It’s amazing that we do have a new Sam Raimi film out right now and this film surpasses it in blood content. So much that I’m sure Raimi would be mightily impressed. It’s everywhere,….everywhere. It also has the encroaching body horror of a David Cronenberg film. “Iron Lung” based on the video game stars youtube award winning gamer Mark Fishchbach, aka Markiplier.  A person that specializes in playing indie horror video games.  The blending of video game and film industries is a tricky task-mainly because, why watch the film when you can play the game, right?  A component that producers of any film that are adapted from a video game run the risk. How to make it compelling to see, well in this case, you are confined to one space and really one actor to save cost. The other is to rely on the psychological aspect of the horror story, more than the gore. In the end you have a solid horror film.  

“Iron Lung” does better when you know less. Small clues or what is occurring or what has occurred slowly emerge as it goes.  The notion of sacrificing a criminal to explore the bottom of the ocean to see if they can gather evidence of how the world ended is compelling enough but the intricacies of mind tricks at play keeps audiences guessing on what is really occurring. Why does the convict suddenly have bandages on his arm? Why does blood smear appear and disappear on his face? The story is more about the horror of solitary confinement really than the dangers that lay outside.  It is truly hell. To know no matter what there is no out.  Because hell is far more the torment of the mind than the body and this story knows it more than many others. 

The only real minus of the film is that about fifteen minutes of it could have been cut. A leaner version would have more sustaining punch to what it is trying to convey. The small snapshot scenes of knobs, buttons, handles and small droplets of water don’t push the narrative as much as the makers of this film think it does, it does get annoying.  What really works is the performance of Mark Fischbach as a doomed character that deserves or not this plight. His screams and begs for a way to end the endeavor is beyond believable. 7.5/10