As a general rule of thumb, when a film has been bouncing around for over 2 years since it’s completion it’s a good bet that said film is less than spectacular. After all, all kinds of dreck gets gobbled up right and left and dumped into the direct to DVD marketplace these days. So, even with some solid festival clout behind it (Fantastic Fest, The NYC Horror Film Festival and The Eerie Horror Film Festival) I gotta tell you, I was apprehensive about the prospects for THE ENTRANCE. I’m happy to report that my fears were unjustified.

Borrowing a page or two from SAW and SEVEN handbooks, Writer/Director Damon Vignale crafts an interesting and well plotted course over THE ENTRANCE’s Spartan 81-minute running time. In fact, this is the first time in quite a while that I almost wanted more story and more subplots—making it one of the few low-budget horror films that actually would be enhanced by adding content.

Detective Porhowski’s (Sarah-Jane Redmon) father wants her to quit her job and help him restore Sylvia Manor, a retirement home he plans to re-open. As she considers the idea, Porhowski heads off to her shift at the station. Little does she know her life is about to change forever. Ryan James (Michael Eklund) has just escaped from an underground parking garage, where he and a group of kidnapped men have been forced to play a series of games in order to save their lives. When Ryan tries to solicit the detective’s help in saving the others, Porhowski uncovers his notorious past and he’s forced to kidnap her and take her to the garage as a hostage. When the pair arrive, it becomes clear that other forces are at work. Now Porhowski needs to discover what secrets are held in this underground maze and why she was taken to this place.

Once again, this film carries with it the purported claim that it is based on true events. It would clarify matters a bit more, if I explained that the aforementioned synopsis is missing one minor detail. This film is not a murder-mystery or a suspense thriller. The beast that holds the group in the basement is not a man. It’s Satan himself and the demon Baal-Berith. So, how might all that add up to “True Events”? Well, the story of Baal-Berith and his motivations in this film are based on the accounts of a possessed nun in the 1613 book Admirable History by Father Sebastien Michealis. The book claims to contain the dialogue of Father Michealis with a fallen angel named Baalberith. The film opens by providing a portion of this historical subtext. Fact or fiction in question, the only truth here is that Damon Vignale has made a surprisingly entertaining supernatural thriller.

As Detective Porhowski tries to solve the mystery of the captive men, she will be confronted with a past, and give the ultimate shot at redemption or revenge. The film, like SEVEN is ultimately successful because once the motivations of the demon become clear our protagonist is traveling at lightening speed toward a conclusion that neither the audience nor the character wants to see come to pass. Whether or not that conclusion in inevitable is in due course the final decision of the character. It’s compelling filmmaking even on a budgetary level.

As far as the look of the film goes, Vignale makes the most of the simplistic locations (An Interrogation Room, The Game Room, The Parking Garage and the final location, Sylvia Manor). The film almost stumbles when it takes Porhowski to the Manor. But the end makes up for what was a seemingly non-vital location. The Cinematography is rich at times and bleak at others, with just enough grain to echo David Fincher’s film. But, it would be a mistake to compare THE ENTRANCE completely with SEVEN—a film that stands as a masterwork of serial killer cinema. The film stands well enough on its own and only hints at the inspiration that it took from other productions.

It would be a shame to dismiss THE ENTRANCE based on the True Story moniker and the Box Art, which tries to make the film seem more monster-based than it actually is. The real horrors in this film are the monsters that walk the streets every day preying on innocent victims and the opportune moment of circumstance that could turn those innocent victims into monsters themselves.