247°F (2011)

247°F: Directed by Levan Bakhia, Beka Jguburia. With Scout Taylor-Compton, Christina Ulloa, Travis Van Winkle, Michael Copon. Four friends travel to a lakeside cabin for a carefree weekend, the fun turns into a nightmare when 3 of them end up locked in a hot sauna. Every minute counts and every degree matters as they fight for their lives in the heat up to 247°F.

“Admittedly, the story here is a bit thin. It can be summed up in just a few rods: three young people get stuck in a very hot sauna and canu0026#39;t get out. Even with that, it seems to take a while for this to get going. A bunch of friends decide to spend some time in a cabin on a lake. The cabin has a sauna. For a half hour or so, theyu0026#39;re in the lake and then the sauna. Then back to the lake, then back to the sauna and finally they get locked in. Basically, thatu0026#39;s it. Not much else to it. The simple plot, mind you, doesnu0026#39;t make it a bad movie. It was decent enough. I kept watching – wondering who if any of them would be saved, and interested enough to see what ideas they would come up with to save themselves. If the plot was a bit thin, the same could be said for the cast. Scout Taylor-Compton was somewhat familiar to me. Sheu0026#39;s been a busy enough actress over the years – mostly guest spots in TV series. As Jenna, she seems to be the protagonist – a troubled young woman still coming to terms with the death of her boyfriend in a car accident three years before who accepts this invitation to come to this cabin with friends. The rest of the cast I was not familiar with.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eThis struck me as a fairly low budget movie. The sets were simple – generally wither in the cabin or in the sauna. Not much was spent on wardrobe. Since the bulk of the movie was watching the plight of the three in the sauna, it stands to reason that since they were in a sauna they didnu0026#39;t have much on – although, to the credit of those who made the movie, thereu0026#39;s no nudity in this. Itu0026#39;s called a horror movie. Iu0026#39;m not sure Iu0026#39;d agree with that. I wouldnu0026#39;t even really call it a thriller. Suspense perhaps.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eThis is essentially a time-waster. Itu0026#39;s not something thatu0026#39;s going to stay with you very long, but itu0026#39;s good enough to pass some time with. (5/10)”