A paltry-budgeted Australian item filmed with videotape, this film is subsequently burdened by low production values but yet provides sufficient entertainment for a suspenseful evening's viewing, although its storyline fails to make perfect sense despite producer/writer/director Chris Kennedy's attempts to weave together several sub-narrative lines. Entrepreneur Richard Vickery (Alan Lovell), whose eponymous corporation has an undetermined commercial function, is an idealist opposed to any application of his wealth that might be purely involved with financial acquisition, but his corrupt corporate attorney, Peter Breen (Adam Stone) has developed a flawed plan to erect a casino upon an offshore island, employing Vickery funds to dislodge an island based assisted living residence for indigent senior citizens. As it turns out, Vickery's estranged wife Julie (Lisa Peers) is also involved in Breen's venture and, while remaining the attorney's lover, she expresses a desire to an unsuspecting Vickery for a conciliation, in order to support Peter with his scheme that is largely bankrolled by an organized crime figure. While all of this goes on, actions of a darker sort are occurring within the Vickery Building and its car park: women are being slain by an unknown suspect wielding a large shard of glass, and when Vickery, owner of 51% of the corporation's stock, remains steadfast to his principles, it would appear that he may be lured into a trap set by the murderer. The scenario struggles with problems of logic and continuity but is revivified toward its end by several well-designed sequences of suspense, and although there is precious little of merit in the cinematography for this work shot in Birkenhead and other Sydney districts, it is no simple matter to create something worthy for a feature film when utilizing a videotape process. It is plain that this is the principal reason for the failure of Kennedy's atmospherically designed piece to consistently engage a viewer's attention; nonetheless, despite an obvious lack of funding, there are players on board who went on to perform in more successful productions, with acting honours here handily going to top billed Peers for her layered turn as a woman of guile.
2 Reviews
Eating broken glass easier than watching this GLASS
charlytully21 January 2009
Warning: Spoilers
Though the earlier commenter rated this Aussie film exactly the same as me--5 out of 10--his GLASS was half full, and mine's half empty! He did not highlight the cheesy mood music more suitable for a high school biology video about the work of the mitochondria than a movie billing itself as a "mystery thriller of deceptions." He did not point out the director's fixation on still life videography, mostly of anonymous busts which had no discernible relation to the story. True, the ubiquitous glass recycling conveyor belt moved for a few seconds, but nothing was gained by showing this snippet of video at random intervals 17 more times after the opening credits. This flick is so low budget it looks like the female leads were played by the same actress with different wigs (and no, this was NOT an intentional plot device). Director Chris Kennedy also is credited as the writer, but the "story" develops so haphazardly it's doubtful there was an actual script; cast and crew probably just made it up as they went along during the three days their video cam rental lasted. Therefore, I awarded four rating points to the shysters who put together a VHS box interesting enough to make me shell out my money to buy this "Atlas Entertainment Corporation" misfire, and one point to the 89-minute feature itself (the other four minutes alleged by the package and parroted as the running time by IMDb actually belong to a post-view for a more titillating B-movie titled MADONNA).
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