Line #108 Film/Cornered


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7	[[quoteright:338:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/Cornered_3212.jpg]]
8	[[caption-width-right:338:[[Film/PulpFiction Bring out the gimp.]]]]
9
10	-> ''When you wish evil on someone... evil might be listening.''
11
12	''Cornered!'' is a 2009 SlasherMovie starring Creator/SteveGuttenberg.
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14	In the fall of 2008, the city of UsefulNotes/LosAngeles finds itself gripped with terror as a SerialKiller runs amok during the night, his MO being to break into mini marts, liquor stores or gas stations after hours and viciously torture-murder any employees still inside, taking the security tapes afterward to help him relive his crimes over and over again. In a desperate bid to catch this ruthless maniac, the mayor's office puts out a reward of half a million dollars on his head; and that's where our story begins, in a small corner store where the deliveryman, Morty, sparks a discussion among the friends inside about what they'd do if they caught the Convenience Store Killer (hereby known as CSK for simplicity's sake). Disembowelment, stabbing, [[EyeScream eye gouging]], and [[OffWithHisHead beheading]] are all suggested by the main players, who are listed below:
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16	* Steve, the gruff store owner.
17	* Jimmy, Steve's nephew, new employee, and drug addict currently going through withdrawal.
18	* Donny, Steve's other bumbling and overweight employee.
19	* Jess, a prostitute just trying to make a living, and Donny's crush.
20	* Mona, a phone sex girl, and Jess's friend.
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22	After the discussion, a suspicious man goes running out of the store, but the group thinks nothing of that, believing he was just a simple shoplifter. After Morty leaves, the place is closed down, and everyone heads up to Steve's apartment for poker night, Jess having been convinced to stay by Donny; Jimmy is also forced to participate by his uncle, who wants to keep an eye on him, essentially [[NailedToTheWagon nailing him to the wagon]]. As the night drags on, it becomes apparent that Steve's place is CSK's latest target. After [[DisposableVagrant disposing of Jacko, a vagrant]] who lives in the alleyway behind the store, the gimp-masked maniac somehow gets inside, and begins whittling down the five main characters, in exactly the same way they said they'd off him.
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24	In essence, it's essentially a sleazier, smaller scale version of ''Film/{{Intruder}}''.
25
26	!! If you're heading out to the corner store, remember to pick up the following:
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28	* ABloodyMess: Since it was a ketchup bottle CSK got Jimmy with it.
29	%%* TheAlcoholic: Jacko and Steve.
30	* AnArmAndALeg: One of the intro victims is missing his legs.
31	* AxeBeforeEntering: When the basement door is deadbolted, CSK starts sawing through it.
32	* BadassLongcoat: The CSK wears a black evil-looking trenchcoat.
33	%%* TheBadGuyWins]
34	* BatterUp: A baseball bat is kept around for security.
35	* BigCreepyCrawlies: When crazy old Jimmy spots the gimp mask-clad CSK on a monitor, he claims he's "a king cockroach".
36	* BigDamnHeroes: Morty shows up and scares Teddy off when he pulls a knife on Jess and Donny.
37	%%* BigEater: Mona and Donny.
38	* BilingualBonus: There's a lot of untranslated Spanish.
39	* BlackDudeDiesFirst: Jacko and Mona, unless you count the victims briefly seen on security footage in the intro.
40	* BlackHumor: [[spoiler:The protagonists are doomed by ''a donut''.]]
41	* BookcasePassage: A hidden room behind a shelf turns out to be where Steve keeps all his [=VCRs=] and security tapes.
42	* BrokenHeel: Donny slips on a donut, knocking himself out.
43	* BugWar: Jimmy becomes convinced the roaches are out to get them all, being rallied by "king cockroach".
44	* CallingTheOldManOut: Jimmy attacks Steve, calling him out on his bullying behavior in the process.
45	* CassandraTruth: Nobody believes Jimmy when he spots CSK on a monitor since he's tripping and all.
46	* CellPhonesAreUseless: Steve hasn't paid the phone bills, Mona is out of credits, Jess left her cell phone in a john's car, Donny fell on his, and Jimmy's was thrown out by the enclosed dumpster by Steve. Contrived, but it works.
