Start with a spooky old house, throw a monster in the attic for flavor, mix with a dysfunctional family with definite daughter issues, add the bedridden relative in the darkened room, then blend in a lesbian girlfriend. Sound complicated? Well, trap this lot in a house with a trio of desperate bloodthirsty punks and you have the tasty indie horror concoction NO ONE GETS OUT.

The film opens on an antebellum homestead, where the shadows seem to have a life of their own. There's something wrong here, as a little girl sits curled in her dark room chanting tunelessly. Cut to the mean streets of the city, where hair metal dude lures punkette Robin backstage for some 'fun.' However, the punk grrl has other ideas; seems the Van Halen wanna-be pulled this stunt on her friend too. So once they're alone, who shows up but her boyfriend John and his lackey Stewie. After taunting and beating the jerkweed, Robin stabs his eyes out. Nice girl....

Back at the house, co-ed Debbie makes a date with her beau for dinner with the family. There's definite issues here as Debbie and her dad Peter fight constantly; she's a spoiled brat with ambiguous plans for the future and he's over protective and wants her to get a job or go back to school. Mom Annie is stuck in the middle and tired of both their attitudes. When Peter asks Debbie to bring Aunt Rose - the bedridden relative- her pills, she balks and they start fighting, again. Anna blows a gasket and tells them to cool it or she'll get mad. Debbie takes the pills upstairs to her aunt, who freaks her out. The unseen Rose tells the girl not to be scared; she once saved the child's life. We hear sounds from the attic as Debbie takes her leave...

Meanwhile, the punk trio hole up in a hotel, where the stripper Stewie picked up the previous night just won't shut up. John's fists silence the bimbo, though, much to Robin's delight. Meanwhile, Anna tells Debbie the story of how Rose saved the girl's life years ago. Debbie stopped breathing because of an asthma attack, but somehow Rose got her to start again, and Debbie's been free of the disease since. Anna feels an obligation to her sister-in-law for that act, but does tell Debbie not to go in the attic. Later, Debbie gets a cryptic phone call from Robin as she prepares for her beau's arrival.

NO ONE GETS OUT is an atmospheric, suspenseful film...for the first half. The film does a fine job introducing our characters and developing their rather complex relationships, but once the punks take over the house, the film declines into a series of gory set pieces, and fails to resolve the interesting questions raised earlier in the film, especially about exactly what Rose is. Also, the finale is far too abrupt and makes a "Curse of the Demon" mistake - they show the monster, which almost ruined the whole film for me. There is a lot of good set-up in NO ONE GETS OUT, but the script runs out before the film does. The actors do a very good job bringing their roles to life, which is why the ending becomes so disappointing. The audience really makes a connection to the characters, and is left with too many questions. However, the camera direction and editing are very well done, creating a claustrophobic atmosphere that feeds the punks paranoia and the audience's suspense. The video I previewed was a little dark and fuzzy, but this may be more about the limitations of tape, so the lighting and shadows should add to the mood on DVD. NO ONE GETS OUT is presented in 1.85:1 wide screen, and director James Tucker shows a good facility for staging his actors and action using the whole screen - it's a very professional job. Audio is fine; voices are clear with no distortion and the soundtrack meshes well with the scenes. All in all, I was very excited by the beginning of NO ONE GETS OUT, but left with too many questions and ultimately felt unsatisfied by a rushed final reel.

I previewed NO ONE GETS OUT on video, as stated above, so I do not know what extras may be on the DVD. I took a trip to the official website (www.NoOneGetsOut.com), which has cast and crew bios, behind the scenes stills and more information on the film. However, while it is an interesting site, I did find it kinda difficult to navigate. But in lieu of DVD extras, check it out.

NO ONE GETS OUT has a fantastic first half, but fails to deliver on it's promising story with a tepid denouement. However, there are many positive aspects in this film; I was greatly impressed with the acting and direction. We need to support the independents, and there's a lot of talent here. I hope to see more from the cast and crew if, of course, they get out....