dir. Mangold

Opens Fri April 25

Various Theaters

If you're well versed in the art of cheesy horror films, you'll recognize every cinematic element of Identity, the new flick from director James Mangold (Heavy, Cop Land). There's the dramatically presented psychological profile of the cold-blooded murderer, complete with files and audio-taped statement. There are the stereotypical characters (John Cusack plays a newly existentialist cop on leave) and their respective props as signifiers (he's reading Sartre). There's the rainy night, the motel conveniently built on Indian burial ground, and the lack of phones, electricity, or any tangible way to communicate with the outside world. Sound familiar? As a script, Identity had the potential to be an overdone, overeager tranquilizer. But thanks to its cast and director, Identity as a film is imbued with a subtle sense of its own macabre comedy. Their talents have deftly evolved its concept into a very entertaining murder mystery, which is only further aided by John Cusack's indisputable pervasive hotness.

Driving across Nevada in flash-flood weather, Ed (Cusack) accidentally runs over Alice York, who has pulled over to change a tire with her husband and young son. Frantic for help, they all drive to the closest sign of civilization: a rundown motel in the middle of the desert, where the remainder of the ensemble cast (including Amanda Peet, Ray Liotta, and the superbly distraught Clea DuVall) are also stranded after a series of apparent coincidences Also, there is that little issue of the schizophrenic convict who's on his way to be executed. Slowly, people start dropping off. Eventually, it becomes clear that something larger and far more freakish than anyone can comprehend is very dead-set on snuffing them out, one by one.

Again, all the elements are familiar, but Mangold is a feisty bastard with a slightly twisted sense of humor and does all he can to make Identity a dark film within the mainstream cinema idiom. He cast Pruitt Taylor Vince, the cool oscillating-eye guy from Heavy, and makes vague, self-aware (but not winky) references to Hitchcock. His suave execution tempers the plot twists, so that you don't really see what's coming next--though with a less intellectually wry director, it'd be clearer than K-Y. Okay, so there's no One-Armed Man or anything; regardless, Identity will satisfy your cravings for filmic creep-outs.