User Reviews

Another one of those horror movies that I got solely due to the cover artwork. My mistake. Although some of the acting could be deemed less than extremely pathetic, the directing was not. He has absolutely no idea how to create a suspenseful atmosphere. Granted, the script from Kirk Sever didn't give him much to work with, but there were still times where it was obvious he didn't maximize the suspense. I wasn't scared once. I was however left wondering, "Kirk Sever wants his sister to do what to him...?" It tried to use shock value to create a horror movie, but we've seen Saw, Faces of Death, Hostel, etc. You're gonna have to take it a lot farther than that. Otherwise it'll just look lame, as it did. Overall it looked like a decent high school project. Nowhere near anything worthy of being on a Blockbuster shelf. If you like horror movies, even if you like bad horror movies, do not watch this. The only way you could justify watching this garbage is if you're an up and coming horror director/writer and you want to see what not to do.

The burglars Tony (Vince Marinelli) and Detroit (Scott W. Mckinlay) break in a house to heist the content of a safe. They find a man, Brian (Brian Kolodziej), tied to a mattress with a gag near the safe and they believe he is participating of a kinky sexual game. When they are attacked by a stranger, Wade (Gerald Emerick), Detroit is tied to a chair and Tony is cuffed. However, Tony escapes and releases Detroit and Brian, who claims that Wade has captured his sister Stacy (Amy Wehrell). Tony dominates Wade and when he finds Stacy, he discovers the truth about her brother and the sadistic torturer.

"Gag" is another cheap rip-off of the franchise "Saw" – actually another sick and implausible festival of tortures… and nothing else. The plot and the characters are poorly developed, the situations and reactions of the characters are implausible and the main preoccupation of the director Scott W. Mckinlay and writer Kirk Sever is to show the most twisted tortures of the sadistic and deranged killer in the most graphic way. I confess that I am tired of this genre, repeated again and again in "Saw", "Captivity", "The Cellar Door", "Broken", "Sporkill" and other movies like "Gag". I suggest the writers that gave ten, nine, eight and seven respectively to this flick in their comments in IMDb to stop writing fake reviews or seek psychological help because something is seriously wrong with their evaluation of a good movie. My vote is three.

Title (Brazil): "Torturados" ("Tortured")

This movie wasn't bad enough to be funny. It was just incredibly painful to watch. But, it did hit the trifecta: 1) The actors CAN'T act to save their souls. 2) The script is just miserably awful. 3) The directing is just sad. Let's start with the set up for the film, two professional burglars break into a house and finding a guy tied up in a basement. The guy tied-up has obviously been beaten and/or tortured and may be dead. One of the burglars wants to leave thinking the guy tied might be dead, the other one refuses to leave until he has cracked open the safe and gotten the money that may be inside. WTF!!! If the police show, we all know who they'd blame. But, there's moron insisting they stay to get the money first and risk lethal injection. The movie goes downhill from there. The characters become infinitely more lame. The story goes from inane to irritating. And the pathetic script, combined with the inadequacies of the actors and director drag this movie down further. (Yes, it's possible for this movie to get worse). I'm convinced the high marks and lauding this movie is receiving is from people who are closely associated with the making of this film, or they are close friends of the people involved. Because this movie just sucked.

Its really a shame that so many of the comments here are unbelievable. Again a movie gets 8-10 star comments although the DVD packaging already says it all. So don't trust any of the comments... "Gag" is far from being scary or a classic. It basically is a cheap take on the "Saw" (Three letter titles everywhere!) torture genre. OK, you got a setting of a devastated house where some psycho killer tortures his victims. Two pretty stupid robbers break in searching for something very special and end up in the middle of the action when finding a bound and gagged guy (Actually I know I have seen exactly this before, but I can't remember the name of the movie). So they get gagged too, 5 victims get several things stuffed into mouths and back end and the movie even has an unexpected twist. Wow... Production values are low on this dimly lit underground movie which tries to shock with some sick torture inventions but fails miserably. The visuals just don't hold up to the sick ideas and while the acting is in parts OK the story is just plain stupid. Some examples... you get captured by an obviously sick pervert with corpses and blood everywhere in his house. He tells you to stick a needle in your arm or he will kill your friend. Sure... you do it, maybe something nice is awaiting both of you (like the trippy drug visions... nice idea but badly executed). 4 people bound and gagged, tortured in a dark cellar and chained to the wall. What does Mr. Psycho do... putting a hood above the one persons head that is just about to break free (sure... he knew, he's super psycho). And the most idiotic thing of all... when you are a psycho who just beat down a captive on the run happy to torture him again and the doorbell is ringing. What do you do?? Right... open up quick with some blood on your face and then have a ridiculous dialog with a cliché cop through a half opened door. You can see that "Gag" tries to be a shocker but nothing here really works. Honestly since there was a decent twist in the middle I expected some real twist in the end (the safe thing was way to obscure for me). But you better be in for a real surprise. "Gag" ends in the most stupid and cheap way I have seen in a long time ... by all means. Editing, Acting, Story development... it just falls apart to nothing. You can multiply the doorbell-idiocy by ten. Even if you are into cheap thrills "Gag" won't do it... the Gore is not that strong as the comments here make you think. Except for the impalement scene which works without showing anything most of the movie just made me yawn... or laugh. In that way "Gag" is a classic ... for some of the most absurd behavior of horror movie victims. I give this one 3 stars for at least some good ideas in the script. Other than that just stay away... the DVD cover says it all.

