This is an extended rewrite of our original review published as part of our coverage of the 2021 Blood in the Snow Film Festival
A foul-mouthed vigilante targets the people who killed his family in Beyond The Chamber of Terror. Nash Caruthers (Timothy Paul McCarthy) is out for revenge against the Ackerman crime family, headed by sadistic patriarch Russell (Robert Nolan), and he quickly dispatches his first target in the form of Russell’s son Tyler (Seth O’Shea). As retribution, Caruthers is nabbed by henchmen Casey (Sigourney McAuley) and Lennox (Ry Barrett) and is brought to the Ackerman Family’s Chamber of Terror, where they perform sadistic acts of torture on their enemies. While waiting for Russell to arrive, acting underboss Ava (Jessica Vano) interrogates Caruthers and ends up kickstarting a gruesome set of events.
Beyond The Chamber of Terror Synopsis
Beyond The Chamber of Terror is the feature film debut for writer/director Michael Pereira, featuring the foul-mouthed, sunglasses and leather jacket-wearing vigilante of Nash Caruthers, previously featured in Pereira’s earlier short films of Deathbox and Zandavi Lives. Pereira assembles a who’s who supporting cast of Canadian indie genre actors including Jessica Vano (The Hyperborean), Ry Barrett (Cult Hero, In a Violent Nature), Derek Gilroy (Evil Feed), and Robert Nolan (Sixty Minutes to Midnight, Silent Retreat). Beyond The Chamber of Terror begins as a bloody revenge thriller, which evolves throughout the running time, going in a much weirder supernatural direction, which seems to be centred on a local legend involving an infamous missing woman named Lenora Gimble (Storm Steenson).
My Thoughts on Beyond The Chamber of Terror
The enjoyment of Beyond The Chamber of Terror is benefited by prior knowledge of the Nash Caruthers character, with the film featuring allusions to the earlier short films involving the character. The characterization of Nash Caruthers as performed by Timothy Paul McCarthy (Psycho Goreman, In a Violent Nature) is best described as a combination of Ash from Evil Dead and Snake Plissken, with Caruthers being the embodiment of multiple macho male stereotypes. In many ways, Beyond The Chamber of Terror works to flesh out the character somewhat, giving Caruthers some backstory and motivation for his vigilantism.
I don’t want to reveal too much about how the plot of Beyond The Chamber of Terror develops, particularly how the film transitions from a violent crime thriller to an Evil Dead homage. However, I do want to make note of some of the performances in the film. Apart from the lead performance by Timothy Paul McCarthy, who drives the film, Beyond The Chamber of Terror has a standout supporting antagonistic performance by Ry Barrett as the very crazed and masochistic henchman Lennox. Those only introduced to Barrett this year as the silent killer Johnny from In a Violent Nature will get to see a more crazy and talkative side to him in Beyond The Chamber of Terror.
Beyond The Chamber of Terror makes the most of how the film is set predominantly in the titular chamber, stationed within an abandoned warehouse. If there is a criticism I have to level towards Beyond The Chamber of Terror is that the film does not fully deliver on the promise of the title, with those expecting the film to go all Hostel with sadistic torture might end up being disappointed. Still, I will say that Beyond The Chamber of Terror is a darkly humorous ride filled with practical gore effects, which leads towards an absolutely bonkers supernatural climax. The film also promises to make the character of Nash Caruthers a new cult antihero in Canadian genre cinema.
