away one of their number, and their subsequent jump onto a cruise liner which steams past nearby. Now this isn’t an episode of Lost, they can’t fill the film with references and expect the audience to look it up later. As such it gets a little artistic licence. The ship is found to be called Aeolus (Greek keeper of the winds) and was around in 1932. What’s more however, in this mythology Aeolus is also given the role of Sisyphus, a Greek King who cheated death by chaining it. As punishment he was forced to for eternity roll a rock up a great mountain, only to watch it roll back down again. Hint – Repeating storyline – Hint. The film continues to get more bizarre as fleeting figures are seen in the halls, splitting the party as they run after them, and the slightly strange Jess begins to recognise things, the corridors, her own keys dumped on the floor… but no one believes her. In fact it’s fairly difficult for us to. Oh and don’t forget, there’s mirrors, mirrors everywhere. You’re going to see a lot of Jess!

The opening scenes are a little dull for a horror flick, but don’t worry, it moves on fast.

Things steadily get creepier (Remember, this film is British) to the point you’re sitting itching for something to happen. There’s blood on the floor, the food’s rotting in fast forward. Everyone’s split up. Don’t worry, you won’t be disappointed. There’s a lot of deaths within a few minutes. In fact you’ll be swept up in the weird pacing. Within only twenty minutes on the ship an entire film has played out, complete with climactic ending sequence. However there’s a reason for this, and a clue as to what’s going on. “You have to kill them, have to kill them. You have to kill them to get out.” But if you expect them to give anything away, keep waiting! Things only get weirder from here.

But unfortunately, so does the acting. When you’re friend is shot by someone, is your reaction to shove them, call them a B**** and then let them past? All the emotions are a bit weirdly portrayed, and turn up at the oddest moments. Even factoring in that one of the characters seems to be insane, and the others are just plain confused in addition to their misery, it seems unnatural and hardly helps the audience connect.

Mirrors are seen again and again, and there’s a reason for it

The same can be said of the horror clichés. Blood writing on the mirror… more mirrors, killer in a sack hood, the fall from innocence to experience of the killer themselves. Again for the coincidences, every now and then you have to think, “wouldn’t they, with the slightly different circumstances, have done something different? Not hit that pipe? Not killed that person?” I may be thinking as a cynic here but it does seem to push you from the movie, make you see it as a member of an audience rather then a part of the action.

But on the other hand… this is all balanced out. The mirror imagery ties it all together (the broken mirror in the cloakroom is a great touch), the gradual revelation of the motives of the killer, the tie-backs into every bit of the story until it’s complete.

Prepare to see some scenes more than once

When I say complete… I mean everything ties together, I don’t mean it’ll make sense. The revolving storyline seems to start in the revolver and never really come out either end. Essentially the story has no beginning or end, and trying to work out how it started or how it finishes is a waste of time, because it doesn’t. This is a film you have to watch with a feel of suspended reality, give a little cynicism away so that the writers can drag you off on this odd tale, one you’re left wondering if it really happened at all, and may walk out of the room wanting a bar of chocolate or a cup of tea, something reliable!

The film is a good one, if a little odd, and has been fine-tuned well. The eerily innocent piano, again a tie point of the film, clashes with the dirty and old feel of the corridors of the ship. It can be said the writers took it too far with dragging the action from the ship back to land at the end of the film, but that’s not to say the rest of the film is excellent. And in true British style, leaves you suspended as if you expect the film to run through once more. In fact, why don’t you do that, ties in fine as an extension of the first time and you’ll get to notice all those little touches you missed the first time round.

PS. Also, it inspires one of my favourite movie posters!

3/5
B