47	%%* ChekhovsGun: Teddy the john's knife.
48	* ChainsawGood: CSK disassembles the meat slicer, and goes to work on Steve with it.
49	* ColdBloodedTorture: CSK's usual MO.
50	* CoversAlwaysLie: CSK never actually wields a knife.
51	%%* ClosedCircle
52	%%* ClusterFBomb
53	* CoitusUninterruptus: Mona is on call, so a few times she graphically dirty talks in front of everyone.
54	* CreatorCameo: A few crew members had bit parts.
55	* CreditsGag: "No animals were injured in the making of this movie. The cockroaches, Joey and Freddy, were adopted by producer Alan Noel Vega and are living a life of luxury."
56	* CreepyBasement: Moreso than usual, since the store used to be a butcher shop.
57	%%* CreepyCockroach
58	* CrowbarCombatant: One of the intro victims is killed with what looks like one.
59	%%* CruelAndUnusualDeath
60	* CurbstompBattle: Jimmy snapping and beating Steve.
61	%%* CuriosityKilledTheCast
62	* DeadMansChest: Mona gets stuffed in a freezer.
63	* DeathByIrony: The cast are killed in the same ways they said they'd off CSK. [[spoiler:Since Donny never gave a method of death, Morty goes the extra mile of stuffing him full of donuts, his favorite food.]]
64	* DestinationDefenestration: While fighting Jacko over a bottle of alcohol he is trying to steal, Donny accidentally knocks him through the glass door.
65	* DisappearedDad: Jimmy's father is never mentioned, though his mother is still around, avoiding {{Nephewism}}.
66	%%* DisposableVagrant: Jacko.
67	%%* DwindlingParty
68	* DownerEnding: [[spoiler: Morty kills Jess and Donny and moves on to another store.]]
69	* EroticEating: Mona and her popsicle.
70	* EverybodyKnewAlready: Jimmy's drug addiction.
71	* EyeScream: Mona gets stabbed in the eyes with cornettos.
72	* FoodPorn: When Mona is digging through a freezer full of frozen goodies.
73	* ForceFeeding: [[spoiler:Donny's death.]]
74	* {{Foreshadowing}}: [[spoiler:Everytime somebody tells Donny that those donuts will be the death of him.]]
75	* GetAholdOfYourselfMan: Jess smacks Donny when he starts letting out the below MadnessMantra.
76	%%* {{Gorn}}
77	%%* GratuitousSpanish
78	* GrievousBottleyHarm: Jimmy gets stabbed to death with a broken ketchup bottle.
79	* GroinAttack: CSK disembowels Steve with a saw, starting from the crotch.
80	%%* GrossUpCloseUp
81	* HalfTheManHeUsedToBe: Jacko is somehow sliced in half.
82	* {{Hallucinations}}: Since Jimmy is going cold turkey and all.
83	* HereWeGoAgain: [[spoiler:The final scene is of Morty showing up to another store where another group of people are about to discuss what they’d do to CSK]]. Judging by the [[JumpScare cut to CSK wielding the meat slicer]], [[ForegoneConclusion they’re as good as dead.]]]]
84	%%* HookerWithAHeartOfGold: Jess.
85	* HooksAndCrooks: Steve is hung upside down from some old meat hooks in the basement.
86	* HopeSpot: [[spoiler:Jess answering Mona's incoming call only phone, Morty showing up for the morning delivery, and Donny knocking himself and Morty out in a scuffle.]]
87	* ImNotAfraidOfYou: Screamed by Jimmy, when he's surrounded by imaginary roaches.
88	* ImprovisedWeapon: Along with Mona getting ice cream cones in the eyes, a newspaper mentions a previous victim was apparently killed with a can opener.
89	* InfoDump: The film opens with radio newscasts discussing CSK, along with security cam footage of the latest victims being shown.
90	* {{Irony}}: When Steve tells Donny to go look for Mona, who is currently having her head bashed in with a freezer lid, he tells him, "And if she's got her head in that freezer again, tell her I'm gonna kill her."