It's rare that a film can offend you morally by sheer ineptitude alone. A movie wherein the act of watching somehow assumes an aura of ethical lapse is a rare and regrettable event. Spending two hours of your time watching "Gag" is an offense against nature. Time is far too valuable a commodity to spend any of it watching this sadistic, amateur, exploitative, unoriginal, clueless, poorly acted, ugly, cheap, offensive, nonsensical, and altogether boring film. And I like horror movies! Made without a modicum of either technical proficiency nor thematic clarity, Gag simply exists as a series of poorly executed, prurient torture scenarios loosely strung together by a ludicrous plot that steadfastly refuses to make sense. Almost atavistic in it's terribleness, Gag is impressively without one iota of taste or style...the total lapse of judgment by the filmmakers is a sort of negative genius. Saddest of all is that this terrible, disgusting story with it's crude and vile images is what these filmmakers thought would make an artistic statement. This is what they have to offer the world. Mean, ugly, and without redemption, Gag lacks any of the charming camp value that usually accompanies the worst of films. Marrying an utter lack of joy with the basest of imaginations and utter dearth of narrative understating, Gag's only redeeming feature is its title: it's utterly apropos.

For those of you who thought that Captivity would be the movie to officially end the torture-porn trend, you were probably right, but just to seal the deal, here's Gag. Gag is an atrocious horror flick which feels more like a gay S&M porno gone wrong than a horror movie. Three men are forced to swallow various objects when they're not gagged or getting f-ed with spears. To me that sounds like the description of a bad gay porno, not to mention the porn-sounding title. Anyway, before I head into this review, I would like to say that I'm very tired from a long days work so this review probably won't be as thorough as I'd like it to be.

Gag tells the story of two professional thieves who break into a seemingly empty house, only to find a man brutally beaten and tied to a bed. Blah, blah, blah, Saw-like twist, blah, blah, blah, torture, blah, blah, incest, blah, blah, you get the idea. Gag is a no-budget Saw rip-off and it's even a shame to call it a Saw rip-off as these guys obviously didn't get what the first Saw movie was all about. It wasn't about torture, it wasn't about S&M, it was about the psychological horror (something which has gone lost in the Saw sequels) - a quality that Gag doesn't have.

Gag may want to be disturbing but it's not, and the "inventive" torture scenes are either ridiculous or down right impossible. A mouse would never crawl down a tube and then eat away at someone's mouth. And sure, getting burnt with boiled pennies may hurt, but to me it just seems like some extreme kind of hazing, not necessarily torture (plus it was very silly to look at). Then we have the fact that the movie both looks and feels homemade. The director obviously doesn't have a clue about what he's doing behind the camera, and the "actors" are even less secure about what they're doing. Hell, it doesn't even seem like these people wanted to be in the movie. Were they really THAT desperate for a pay check? Or perhaps they thought that this would be the next Saw. If so, they can't have been very smart.

It's not the worst movie of the year though and it is watchable if you're into this kind of thing. To me, this is more porn than anything. Remove the gore and add some nudity and you've got yourself a hardcore porn flick (unfortunately not a very good one at that). I won't recommend it but I'm sure there are some people out there who enjoy this kind of thing. I'm just more into movies that actually have a story. In the end, Gag is like an extreme version of Saw, only with a lower budget and with less of a story.

I seriously don't intend to waste further time or too many words on the review for "Gag", because it's - simply put - a terribly bad and amateurish horror effort! We get it, Mr. Director, you watched "Saw" and you assumed you could do better? Since the birth and the tremendous success of the so-called "torture porn" sub-genre, many aspiring yet sadly untalented directors come up with their own idea for a sick and revolting torture tale. Most of these attempts are bad, but this "Gag" is beyond abysmal and doesn't feature one single positive aspect or redeeming quality. No wait, there is something good about this film, and that's its length! It lasted less than 80 minutes and I was grateful for that. Otherwise we're talking dire settings, lousy editing and lighting, excruciatingly painful acting performances and gratuitously cruel but unimaginative torturing methods & death sequences. "Gag" is so lame that it reuses the same dire plot-twist (if you can even call it that) twice, namely that a victim is mistaken for the culprit. Yawn! Do not watch, unless you are into self-torture.

