The Devil's Chair

The Devil's Chair is a 2007 British horror film. It premiered at the 2007 Toronto International Film Festival. Plot The film begins with Nick West lighting a cigarette in the dark and introducing himself to some unknown audience. He proceeds to recount the events he allegedly witnessed, claiming to be a "victim". It is implied that the whole story is told exclusively through his point of view. Nick brings Sammy to the abandoned Blackwater Asylum to use acid and have sex. They find a weird chair and Nick proposes using it during sex; however the device traps and kills Sammy. Nick is arrested and considered insane, being sentenced to the Hildon Mental Institute in spite of claiming that supernatural forces killed Sammy. Four years later, Cambridge professor Dr. Willard proposes Nick's psychiatrist, Dr. Clairebourne (Nadja Brand), release him under his custody for an experimental treatment: exposing the truth to Nick by bringing him back to the crime scene. Clairebourne opposes, explaining that Nick still has severe delusions, but in the end she accepts. Nick is introduced to Willard, who expresses his desire to write a book about West and his experiences. Willard assumes full responsibility for Nick and alongside his assistant Melissa, and the students Rachel Fowles and Brett Wilson, they return with Nick to the Blackwater Asylum. Nick begins to feel uneasy when the group enter the asylum, but a sympathetic Rachel tells him that he can leave tomorrow morning if he wants to, promising she won't tell the doctor. The group find the infamous chair. Willard reveals that the asylum warden was known to practice highly controversial methods of treatment. The night nears and Willard tells everyone to go to sleep to have a fresh start tomorrow. In private, he confesses to Nick that the book he wants to write isn't actually about Nick, but about the chair. He admits to believing that Nick's "hallucinations" were actually real events. Willard shows him the warden's journal, from which he learned about the chair: it was used to test the warden's theory about the existence of the human soul. Nick becomes seemingly disturbed, as he says he actually came to believe he killed Sammy, but now isn't sure anymore.