91	** Instead of deterring trouble, the security system attracts it.
92	%%* {{Jerkass}}: Teddy, Jess's latest john.
93	* KarmaHoudini: [[spoiler:The CSK, Morty]]
94	* TheKetchupTest: Justified, considering all the cans and bottles knocked onto the floor during Jimmy's struggle with CSK.
95	* LittleNo: When Jimmy starts going crazy and sees a cockroach coming towards him.
96	%%* MadeOfPlasticine
97	* MadnessMantra: "We are going to fucking die!"
98	%%* MaleGaze
99	* MalevolentMaskedMen: A gimp mask, and it actually works.
100	* MirrorScare: How Steve finds who he thinks is Jimmy.
101	* NamesToRunAwayFromReallyFast: [[spoiler:''Mort''y.]]
102	%%* NailedToTheWagon: Jimmy.
103	%%* NerdyInhaler: Donny.
104	%%* NiceGuy: Donny.
105	%%* TheNicknamer: Steve.
106	* NothingIsScarier: What CSK did to his latest victims, which is briefly shown via blurry cam footage.
107	* NotUsingTheZWord: While it's obvious what Jess is doing, she's never actually called a hooker or prostitute.
108	* NotWhatItLooksLike: Jess mistakes the bulge caused by Donny's inhaler for a RagingStiffie.
109	* OffWithHisHead: [[spoiler:Jess's death]].
110	* OhCrap: [[spoiler:Via security cam footage, Donny discovers the RedHerring was just a shoplifter, and that Morty is CSK.]]
111	* OnceIsNotEnough: Probably should have stabbed and bludgeoned him a few more times, Donny and Jess.
112	* OtherStockPhrases:
113	--> '''CSK/[[spoiler:Morty]]''': "[[PreMortemOneLiner Clean up in aisle three.]]"
114	* PainMistakenForSex: Donny mistakes Mona's moans of pain for her just really getting into her most recent call.
115	* ParentalSubstitute: Steve, to Jimmy.
116	* PeekABooCorpse: Donny bumps into a shelf, causing Jimmy's saran-wrapped body to fall off the top of it. Later, Mona's frosted-over body is found in the freezer due to her ringing cell phone.
117	* PoeticSerialKiller: The CSK offs the residents of the store in a manner similar to what they said they'd do to him.
118	* PornStash: There are some naughty mags in Steve's hidden room.
119	* PunBasedTitle: [[DontExplainTheJoke They're trapped in a corner store]].
120	* RedHerring: [[spoiler:The customer who overhears the deaths conversation.]]
121	%%* RedShirt: Jacko.
122	* TheReveal: [[spoiler:Morty is CSK.]]
123	%%* SerialKiller
124	* SirSwearsALot: Steve.
125	* SnuffFilm: The security tapes CSK takes from each crime scene.
126	* SoundtrackDissonance: Funky Latin jazz plays over the credits.
127	* StartsWithTheirFuneral: The film begins with covered bodies being wheeled out of the store.
128	* StealingFromTheTill: One of Mona's routines has her as a SexySecretary who is caught doing this by a caller.
129	* StripPoker: Suggested by Steve.
130	* SuspectIsHatless: Mona's description of an apparent shoplifter? "He was wearing a hat".
131	* TemptingFate: Like the tagline says.
132	* TimePassesMontage: While the group is waiting for Mona to get back.
133	* TitleDrop: A line in a newspaper reads, "We won't quit until we have this sicko cornered!"
134	* TrademarkFavoriteFood: There's a reason he's nicknamed "Donny Donut".
135	%%* TurnOfTheMillennium: 2008.
136	%%* DevelopingDoomedCharacters
137	* UnwillingSuspension: Steve getting hung from some meat hooks.
138	* VerbedTitle: "Cornered" is a past tense verb and is the whole title.
139	* VillainOpeningScene: CSK watching some of his tapes.
140	* WaitHere: Jess tells Donny to keep hiding while she goes to get Morty.
141	* YoureInsane: Though CSK claims that he's just doing to the victims the twisted things that they said they'd do to him.
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Context Film / Cornered