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Horror/slasher films are back in vogue in recent years and somehow "Captivity" never really saw the light of day in theaters. The surprisingly fine film boasts notable behind the camera creative personnel in director Roland Joffe, a two-time Academy Award nominee for "The Killing Fields" and "The Mission," and co-writer Larry Cohen is the horror master responsible for "It's Alive."

Those viewers looking for wall to wall blood spurting and dismemberment that are the hallmark of such films as "Hostel" and the "Saw" series will be disappointed because "Captivity" operates more on a psychological terror level. Despite their grossness, a "Saw" or "Hostel" comes across as cartoonish with their way out villains and preposterous situations and you are always aware the gore is special effects. The killers and situation in "Captivity" are realistic thus the film is more disturbing than those kind of films.

Not that "Captivity" is entirely devoid of gore. There is a scene more disgusting and vomit inducing than anything "Saw" or "Hostel" has to offer. Jennifer (Elisha Cuthbert) is trapped to a table and terrified as Ben (Pruitt Taylor Vince) prepares a very special concoction in the blender. He tosses in an eyeball, ear and other body parts and carefully changes speeds to create a bloody milkshake, a parody of the yukky looking protein shake Jennifer drank earlier in the film. She reacts by clamping her mouth shut. Ben pinches her nose to force her mouth open, inserts a funnel and pours in the bloody mess.

The beautiful Cuthnert is not a stretch in playing a hot and spoiled model who does not appear all that content with her life. She is stalked, drugged, abducted and awakened into captivity. Eventually jennifer discovers she is not alone as Gary (Daniel Gillies) is seemingly also a prisoner. To reveal anything more would spoil the film.

Fans of Cuthbert will not be disappointed as she looks good as least in the beginning (sorry, no nudity) and does what she can in a standard hot girl in a horror movie thankless role. Acting honors go to Vince whose hulking presence is always a scene stealer. The American-Russian co-production runs a crisp 85 minutes and the music score was composed by Marco Beltrami, Academy Award nominated for "3:10 to Yuma." There is outstanding set design by Addis Gabzhiev and camerawork for Daniel J. Pearl whose best known for shooting "AVPR: Alien vs. Predator-Requiem."

As expected direction is solid by Joffe who is clearly slumming in this genre and one has to wonder what has happened to his once artistic and politically charged career. For those with long memories, co-producer Mark Damon is a former actor who co-starred with Boris Karloff in Mario Bava's "Black Sabbath." "Captivity" is well worth checking out on cable or on DVD.

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