Stuck, the latest horror film by Stuart Gordon of Re-Animator fame, concerns a subject based on a story literally ripped from the headlines. In 2003, Chante Jawan Mallard hit Gregory Biggs with her car. He got stuck in her windshield. She drove home with him, still lodged in the windshield, and left him to die hours later in her garage. She never reported the incident or sought medical assistance for Biggs. Thankfully, justice prevailed -- Mallard is currently serving time in jail for his death. 

The same week of the film’s release, 78 year-old Angel Torres of Hartford, CT was struck by a car and left lying on the street. Witnesses to the hit-and-run did nothing.  Predictably, the incident sparked public outrage.  According to From KABC-TV Los Angeles and AP:

The chilling scene -- captured on video by a streetlight surveillance camera -- has touched off a round of soul-searching in Hartford, with the capital city's biggest newspaper blaring "SO INHUMANE" on the front page and the police chief lamenting: "We no longer have a moral compass."

Stuck, therefore, proves timely while touching on such incidents as driving under the influence and unthinkable acts of cruelty as well as alarming attitudes of indifference -- all of which seem to be on the increase in our society. Director Gordon’s new independent feature is dark, ugly, disgusting, and bloody.  It also happens to be a masterful, well-directed piece of filmmaking with a twisted sense of humor.

Poor Tom (Stephen Rea) can’t seem to catch a break.  He’s out of work, his landlord has given him the boot, and the unemployment office misplaced his application. He finds himself sitting on a park bench where he meets the kindly Sam (Lionel Mark Smith), another homeless man, who offers him a drink, the only act of kindness Tom has experienced all day. Brandi (Mena Suvari), on the other hand is faring much better. A nursing assistant at a retirement home, Brandi’s seeming compassion and hard work have been noticed by her supervisor who considers making her the captain of the NAs.

That evening, Brandi goes to a hip-hop club with her coworker Tanya (Rukiya Bernard) and they meet up with Brandi’s drug dealer boyfriend, Rashid (Russell Hornsby). Meanwhile, during a sweep of the park, the cops push Tom along, so he wanders the empty streets. Later, under the influence, Brandi drives home and has the accident that sends Tom head first through her windshield.

The element of time is central to this film. In the real-life case, people were not only outraged by the act itself (that Mallard brought Biggs home with her instead of getting help) but also by the fact that Biggs lingered for some time in Mallard’s garage while she went about her business. To emphasize the time element, Gordon includes a time marker on the screen. Combining it with the parallel editing in the early minutes of the film, Gordon creates a tension-filled countdown to the accident.

The other important element heightening suspense and tension involves Brandi’s fear of discovery and Tom’s hope for discovery. Brandi is understandably terrified of being found out. Keeping Tom’s presence in her garage under wraps has her slowly unraveling at work. For Tom, the clock ticks away, and his chances at being found are dashed.  How much longer can he last?

Up until now, we’ve been watching what I would call an “urban” psychological horror/thriller, a genre that deals more with the “horror” of human (inhumane?) behavior. It isn’t a movie about psycho serial killers, ghosts, or any of the usual stuff you see in scary films. So I assumed it would stay faithful to the story that inspired it.

SPOILER ALERT

But somewhere around the time when poor old Tom manages to extricate himself from the windshield (yes, incredibly he does), the movie morphs into a darkly comic survival tale with shades of Re-Animator. Oh Hoorah! Just when I thought the die was cast for poor old Tom. But now with the genre switch, maybe, just maybe, Tom’s day might end up better than it started.

With his perpetually unkempt hair and sad-sack face, Stephen Rea makes a perfect Tom. Because of a fierce desire to live, he tries to escape, and in the process winds up resembling one of Dr. Herbert West’s reanimated corpses. Mena Suvari -- in the role of Brandi -- is so good she’s scary, and her character boasts a strong arc. As the film progresses, Brandi’s character changes, or I should say gets revealed. The compassionate face she wears rubs off and we see instead a tough-as-nails, cruel, and ugly young woman who’ll go to any lengths, even the unthinkable, to avoid getting caught. This is not a woman who has “lost her moral compass.” She never had one to begin with.

Along the way, Gordon supplies some over-the-top dialogue and twisted humor -- one scene involves a bone-loving pomeranian pooch named Princess.  Gordon also inverts pejorative racial stereotypes while taking a few shots at the hip-hop culture, specifically the “whigga” phenomenon. In an interesting move he casts the Caucasian Suvari (wearing cornrows) in the part of Brandi (Mallard is African American).

 Stuck comes across as a disturbing, one might even say nihilistic, film. I can’t argue with those who say it’s bloody and offensive. It isn’t for everybody, which is why it’s an independent movie and not a mainstream studio production. On the serious side, Stuck serves as social commentary, forcing us to acknowledge the ugly behavior people are capable of, the inhumanity lurking beneath our so-called civilized veneer. But in terms of entertainment, this disturbing  horror movie is sprinkled with very funny black comedy.

(Released by THINKFilm and rated “R” for strong violence, disturbing content, sexuality/nudity, language and drug use.)

Review also posted at www.moviebuffs.com.