The Entrance (2006) Horror Demon

The Entrance (2006) - "In the year 1612, renowned exorcist Father Sebastian Michaelis wrote about a possessed nun, Sister Madeleine at Aix-en Province, France. The demon possessing Sister Madeleine revealed itself as a fallen Angel." These premise certainly has something to do with the plot of this movie but only to explain the cause of the events. The protagonist is caught up in the craziness of the demon is Detective Porhowski (Sarah-Jane Redmond) a female cop working the night shift. Dragging her into the events is antagonist Ryan (Michael Eklund) a drug dealer who has a life full of sin and a survival instinct to rival any final girl. Unfortunately for him he was neither a girl or the last one alive in this subpar effort.
   Writer / director Damon Vignale makes an effort here with a promising idea but without the execution nor the budget to follow through in a satisfying way. Drug dealer Ryan brings our detective heroine Porhowski into a freaky world when he shows up at her police station and tells her a wild tale of being kidnapped and then forced to play games of chance for his life. She is not buying what he is selling so when he skips out she goes on with her life until he shows up in the back seat of her car and forces her into the isolated parking garage where she will be tested.

  It is less straight forward than this linear description. For what appear to be reasons of holding back information for twists and turns in the plot, the director and editor Daryl Bennet cut this film up into pieces and mixed them around so the over arching plot is really hidden until the last act.  Ryan's story is that he was kidnapped and wakes in a room with several other men, it plays like a supernatural game of Russian roulette. If you lose a game some unseen force removes you from the room and somehow you die a horrible death. The character names in the credits show these sinner are in a sick game to punish their sins. The Pedophile (C. Ernst Harth), 1st Sinner (Zoltan Barabas), The Rapist (Jerry Wasserman), The Devil (Frank Cassini). Oh and of course there was the janitor Joe (Ron Suave) who helps Ryan get out after he loses but with a condition.

  The myth surrounding the plot and what is hinted with the quote at the start of the film is that the demon Baal-Berith likes to take sinner and force them just into this situation. The corrupted are toyed with and killed by this fallen angel. Why? Well who the fuck knows just to entertain himself is the most likely reason. Still if there is one thing better than killing a sinner for his sins, it is corrupting someone pure of heart. Unfortunately for Porhowski she is that pure heart and the price for Ryan's freedom. Although without being a heavy sinner she is one of the poorest cops I have ever seen. Ryan easily gets the drop on her and thus she ends up mixed up with the demon just like all the sinners.
  Ultimately she is presented with a choice, brought together with the man who dragged her into a car and raped her when she was a teenager. She is given the opportunity for vengeance. Will she break her oath to serve and protect and cross the line to get revenge. Will she in fact fall from grace kill her rapist joining him as a sinner in Baal-Berith's game? Still getting to that point means a lot of edits of the games and back into following the cop and back and forth. Each cut revealing a bit more of the overall story. The problem is it really lacks a narrative flow.
  Worse yet because the story of the demon is the backstory that the plot hinges on there is no good was to get that information to the audience. So Vignale uses a cop researching the interview with Ryan to figure out that whole story. It feels clumsy and doesn't really fit with the film. Every now and get we break from the main story to listen to the young cop explain to the older cop what he has learned about the demon and how it fits with Ryans recorded story. The exposition is needed to fill out the story but how it was does just does not work.

  Then to further the supernatural periodically we see black and white scenes of Father Sebastian writing of the possessed nun and her tied to the bed acting all demon like. This really is not needed as it adds absolutely nothing to the story while only serving to remind us of the quote at the beginning of the film. When all is said and done we get know real answers about Porhowski and whether she can extradite herself from the situation. Ultimately the film did not work on too many level for a recommendation so this one may be better to skip.