What’s the most frightening thing for a horror film? A serial killer? A killer car?
Feral children? Those are all
likely subjects but I’m sure an ATM would be nowhere on your list which is what
makes the concept of ATM (2012) so
interesting. Three friends after coming
home from a party decide to stop at a twenty-four ATM machine and are held
under siege by a man in a winter overcoat.
Siege films are nothing new (just look at The Strangers or John Carpenter’s Prince of Darkness) but this film is really a pressure cooker of a
suspense thriller. Siege films work when
the suspense starts but never stops such as Buried
(2010) or Phone Booth (2002) and
that’s exactly how ATM is.
What the film lacks in originality it excels in
execution. Chris Sparling’s screenplay
does a good job of establishing the characters early on before all hell breaks
loose and the fact that the motives of the tormentor is questionable builds
tension. What will turn off most people
will be the apparent lack of originality with the film but director David
Brooks manages to put together a pretty decent thriller.
This type of thriller is very common as it requires a single
location for most of the run time of the film and a limited amount of actors
which works in this film due to the talented cast and Brooks’ direction. For fans of thrillers this is a film right up
your alley. After watching this film
going to the ATM in the middle of the night will have you thinking otherwise.
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