Identity - Region 2 DVD

With an ace up its sleeve, Identity does for schizophrenia what The Silence of the Lambs did for fava beans and a nice Chianti. On the proverbial dark and stormy night, this anxiety-laced thriller offers a tasty blend of And Then There Were None and Psycho, with a dash of Sybil for extra spice and psychosis. Things go from bad to worse when ten unrelated travellers converge at an isolated motel and proceed to die, one by one, with no apparent connection...until they discover the common detail that's drawn them into this nightmare of relentless trauma.

Even while its take on abnormal psychology fails to impress, Michael Cooney's screenplay offers meaty material for a superior ensemble cast including John Cusack and Rebecca DeMornay (who wins the Janet Leigh prize in a bitchy comeback role). Director James Mangold pivots the action around one character (played by his Heavy star, Pruitt Taylor Vince, in eye-twitching cuckoo mode) and half the fun of Identity comes from deciphering who's who, what's what and who'll be the next to die. --Jeff Shannon