illumined horizon

I'm not sure if I would call this movie a horror pic or thriller, but it has elements of both. It also has a very surreal vibe that's omnipresent throughout the film. It features Christine Taylor as Amy, a school teacher whose childhood traumatic experience has blurred her perception of reality. She doesn't seem to be able to distinguish between reality, hallucinations, and dreams.

One day after her boyfriend Nick (Shane Brolly) picks her up from school, they are involved in a fairly severe car accident. Nick is taken off in an ambulance, and Amy is broken up after she takes a taxi to a nearby hospital only to find Nick is not there. Next, she runs into Lucas (the driver that hit Nick's car), and he agrees to help her find Nick, after he informs her his sister (also injured in the crash) was not at the hospital either.

It becomes apparent to us, the viewers, that Nick has been taken to a hospital from hell. Shortly after his admission a patient tries to warn him about the nature of the place, but this man is quickly disappeared by nurses and staff. While Nick is put through torturous conditions, Amy enlists the aid of a clairvoyant student and a local librarian to help her discover where Nick was taken. She finds Nick was sent to a facility that burnt to the ground many years ago. Not long after she makes this revelation she realizes Lucas (Jerry O'Connell) is part of the conspiracy to terrorize her, and she begins an adventure with the living dead, blood drinking nurses, and the ghost of her father to save her true love.

The movie has a good deal of promise, but ultimately isn't able to capitalize on all of its potential. Still, a somewhat original plotline, and genuinely fright inducing footage make it a worthwhile rental for fans of horror, and things that go bump in the night. If blood and guts aren't your cup of tea, don't drink here.