A young woman is thrown naked into a darkened room. When the lights illuminate her surroundings, she finds she is in a warehouse or secure hanger with thirteen other individuals. None of them purport to know how they arrived there or the reason for their presence. She is given a jumpsuit, and soon learns via a video link that she is the last player in a sick and perverted game of voyeurism for the amusement of unseen viewers. The object of the exercise is to be the last one left alive when the game ends. Electronic collars keep them from straying, and breaking the rules is punishable by death. Periodically, the lights are extinguished for a temporary but enforced curfew, after which they find another of their number dead. Then she learns that one of them is a rapist, another a paedophile, and a third the killer...

Breathing Room owes a considerable amount to Cube, even more to Saw, and additionally a wave of greeting to My Little Eye. It has been said that no idea is totally original, so I was prepared to treat these obvious influences as tributes rather than outright plagiarism.

Pitting people's personalities against each other is not a new notion in terms of entertainment - you just have to look at any number of reality TV shows. But it works when characters are fighting for their lives, because there's no greater instinct than that of self-preservation and ultimately survival.

For those of you that have seen Saw, the ending will come as no surprise; however, there is real tension here, and believable actions by the characters.

This is the first horror contribution from DNC that I've shown more than a passing interest in. The Chair promises to continue the improvement.

7

Ty Power