George (Bruno Talotta) is a University professor. Claudia (Andrea Nettleton) is a beautiful and cynical graduate student. George needs a subject for an unusual experiment, and Claudia is a more-than-willing guinea pig. The truly disturbing thing about this experiment, however, is that one of them won’t be leaving once it’s over.
It's completely impossible to talk about this film's content without giving some spoilers, at least in insinuation. As such, consider yourself warned!
Warning - Spoilers ahead!
Perhaps the creepiest thing about this movie is that the opening scene could very well be the beginning of a romantic film - George is getting dressed, rehearsing greetings in a mirror, cooking dinner, and lighting candles. It looks as though he's getting ready for a first date or romantic interlude, except for two things that throw off this picture: the eerie music that plays in the background and George's manner itself. He seems almost too subdued and quite creepy. On the one hand, this works well to his character and keeps the audience aware that all is not quite right, but this also does make him seem a little bit two-dimensional, as there's very little change in the inflection and tone of his voice.
Claudia also seems less emotional than perhaps she should be, considering what she's about to agree to. She is seen taking a pill in the bathroom, but there's no indication of what it is or if it's helping to suppress her feelings and emotions.
A film like this walks a very delicate balance - one can't give too much information away at the beginning, or all suspense will be lost. There is a good amount of build-up, though a lot of it relies on the music, as the dialogue itself is so vague as to sometimes be a bit confusing. Even Claudia's final statement - which George videotapes - is very cryptic and almost "emo" in its wording. There is little indication of what is about to happen and why she has agreed to allow George to kill, dismember, and eat her. Yes, I said kill, dismember and eat. I told you it was creepy. (Actually, there have been cases where people have voluntarily allowed canibals to eat them as a form of elaborate suicide. I think the most recent case happened in Australia, if I'm not mistaken.)
There are some other issues of omission that crop up, as well. For instance, while George is dismembering the body his narration mentions a "guide on the Internet," which supposedly detailed what to do, but there isn't much detail given. He also only talks about his goals and motivations in vague terms, and while I can understand why a filmmaker wouldn't want to get into too many details, the majority of the movie's dialogue is so ambiguous, that an audience will likely be left with more questions than answers.
Along those same lines - and by far the one point in the movie that made my skin crawl more than anything - is at the very end where George begins to express regret. At first I assumed that he meant the entire incident, but instead it was over the manner in which he had killed Claudia, which has somehow ruined the taste of the meat. Creepy, creepy, creepy! But while the thought that he's most likely going to go through this whole thing again sent chills down my spine, there's still little explanation - other than the fact that he seems to be a rather eccentric University professor - as to why he is doing this. (Perhaps the director should model some of the narration after a show like Dexter or a film like American Psycho to make the main character more understandable.)
