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Catacombs (2007) More at IMDbPro »
17 out of 25 people found the following comment useful :-
Not a bad film!, 18 February 2008
Author: matt ward (escape1979uk) from London england
People are slating this as a "bad" film however it is a decent enough, unnerving thriller that doesn't quite give the feeling of crushing claustrophobia the Descent does, and doesn't quite set you on the edge of your seat like monster chase films such as Creep does...
Some camera shots are a bit too "arty" for my taste, and detracts slightly from the overall effect seeing as it is a horror film, however it is easy to see what they were trying to achieve with such closed in, minimal light sourced tunneled shots that fade into the distance only as the main character rounds the bend taking the torchlight out of shot.
But overall, a good enough film with a slightly transparent ending that will either have you smiling or groaning!
13 out of 18 people found the following comment useful :-
Entertaining but nothing too special, 11 May 2007
Author: pekoeworks from United States
*** This comment may contain spoilers ***
I saw this film at a free screening about a year ago. They were passing out tickets at my college campus.
Basic Plot: Sossamon plays the lead character who goes to Paris to visit her sister, played by Pink. They go out for a late night rave-like party hidden in the catacombs beneath Paris. The cops arrive to break up the party and chaos ensues. Sossamon gets knocked out in the chaos and wakes up a few hours later, finding herself locked in the catacombs with no way out.
It's not anything really special but it was highly entertaining watching a frantic Sossamon run around in the dark for about an hour trying to find her way out of the catacombs while being chased by a goat-headed killer. The action in this film is very fast-paced with an almost continual feel of chaos and urgency. Some, if not most of the action comes from first-person POV with Sossamon running through the labyrinth of tunnel-graves with a dying flashlight. Oh, and the ending is one of the best parts about the film. Very amusing.
No ridiculous amount of gratuitous violence.
16 out of 24 people found the following comment useful :-
An Enjoyable watch, 16 March 2008
Author: adam-harding2 from United Kingdom
This is my first user comment on IMDb and feel I have to make it to prevent people being put off my the low average score.
If you are a horror fan you will enjoy this one. Pink is not the main character, but she does a decent enough job for her part...don't worry they have a proper actress for the lead! Anyway, the location is really cool and it provides a really tense feel throughout. There is a 'Saw' feel about certain scenes which is all good.
The film is also fairly intelligent in parts. They do a good job of conveying the scary feeling of being alone in another country and not being able to understand the language.
And don't be put off by the "bad ending" people have been quoting. Its not that bad, its even pretty cool I think. Its the journey you go on during the film that makes it enjoyable, the ending is not a major problem really.
Hey, why not go for a double bill. Watch this first followed by Them aka "Ils". Would be a quality night of French/Romanian horror goodness.
Enjoy!
10 out of 13 people found the following comment useful :-
Claustrophobic and Tense, 20 November 2008
Author: Claudio Carvalho from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
When the troubled and addicted in pills Victoria (Shannyn Sossamon) receives a card in USA from her sister Carolyn (Alecia Moore), who is studying in Sorbonne, inviting her to visit Paris, she immediately travels to meet her sister. When Vic arrives, Carolyn brings her to a rave party in the underground of Paris in a location called Catacombs, and introduces her to her friends. They tell Vic that in the 500 kilometer mace, more than seven million people was buried two hundred years ago; further, the labyrinth is haunted by a monster that wears a goat mask and chase people. In accordance with the urban legend, a boy born in an incestuous intercourse was locked in the labyrinth and fed with raw meat by the Cult of the Black Virgin to be the Antichrist, becoming an evil beast. The tired and upset Victoria decides to leave the party, but she gets lost in the mace; when her sister finds her, she is attacked and killed by the beast. Victoria runs in the dark tunnels trying to reach an exit or find Carolyn's friends while she is chased by her innermost fears.
The claustrophobic and tense "Catacombs" is an underrated horror movie. The gore story is good with a great twist; Shannyn Sossamon screams a lot in panic and has a great and convincing performance, demonstrating the tension and fear felt by her character; but on the contrary, Carolyn is too vulgar for a student of the traditional Sorbonne. The frantic camera work associated to the use of lightening is excellent and I startled many times along the story. My vote is seven.
Title (Brazil): "Catacumbas" ("Catacombs")
16 out of 26 people found the following comment useful :-
waste of time, 21 November 2007
Author: JaylineFrance from Denmark
*** This comment may contain spoilers ***
It always makes me mad when someone creates such an awful movie about such a great story... 7 million people buried under Paris in some scary catacombs... could have been a great movie... And silly me I expected something cool and scary, but what I have got was definitely not cool or scary, rather annoying. The actress is screaming in the entire movie like a stupid teenage girl, and there is absolutely no chance to get to like her. The conversations are very lame, and her lines are again, annoying. I give you an example: the french guy( who does NOT speak English! ) is holding a map, and she asks him: "Is that a map?" After a while i was hoping she gets killed, because with that lame acting she did not deserve to survive. OK, there is one positive thing about the movie, and that is the ending, it is surprising, something you did not expect from this movie. But that nice feeling doesn't last too long, at the very end they blew it again. So if you like horror/thriller movies, do not watch this, waste of time!
7 out of 9 people found the following comment useful :-
Just say no to Pink, 11 September 2008
Author: EXodus25X from United States
Sub-par acting all around along with an especially horrible performance by Pink, even by B-Movie standards. The premise is OK and even the beginning is not completely horrible, but then the action get relentlessly repetitive as are made character is chased and chased and chased some more, which does work for me at times but with nothing unique thrown in there to mix it up a bit then it just gets old fast. I was pleasantly surprised by the ending, not only a twist but a twist that makes a little sense and actually works, it doesn't feel contrived and just thrown in at the end to screw with the audience. If your looking for a good horror movie you could do much better, but if you can stomach Pinks horrible attempt at acting for the length of this film (more power to you) then you could give this one a try, but only for it's unique ending.
