Koster rattles out a number of rules. Not to make any demands, not to call the police and giving him a 5 p.m. deadline in which to get a particular number embedded in the brain of Elizabeth who it seems is the daughter of one of the robbers. So it is a tall order for the psychiatrist for not only has he to come to terms with a psychotic patient but he has to achieve this in double-quick time.

Based on a novel by Andrew Klavan it has all the ingredients of horror, Hitchcock style. There are knick-knacks of horrow and suspense liberally strewn around. For dramatic relief you have red herring. The wife well nigh bed-ridden is reminiscent of James Stewart in Rear Window, the only difference is that it is she who is being watched by the captors. And then you have the harried psychiatrist going around almost in circles, the traumatised patient who is not very co-operative and the ruthless kidnapper who will not hesitate to kill for what he wants.

Anthony Peckham’s screenplay is quite imaginative and director Gary Fleder who did an excellent job in that whodunit Kiss the Girls goes one step better as he churns out an absorbing narrative with copious doses of suspense and sudden dashes of horror. The thread of anticipation is never broken but it is the sustained pitch of expectation that is almost staccato like. Horror is lurking around every corner as the clock licks towards its 5 p.m. deadline. Can it be extended?

Is there some way out? Any which way will do. The viewer is at the receiving end of a psychological onslaught, the kind of which one rarely experiences on the screen. In retrospect one may look for flaws but as the action unfolds there is little time to think. One event or incident follows another in rapid succession. It is 110 minutes of engrossing entertainment embellished by good performances by Michael Douglas, Sean Bean and Brittany Murphy Famke Jenssen’s disability lends itself to more drama.

Aamir Mokri’s cinematography is searching and the music gives the narrative an air of impending disaster. The cat-and-mouse game goes on and on, ruthlessly and almost endlessly. If Hitchcock at the beginning of Psycho made a request not to reveal the ending may be the title is also a request to do the same. Don’t Say a Word may not be in the same class as Psycho but it surely is an excellent film.