University student Kate is enjoying a night out with her friend Zoe, until Zoe tells her that she’s quitting her course so that she can commit to her relationship with her tutor, Malcolm. Together Kate and Zoe walk to Malcolm’s flat so that Zoe can talk to him. When they arrive at the flat, however, it’s clear that something seriously strange is going down inside. Two mysterious flatmates and a wall full of computer screens are just the tip of the iceberg.
By the film’s midpoint, the plot’s focus has widened from this domestic scenario to include space-time, God, psychic spies and the end of the world – no mean feat. It’s to co-writer and director Brad Watson’s credit that this horror flick doesn’t rely solely on gore to make an impression – this is an ‘ideas’ film above all. With its melting-pot combination of sci-fi and supernatural horror, it’s a pretty strange one at that, and, unfortunately, not entirely successful.
The 7th Dimension’s themes allow for some intriguing ideas to be brought up, and there are a few particularly clever moments of pop philosophy. But there’s simply too much going on; the plot would have benefited from a great deal of streamlining. Meanwhile, the acting is variable, but this isn’t necessarily the performers’ fault, since the decidedly shaky screenplay involves them delivering stilted lines like “I want to be part of your new world” and dumb lines like “What’s with all the Hebrew?” in utter seriousness.
One of the characters mentions The Matrix at one point, and the film does seem to aim for a similar mind-blowing sense of a shifting reality. But in some ways it reminded me most of Paul WS Anderson’s Event Horizon (1997), in that it explores some disturbing theological questions and can be gripping, but it doesn’t quite hang together as a coherent whole; it never fully delivers on its promise. The 7th Dimension isn’t actually as entertaining as Event Horizon, thanks to its lower production values and an even messier plot, but it’s an often interesting watch nonetheless.
The special features aren’t much to write home about: an average ‘Making-of’ featurette and – strangely, given the gravity of the film itself – a light-hearted blooper reel.
Overall Verdict: An ambitious and interesting but ultimately overcooked British sci-fi horror. A noble failure.
Special Features:
The Making of The 7th Dimension
Bloopers
Reviewer: Tom René