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5150 Elm's Way

(5150 Rue des Ormes)

Synopsis

A stunning opening film for Fanomenon, this French Canadian shocker will disturb and terrify you. When film student Yannick falls off his bike and goes to 5150 Elms Way for help, he gets more than he bargained for. Locked up by religious psychopath Jacques Beaulieu, he is beaten, tortured and driven to the edge of madness before he is offered a way out: beat Beaulieu at chess and he can go free. It sounds simple but Beaulieu has never lost a game and believes it is because of God’s will. Now a pawn in a game of life and death, Yan must win or lose his mind

Reviews

At Fanomenon, we show our fair share of what the tabloid press would like to call ‘torture porn’; the type of Hostel violence where near naked young ladies are beaten, mutilated and at worst sexually abused. It is an outrage to tar all films which include an element of torture with the same brush, and many a good film’s reputation has been marred by such comments, last year’s Silver Melies winner Mum and Dad for example. To a further extent, Day of the Dead 2008’s Martyrs  rose above the yells of ‘torture porn’ and has gone on to gain international acclaim for its exploration of themes never before touched upon in horror, or any other genre for that matter. This year, the somewhat less graphic but no less disturbing 5150 Elms Way offers an alternative look at the representation of torture to those also seen in Fanomenon, namely The Human Centipede and Macabre. In an outstanding tale of patriarchy, obsession, family and a game of extreme chess, 5150 excels in its commentary on captivity and what it means to be male, and human. Film student Yannick needs help getting home after crashing his bike on religious zealot Jacque Banlieue’s front lawn on Elms Way. Jacque however has no intention of letting Yan go quickly, and he is soon confined to a cell-like room as a substitute son for Jacque, object of affection for his wife, and punch bag for his sadistic daughter. With no clue why he is captive, Yan desparately clings to his sanity as his prison becomes distorted and disturbed. Slowly he discovers his role in Jacques project as a religious vigilante. Jacque’s obsession with the black and white/evil and good game of chess becomes Yan’s obsession also, and his only chance of escape is to beat Jacque at his own sick and disturbed version of the game where by trying to make the world a better place, Jacque has ironically sinned beyond redemption. Surpisingly fast paced for what would be best described as a psychological torture horror, and is lacking in the expositional padding which has ruined many a decent horror film but amazingly loses nothing in its establishment of characters. Unlike a lot of films dealing with similarly torturous subject matter, Yan is extremely likeable from the exposition, and his slow descent in to madness is convincing and eerie, yet upsetting. This likeable protagonist is lost almost as soon as he is found as we feel every blow he receives, physically and mentally. His creative and compassionate personality is contrasted clearly against the psychotic patriarch in the form of Jacque as his should seems to be absorbed and altered after spending too long in his tyrannical company.. High on symbolism, this clash of characters is the first of many symbols which hold the film together. The classic black and white, good and evil opposition is purposefully pushed to its limit by the inclusion of the chess game, which is vital to understanding Jacque’s warped view of society holding no ethical grey areas: for him, there is only good and evil, like the black and white of the chessboard. Jacques clarity is opposed to Yan’s ethereal, fantastical yet chilling visions as his descent into madness is told as a captivating multisensory journey. These dreamlike interjections alongside cut aways to Yan’s potential savoirs and Jacques vigilante missions also act as plot points which open up what could have been a claustrophobic narrative. On paper, Elms way reads like a gender reversal of Mum and Dad and its ilk with Yannick as a substitute son/pet. In reality, the tone is not one of gore and shock value, at least not explicitly until the last half hour or so. Elms Way could have easily rushed to its fantastic visual climax, and it is a credit to the writing and cinematography that the majority of the film does not feel like a mere build up to a stunning end. This is a film which is introverted and psychological, yet visual and disturbed throughout, and is definitely more torture pawn than torture porn.