A doctor reviews the case study of convicted serial killer, Malcolm Rivers, in chilling detail in a darkened room. His files are illuminated by a single dimly lit desk lamp. Headlines about Rivers’ grisly deeds drift across the screen. Is Rivers mad or sane? If mad, can he be cured? And if cured, can he be spared the death penalty? His execution is scheduled within hours. The doctor must make his case. It’s the chance of a lifetime. But Rivers escapes. Cut to a stormy night in the middle of nowhere U.S. A. A driver chauffeurs an insecure TV actress. Another man’s wife is hit by a speeding car while their sickly child watches in horror. A newly married couple bicker incessantly. The roads are washed out. Everyone ends up at a Bates-like motel along with a call girl trying to get back to her roots. Then a cop shows up escorting a prisoner. They all take refuge in their rooms. One by one people start dying. Is Malcolm Rivers lurikng in the shadows or can he be one of the male guests? And what about that seedy motel manager? Is he who he claims to be? Inconsistencies in plot pile up with the body count testing the bounds of credibility. Mistaken identity and a tale about Indian burial grounds might explain the unexplainable. That’s when writer Mike Clooney and director James Mangold pull out all the stops. Soon enough you’re not sure if you’re watching a spin on Agatha Christie’s "And Then There Were None" - aka "Ten Little Indians" - or an honest to goodness ghost story. In fact, "Identity" turns out to be something else entirely - a mystery that relies on the pieces of a puzzle that don’t fit. Imagine looking at a movie as reflected in the broken shards of a mirror. All the parts are there but you have to use your imagination to piece them together. It’s a unique approach that works. "Identity" is a suspense laden trip that keeps you in the dark like the famed roller coaster Space Mountain. You may not see where you’re going but it’s a helluva’ ride.

I haven’t identified any of the actors in their respective parts because I feel it might give "Identity"s key element of surprise away. It’s enough to say, they all play their parts with a conviction that sucks you into the surface reality of its narrative. They are, in alphabetical order, Jake Busey, John Cusack, Rebecca DeMornay, Clea Duvall, John Hawkes, Ray Liotta, Leila Kenzle, Brett Loehr, John C. McGinley, Alfred Molina, Amanda Peet, William Lee Scott, and Pruitt Taylor Vince.

Copyright 2003

"Halloween" (1978) - The John Carpenter classic that started a franchise, but this original is the one to see. Michael Myers kills on Halloween, then comes back years later to kill and kill again. Pure suspense with humor to lighten things up. Jamie Lee Curitis made her debut and got ample support from Donald Pleasance as the shrink.

"And Then There Were None" (1945) - A bona fide classic based on the Agatha Christie play and directed by Rene Clair. A hand full of people are invited to a creepy mansion where they are offed one by one until one person is left. And he is not the killer! With Barry Fitzgerald, Louis Hayward, Roland Young, Judith Anderson and others. This was remade several times as "Ten Little Indians" but none of them can compare to the original.

"The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari" (1919) - Dir. Robert Wiene. The silent horror classic that is still stands as a benchmark film for its German Expressionism. Conrad Veidt is the somnambulist who carries out the bidding of the evil Dr. Caligari. This was recently remastered for DVD by Kino Video. See this after "Identity" and draw your own conclusions. (Remade and updated as "The Cabinet of Caligari" in 1962 with mixed results; but it was scripted by Robert Bloch, who wrote "Psycho" for Alfred Hitchcock.)

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