PREMIERE.COM'S MOVIE REVIEW (posted 7/28/06)

Had Eastern European filmmaker Gela Babluani tried to get his debut feature 13 Tzameti produced in Hollywood, the pitch session probably would have sounded something like "It's Fight Club meets The Deer Hunter." Made on a microscopic budget, the film follows a working-class roofer named Sebastien (Georges Babluani) who is barely earning enough to support himself and his extended family. On his latest job, the young man comes into possession of a letter addressed to the owner of the house that offers the promise of great wealth, provided the recipient makes the journey to an out-of-the-way chateau in a remote region of France. Since the original addressee has died, Sebastien decides to go in his place.

Following the letter's specific instructions, he takes a train to the middle of nowhere and then climbs into an unmarked car, which spirits him off to the house. Once there, he's horrified to learn that he's inadvertently become the thirteenth contestant in a Russian Roulette tournament, where competitors stand in a circle pointing a gun at the head of the person in front of them. Meanwhile, on the sidelines, elderly men place bets on the lives of the younger "players." Escape is impossible so Sebastien is forced to participate in this ghoulish game. If he manages to survive, he'll walk out a rich man. If not, he'll join the pile of bodies dumped unceremoniously in the cellar.

It's easy to see why film festival audiences around the world have flipped for 13 Tzameti. Shot in fever dream black-and-white, the movie has a raw intensity that brings to mind such low-budget cult classics as the original Night of the Living Dead. While the early scenes with Sebastien and his family are awkwardly written and staged, Babluani demonstrates his skills in the superbly executed roulette sequences. When Sebastien steps into the circle for the first time and waits for the order to fire, the tension is almost unbearable. Things only get more intense as the tournament continues and the number of players continues to dwindle. It's hard to top such a nail-biting second act and, indeed, the final twenty minutes are largely forgettable. One almost wishes that Babluani had made 13 Tzameti as a short film focusing only on the tournament.

For all of the director's technical skill, it should be noted that employing a gimmick like Russian Roulette is one of the easiest ways to put an audience on the edge of its seat. What's more difficult is linking the central scare device to a larger social metaphor, in the way that Romero's menacing zombies have stood in for class warfare while Tyler Durden's space monkeys were battling modern-day consumerism, not just each other. Successfully pulling this off results in a film that resonates beyond mere shock value. 13 Tzameti is certainly nightmarish, but it's the kind of nightmare that fades instead of lingering on in the memory. — Ethan Alter