See that image of beloved scream queen Danielle Harris haulin’ ass down a hallway? Well, I hope you dig on the runnin’ cause ol’ D-gurl does plenty of that in Inoperable…but first, a lil’ set up…
Inoperable finds our heroine Amy (Harris) warping back in forth in time from her s-hot Stingray to the interior of a massively understaffed hospital. As she drives and/or wanders the hallways of healin’ we learn there is a massive hurricane on the way as well…I mean, a girl can’t even catch a break; if it isn’t getting caught in a time loop it’s being threatened by ol’ Mother Nature herself…talk about a Tuesday, amirite? Anyway, Amy constantly flashes back and forth from the safety of the ‘ray to the hell of the hospital and it’s demented staff. How will Amy right herself in reality and escape her sinister surroundings? Only time will tell (hahaha…I regret nothing)!
Kickin’ things off with a ray of sunshine (as I do), Inoperable has some good stuff going for it. First off, and most obvious to horror hounds, we get another dependable, top shelf performance from Danielle Harris. Look, there’s a reason she has a list of credits as long as the arm of Kong in the horror biz; she’s a damn fine actress, and manages to bring an air of believability to our time lost heroine. Speaking of “time”; the time loop elements of the story are fascinating, with Amy always going from the safety of her car to the ever increasing madness of the hospital…and oh, what a setting it is…endless corridors, bat shit insane staff, gory surgeries (with some quality grue and red sauce) that do more harm than good…all add up to a solid and atmospheric spook show locale.
As for the not so good…well, as stated above, there is lots of running and wandering (and seemingly floating), and at a few points it seems like it’s just there to pad this baby out a hair. I know that film makers have to meet some bizarre demands from producers and distributors (not saying that happened here), and length is always an issue…but believe me; as a horror fanatic, I don’t care if a fright flick runs short as long is what is there is fast paced and/or entertaining…and filler material never, ever is. That being said, it didn’t totally kill the picture’s momentum, and the strength of the overall story prevailed.
So that’s that in regards to Inoperable the film, but this DVD release from ITN does offer a couple of eerie extras to sweeten the putrid pot. First up we get a commentary with writer/producer Jeff Miller, writer/director Christopher Lawrence Chapman, and actors Katie Keene and Jeff Denton. It’s a great conversation on what it took to bring the film to screen…though I will say it was weird not having Harris present. The other feature is the film’s trailer…so a hale and hearty whoopie shit to that one.
Inoperable is a solid time twistin’ romp that would appeal to fans of Silent Hill or The Twilight Zone; it’s well acted and realized and keeps the viewer engaged and guessing ’til the final frame!
For more on Inoperable from Horror Fuel, head here and here!