Let me tell you, I have seen a lot of ShittyAss Movies in my day, but this one takes the F*cking cake. This whole movie is just a huge pot of A**. From beginning to end credits the whole movie is just bullshit. The plot is absolutely atrocious. The acting is just balls. Seriously, I wish I could meet the creators of this movie, and kick them in the nuts because I want my hour and 5 minutes back. Again, this whole movie is just horrible. For the love of God stay away from this movie, for I wish I had a time machine so that I could go back, and stop myself from ever renting this movie. If you receive this as a gift from someone, immediately set their house on fire, because they, for some reason, wish to cause you unbelievable, and unchangeable pain.

There really isn't anything good about this movie. The special effects F*cking suck. Really, they do. The cuts in between scenes are just horrible, and I have seen home movies that are directed better.

The plot is just the s*it topping on the already steaming pile of nothing that this film is. Without giving too much away for you, two burglars break into some guys house to allegedly find a safe. There, they find some bodies, and are then taken hostage.

This is one of the main parts that just pisses me off. A guy gets handcuffed with those metal toy handcuffs you buy at a toy store. You can see the F*cking release switch, and he gets cuffed to a pole that is about a quarter inch thick. Any A**hole with half a brain, even in an indie horror flick, could get out of that.

Then, it gets worse.

There is a complete 10 minute scene in which the main character is chased around this strange house, completely blindfolded.

Seriously, What the F*ck.

I can understand villains in horror movies being stupid, but he is outsmarted by someone who is handcuffed, blind, and in a house he has never been in before. Then to top it all off, he locks himself in a bathroom with a swinging door.

I'm not going to spoil anything, all of this can be seen on the DVD itself, and I should have known, but what the F*ck. I can't believe that I actually paid money to view this.

Do yourself a huge favor, and for the love of God stay as far away from gag as humanly possible.

a cool, gutsy horror film with some good twists and good acting and good a soundtrack...worth seeing!

This is a very disturbing, well shot little independent horror film that most horror fans will really dig.

The stylized way the movie is shot and directed ads to the creepy performances of the main actors.

I liked the special effects. A lot of Gore and violence but done in such a way as to not be over done.

There has only been 2 screenings of gag. One in LA and one in Toronto. Rumor has it the movie is close to a major distribution deal. Keep your eyes wide open. When gag hits, if you like horror, you'll like this movie.

Low budget horror rarely looks like this...

Horror fans have been waiting impatiently for gag to be released. It is worth the wait.

Jeeze people, you would think this is a debate over which Godfather was the best (Part 1 is by the way).

It's a freakin' indie horror movie. I rented it from Netflix this weekend and guess what: It isn't Halloween and it isn't your cousin Roger's backyard snuff film. It's was what I kinda figured it would be -- a very low budget horror film with some good gore, a few twists and a shock here and there.

There's nobody famous in it. No big names wrote or produced it. They clearly didn't have a top-end budget to make it. Would I have expected to see it headlining at a Googleplex near me? No. It was on Netflix in the new releases section; it was almost Halloween and it sounded interesting so I rented it. Did it change my life. No. Was it the biggest waste of 85 minutes I've ever spent? Not by a long shot (I watch lots of movies).

I think people expect too much sometimes, esp with horror movies. Great acting and dialog are not exactly the standard for most horror movies, let alone cheap ones (yes there are some great exceptions but mostly it is about having some good scares, some gore and maybe some skin. How much logical plot exists in even the really good ones -- ie: how many times have you screamed at your screen "Don't open that door you stupid idiot!").

Gag had its moments and as a rental or a cheap DVD buy, I don't think the average slasher fan is going to have too much to complain about. It's at least as good as 95% of the Troma movies I've seen over the years.

Truly dreadful film, the worst I have seen in a long time, luckily for me I fell asleep after an hour. Where to start, marks out of 10, Acting 0/10 Effects 0/10, story 0/10...I could go on buy you get the idea. Two thieves Dumb and Dumber break into a house looking to rob a safe, there's someone almost dead tied to a bed who looks like they have been tortured, our robbers think they may be taking part in a sex game lol and furthermore that they may know the combination to the safe despite being nearly dead..lol One of our robbers wants to get out of the house but the other is insistent on cracking the safe for the money and shouts at the nearly dead individual tied to the bed for the combination, it doesn't get any better.

