Absurda and Industrial Entertainment have announced that their film MY SON, MY SON, WHAT HAVE YE DONE has set a debut theatrical-release date. The movie marks the first collaboration between cinematic mavericks Werner Herzog and David Lynch, who directed and executive-produced respectively.

MY SON, MY SON will open Friday, December 11 at New York Citys IFC Center (323 6th Avenue), with playdates in other cities to follow. Though word from early screenings is that its not really a horror film, it does deal with rather twisted subject mattera man (BUGs Michael Shannon) who murders his mother with a sword while acting out a Sophocles playand features a genre-centric cast including ANTICHRISTs Willem Dafoe, SISTERS Chloe Sevigny, Udo Kier (who discussed the movie with us here) and Brad Dourif. You can see the movies official website, with a trailer and more photos, here.

For $250, four strangers agree to participate in a psychological experiment where they must spend eight hours locked in a room together.  Sound like easy money?  Think again. 

THE KILLING ROOM is a fast-paced psychological thriller that couldve easily fallen into the cliché category but doesnt.  After a brief introduction of the subjects, the tone immediately shifts with a shocking scene that grabbed my attention and kept me hooked in till the end. 

But unfortunately this isnt a film meant to be enjoyed a second time as once the motives of the experiment are revealed, there isnt much else to keep this interesting.  What kept me watching (other than that I promised to review it) was waiting for the big reveal, and while THE KILLING ROOM couldve ended in a dozen different ways, the final act doesnt disappoint.  In fact, the more I think about the ending, the more I realize how sick and twisted it was.

THE KILLING ROOM shares a similar plot device to films like SAW and CUBE only in this film, there are no traps, no puzzles, and no dismemberments.  Without those fun elements, all thats left to keep your finger off the fast forward button are the characters and how they deal with the severity of the situation.  This is where THE KILLING ROOM suffers the most.  The characters arent given any back story and have limited interactions with one other. (Nick Cannon may or may not have done a decent acting job, but I couldnt stop thinking about the awful fake eyebrow ring hanging off his face) Much of the runtime is spent behind-the-scenes with the people running the experiment and while Chloë Sevigny and Peter Stormare play a decent game of cat and mouse as the ones in charge, we learn little about them as well. 

These faults aside, THE KILLING ROOM is surprisingly intriguing and if you do come across it, its worth your ninety minutes.