You’re a hospital patient, you haven’t been given enough anesthesia, and the operation is about to begin.
I don’t know about you, but the mere thought certainly scares the daylights out of me.
The set-up should be all it takes to give you a major case of the willies about “Awake,” a modest little thriller with a built-in scare factor anyone can relate to.
Hayden Christensen, alias the youthful Anakin Skywalker in the “Star Wars” prequels, plays the patient in question — a young businessman in need of open-heart surgery. Before the procedure begins, he’s not given enough of the anesthetic to put him fully under, yet enough to effectively paralyze him.
He’s aware of everything that’s going on, but unable to communicate to others that he’s still awake. Worse still, it appears the doctors overseeing his operation are part of a conspiracy to ensure he doesn’t survive.
Just hearing the plot of “Awake” is enough to give me serious chills. Jessica Alba lends her ever-attractive presence as Christensen’s significant other, and Terrence Howard and Lena Olin also are on board, so the picture has the proper acting caliber.
In fact, the movie has all the right elements, so it would take a lot to mess up the result. Thankfully, writer-director Joby Harold doesn’t let that happen, and does so in a very tidy way that runs less than an hour-and-a-half. I’ve always found a bigger fear factor in films that delve into psychological terror, rather than those with actual monsters that extend tentacles or destroy Tokyo, so this certainly is up my alley of scares.
Like the recent parking-garage melodrama “P2,” “Awake” is one of those little holiday-season treats that sneaks in, aims straight and achieves what it intends.
Which, in this case, is to keep you awake long after it’s over.
(Rated R)
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