I've seen a lot of poor horror films in recent years but nothing prepared me for the mess that is CATACOMBS. Shot on the cheap in Romania by an American crew, and made with a list of unknown, amateur actors, boasting the appearance of pop star Pink in her first acting role, I have to say I wasn't expecting much. Then again, I knew the film was set in the Paris catacombs, and such places are undoubtedly good for atmosphere even if the film itself is lacking (I'm thinking the '80s Italian flick SPECTERS). Sadly, CATACOMBS wastes its setting from the start, never generating one iota of interest or intelligence from a stupid premise, and consisting of little more than a woman running around in tunnels armed with a torch, BLAIR WITCH-style.
The story is particularly stupid, so bad that you wonder who on earth would greenlight a plot such as this. It goes nowhere and is riddled with holes and inadequacies. Characters behave stupidly and change motivation as the script demands and nothing at all makes sense. The worst part, though, is the twist ending, which falls flat after becoming completely laughable. The acting is poor and the direction worse. Sossamon is bland as the supposedly empathetic lead and Pink is repellent in her acting debut. There's no gore here, no action either, and the only horror comes from a two-minute flashback sequence detailing the birth of a demon child to a pair of Satanists. This flashback, with its jagged editing and extremely repulsive imagery seemed out of place in CATACOMBS. I didn't care for it at all, but at least it was something: something the rest of the entire film is lacking. What a mess.
The story is particularly stupid, so bad that you wonder who on earth would greenlight a plot such as this. It goes nowhere and is riddled with holes and inadequacies. Characters behave stupidly and change motivation as the script demands and nothing at all makes sense. The worst part, though, is the twist ending, which falls flat after becoming completely laughable. The acting is poor and the direction worse. Sossamon is bland as the supposedly empathetic lead and Pink is repellent in her acting debut. There's no gore here, no action either, and the only horror comes from a two-minute flashback sequence detailing the birth of a demon child to a pair of Satanists. This flashback, with its jagged editing and extremely repulsive imagery seemed out of place in CATACOMBS. I didn't care for it at all, but at least it was something: something the rest of the entire film is lacking. What a mess.