Coffin

An Artist View Entertainment release of a Skyrocket Prods. presentation of a Spencer Johnson production. Produced by David Stever, Derik Wingo, Kipp Tribble, George Maranville, David Lanham. Executive producer, Spencer F. Johnson. Co-producer, Unique Dowtin. Co-executive producer, Judie Rose Perry. Directed by Kipp Tribble, Derik Wingo. Screenplay, Tribble.With: Kevin Sorbo, Bruce Davison, Johnny Alonso, Sunny Doench, Patrick Barnitt, Kipp Tribble, Derik Wingo, Moksha McPherrin, Andrena Senola Johnson, Luke Barnett.Though its premise and title make no secret of "Coffin's" indebtedness to last year's "Buried," this barrel-bottom suspenser more closely resembles an unsuccessful "Law & Order" spec script, inflated to feature length by some stock horror tropes. The film's clearly limited means are no excuse for the way it applies such painfully languid energy to a real-time ticking-clock thriller, and its only chances for marginal attention will rely on the high billing given to supporting players Kevin Sorbo and Bruce Davison. Pic opens as businessman Jack (Patrick Barnitt) arrives home, where a masked baddie named Trick (Johnny Alonso) shows him a live video feed of his estranged wife (Sunny Doench) and her lover (Sorbo) trapped together in a pinewood box. The windy kidnapper dispenses a bit of Jigsaw-style moralizing before offering to reveal their location for a pricey sum; meanwhile, a pair of bickering odd-couple cops (co-helmers Derik Wingo and Kipp Tribble) follow their trail. Some possibly intentional metatextual humor creeps through -- Doench's character is described as a B-movie actress, while the mincingly unthreatening Trick is called a "real pro" -- but there's otherwise nothing much to see here.Camera (color, DV), Keiko Nakahara; editor, George Maranville; music, Roger Ryan, Jason Gaines; production designer, Gary Jones. Reviewed on DVD, Los Angeles, Oct. 26, 2011. Running time: 85 MIN. Contact the Variety newsroom at news@variety.com