I pretty much watch all horror movies voraciously, and I LIKE my torture porn - right along with my psychological thrillers and good, old-fashioned slasher/monster flicks. With the recent lines of Saw and Hostel setting the bar for outrageous gore effects fairly high, I'm not surprised to see the lower budget movies struggling to keep up with the trend. Gag does use what budget it has effectively enough in its gore shots. They didn't skimp on the blood, and while some of the stunts were ridiculous, I'm not entirely sure they weren't intended to be.

It's a watchable film, but it drags. The writing and delivery of lines were often amateurish, which made the dialogue difficult to sit through at times. Had the death and torture sequences been more outrageous, it could have been truly shocking. Had they been a little more ridiculous, it could have been horrifyingly funny. Had they hired a different script writer, it might even have been clever. The end result is a sloppy movie that lacks commitment to be anything other than another low-budget fright flick with lofty ambitions and no follow-through. Worth a rental for genre fans, certainly, but not really worth a movie theater ticket - even at the matinée price. I'm not surprised it didn't get a general release.

Two thieves choose the wrong house to rob, they break into the home of a crazy psycho who likes to shackle people up and torture them to death. This is a jump on the bandwagon, torture porn Saw wannabe. Probably the worst example that I have seen, this is hard to watch. Not because of any stomach churning gore and violence but because everything about this crap really, really sucks. I was fooled into buying it by the enticing DVD artwork but sadly the contents were a big let down. Avoid!

Worst film I've ever seen in my life! You will not enjoy this film or even like it slightly. It's so low budget and bad it's unreal.

I didn't like this movie so much i have seen i have seen better horror movies but gag is just garbage the acting and plot is therrible i believe the acting in this movie don't know how to act and the and plot sucks this got to be the cheapest and the worst horror movies i have ever seen the only positive i could find in this movie was the blood and gore look fabulous but i have seen horror fims with also blood and gore and it's much better and more interesting than gag.

"In the tradition of Saw", it said on the backside of my dvd. Well, it's true that it's about a psychopath serial killer who's into torture, but that's where every comparison stops short.

This "Gag" is just a sad and inane product of a writers lack of original ideas, and it only derives its right to exist on the possible interest of gore and torture aficionados, but I bet even they will only laugh at this piece of amateurism.

There is no narrative: just some burglars who get trapped in the basement of the sadistic serial killer ,and then follows an endless spree of tortures. There is nothing new there, it's all seen before (Saw, American Psycho, Hostel), but here it's done cheap and totally unconvincing. The acting is below every par, the killer goes totally over the top in his wannabe frenzy, and the musical score is an irritating background drone that never stops.

How can anybody who took part in this project ever have been satisfied with the result, let alone proud of it?! It's just totally superfluous.

I used to work at Troma Entertainment and have seen all the classic horror movies out there. I haven't quite seen one like this before. would honestly put there up on my list as one of the better small budget independent movies out there. Thought it was very creative and very obscure and gory. Has all the ingredients of classic cult horror film. Can't wait til this hits the shelves on Tuesday, so I can add to where it belongs; with all my other cult horror flicks. I suggest you do the same. I can also say that the actors performances in this movie were much better than I anticipated. Usually Horror films aren't much to talk about as far as the acting goes. I was much impressed. I'll be looking for bigger and better things from this team in the future. Good job!

Made at the height of the 'torture porn' craze (Hostel was released the year before), Gag features plenty of sadistic brutality, but the script is so dumb, with characters repeatedly making moronic decisions, that any horror is severely diluted. It's hard to be shocked and appalled by the nastiness when people only have themselves to blame for their situation. Towards the end, it all gets so ridiculous that it becomes unintentionally hilarious.

The film opens with two burglars, Tony (Vince Marinelli) and Detroit (Scott W. McKinlay), breaking into a house, where they discover a man, bruised and bloody, bound and gagged; before they can untie him, they are attacked by another man, who knocks them unconscious. Tony manages to free himself, overpowers his attacker, and releases the bound and gagged man, which turns out to be a bad move...

With its twists and turns, Gag clearly wants to surprise the viewer in the same way that Saw did, but the only surprising thing about the film is that the writers of this mess actually expected the audience to go along with the preposterous plot developments. The film's most inane moments include Tony injecting himself with morphine when the killer demands him to do so, a fight between the killer and Tony, who has a sack fastened over his head, and the maniac pausing mid-psychotic rampage to answer the front door to a security guard.

3/10.

I actually thought this movie wasn't too bad. It is obviously made to a very small budget and the cinematography, lighting etc is poor BUT I found something about it engaging.

The premise is that two thieves break into a house and find a man gagged and tied up to a bed and there's another man hiding who confronts them.

There are quite a few twists and turns in the movie which were good, the main characters were likeable and dialogue was okay. There's not really any story development but I was rooting for one of the chaps and wanted to see what unfolded.