One of the greatest tragedies of 2016 is that Jeremy Saulnier‘s grim, claustrophobic horror movie Green Room didn’t turn a profit, grossing only $3 million against its budget of $5 million. The plot is simple. A punk band called the Ain’t Rights, comprising Pat (Anton Yelchin), Sam (Alia Shawkat), Tiger (Callum Turner), and Reece (Joe Cole), are desperately short of cash, so take a gig that they normally wouldn’t touch: playing at a Neo-Nazi club.
But hey, money is money and they’re not in a position to turn it down. Indeed the band are so broke that they have to siphon gas from parked cars to even keep their van on the road. Unfortunately things go awry not long after they finish playing the gig as they see something they really aren’t supposed to. Things quickly spiral out of control and the band must do everything they can to try and make it through the night and survive the plan that club owner Darcy (in a spectacular heel turn from Patrick Stewart) has waiting for them.
Green Room is by no means the first film to take a serious look at the modern white supremacist movement, to look at the modern day Nazi as opposed to the WW2 era goose-stepping thug who had long since descended into a caricature, fit only to be kicked around by Captain America or punched in the face by Indiana Jones. Romper Stomper, American History X, This is England and now Green Room all look at these individuals and their ideologies within a more relatable modern day setting, but Green Room accomplishes something more. It turns them into a genuine threat. The people in Green Room are not ones that our protagonists can bargain with, or reason with. They are as implacable as any Jason Voorhees or Michael Myers without being cartoonish boogeymen. Their logic and their reasoning is realistic and plausible and that makes them genuinely terrifying.
It’s been a long time since a film left me feeling emotionally and physically drained by the end of it, but Green Room is that kind of film. It is an unsettling, unrelentingly oppressive, claustrophobic nightmare of a film and that is meant in the best possible way. From the moment things go south the film doesn’t stop. There’s no relief for our characters and only one or two scenes where cast and viewer get a second to breathe and take stock before the next horrible thing happens. The violence is bloody and grotesque, but understated, realistic and all the more shockingly intense for it. There are no fountains of blood, no piles of viscera, just the sounds of stabbing, chopping and screams that fade to desperate gurgles.
The cast all turn in spectacular performances, from the restrained fury of Patrick Stewart’s Darcy, the traumatised and desperate Amber, (Imogen Poots) or Callum Turner’s “true punk” Tiger. Every character feels authentic and part of the scene they’re portraying. There’s never a moment that takes the audience out of the story, the grimy, grungy club and that single crappy little green room becoming as much a character in its own right as any of the human actors. Special mention has to be given, of course, to the late Anton Yelchin. His turn as bass player Pat just confirms that he was taken from us far too soon and we should have had many more years of great performances from him.
While the original Blu-ray release had a definite paucity of special features, sporting just a single commentary track and a making-of featurette, Second Sight have done their usual sterling job at remedying this oversight. Both the commentary and making of are included, and are bolstered by a plethora of new interviews with cast and crew and a second commentary tracking featuring Reyna Cervantes and Prince Jackson, both of whom write for Bloody Disgusting.
The new interviews include ‘Going Hardcore’ with writer/director Jeremy Saulnier, ‘Punk Rock’ actor Callum Turner who played Tiger, ‘Rocking Out’ featuring the composers Brooke and Will Blair, ‘Going Green’ with the film’s production designer Ryan Warren Smith and finally ‘Nazi Punks F*ck Off’ with writer Thomas Caldwell giving his thoughts on Green Room. The limited edition release also includes a slipcase with some rather lovely new artwork, six art cards and a book with new essays from Shelagh Rowan-Legg, Jolene Richardson, Giacomo Petrone and many more.
READ MORE: The Passing of Akira Toriyama – How he inspired my love of an art form
Available in both UHD and Blu-ray, this is another first rate release from Second Sight of a movie that deserved to find more of an audience on its initial release. While it’s definitely not for everyone, and is such an intense experience that some viewers might not fancy a second viewing, it absolutely deserves a place in the collection of any genre fan.
Green Room is out on Limited Edition 4K UHD/Blu-ray Box set on 18th March from Second Sight Films.