7 out of 9 people found the following comment useful :-
It was OK, 28 April 2008
Author: hempy6193 from United States
I enjoyed parts of the movie. I am a raver and the aspect of a rave in the catacombs is brilliant. yet actually doing that would be incredibly stupid. any way, it seemed like a lot of running in the dark and screaming, little dialog.i so on and so forth its an OK film. i heard a lot of mixed reviews about the movie...i am indifferent towards whether its good or bad. it appeals to some people and not to others. what can i saw...so do most films. Also i would like to go party in the underground. maybe not in France in the catacombs...but making a nightclub that was under the streets and making it look like the catacombs would be amazing.
15 out of 25 people found the following comment useful :-
Awful., 27 December 2007
Author: gsh999 from Subcrust Base 955 - Venus
*** This comment may contain spoilers ***
The female lead in this movie is very unfortunate. She gets lost in the catacombs under Paris twice in about half an hour. The first time she escapes a murderous lunatic and, shortly thereafter, she unluckily becomes separated from a room full of ravers and a platoon of police. Huh? Hell, just lie down on the ground and let the police take you into custody! There's just way too much stupidity in this movie. We're supposed to believe that an elaborate, illegal rave is set up in the catacombs complete with rock concert light towers and sound system. We are also to believe that there is a spring-fed pond in the sewers of Paris which is great as a swimming hole. We are also to believe that Romanians are French. Hey they have an accent, right? In addition to the insipid casting and plot, like so many of these so-called horror movies nowadays, the characters act too stupidly to believe. The sister arrives in Paris for her first visit overseas and is met with an idiotic practical joke. Nice welcome, jackasses. Just too much stupidity all around.
This movie is apparently targeted to the teenage audience, complete with headache-inducing, thumping rave "music", but I believe most teenagers are too sophisticated for this inanity. This movie is much similar to the horrendous trash produced by the sci-fi channel, which is intended for 10-year olds. Avoid this one, people!
5 out of 6 people found the following comment useful :-
Hope you fancy staring at a black screen…., 9 September 2008
Author: Coventry from the Draconian Swamp of Unholy Souls
Few things are as infuriating as great horror settings that are entirely wasted on trite scenarios. Catacombs – immense and ominously dark mazes where thousands of ancient dead bodies are stored – form the absolute greatest locations to set a horrific story in, but the creators of this movie ruined all the potential they were offered here. Surely this could have been an interesting film, but the unoriginal script almost immediately reverts to clichéd situations, chaotic editing and creating false suspense. The emotionally unstable Victoria travels to Paris, following an invitation from her sister Carolyn, and promptly gets dragged into the wild nightlife of illegal parties thrown in the catacombs underneath the city center. When she gets separated from the group, Victoria finds herself relentlessly pursued by a raving madman and they expect us to believe it concerns an inbred and carnivorous monster wearing a goat head mask. You'll notice right away there are several things wrong with the narrative. Why would the partying sister bother to invite such an uptight individual like Victoria to a place where drugs and hideous Techno music reign? Why would an insatiable killing machine exclusively chase isolated party-goers when there are hundreds of unsuspecting easy targets waiting to be butchered in the room next door? Once Victoria is trapped inside the underground labyrinth, "Catacombs" turns into an intolerably boring and irritating film. She just stumbles around the passageways for hours, praying the batteries of her flashlight won't die – which they do a couple of times, of course, and you'll find yourself staring at a black screen throughout very long periods - and suffering ridiculous injuries, like cutting her leg on the spokes of a rusty bicycle. Oh, the horror! This movie is slow and boring, the hectic editing of randomly creepy images is pointless, the soundtrack is god-awful and not a single one of the lead characters is even mildly amiable. Victoria constantly whines and, to me personally, it's a complete mystery why she's such a confused woman. She's young, attractive, supposedly intelligent and free to spontaneously leave everything behind and travel to Europe. So … what the heck is the problem? The French boys serve as dumb screen fillings and Carolyn is positively one of the most annoying horror characters ever. Pink is an even worse actress than singer, for that matter. Throughout almost its entire playtime, "Catacombs" was destined to receive a rating 1 out of 10 from me, but then came the ending which suddenly brought an unexpected highpoint. There are two end "twists", by the way. One is painfully frustrating and caused me to hate the film even more, but luckily there's a second one which turned tragedies around a bit and all of a sudden the film was good enough to increase my rating towards two.
6 out of 8 people found the following comment useful :-
The Blood Beast Terror (1967) Vs Catacombs (2007), 17 June 2008
Author: Tony Bush from United Kingdom
*** This comment may contain spoilers ***
I'm sometimes surprised to experience just how perceptibly little, in some cases, low-budget fantasy/horror cinema has really evolved in the intervening years since the sixties and the here and now. I just watched The Blood Beast Terror (a no-budget sixties fossil from the Hammer wannabe Tigon Studios) and Catacombs (from the producers of the Saw movies, apparently) back to back and I remain utterly amused to report that The Blood Beast Terror tramples all over the newer effort for sheer entertainment value and (thankfully) sustaining a far lower level of crashing boredom-inducement.
Catacombs has a neurotic anorexic US chick, Victoria (Shannon Sossamon), visiting her fleshier free-spirited sister, Carolyn, in Paris. Carolyn is played by pop-strumpet Pink – and she's clearly a serious, solid-gold, major-league non-actress in the Madonna mould. Pink and pals – a bunch of ignorant Gallic goth pranksters - like to party in the ancient burial chambers situated in catacombs beneath the City of Light. They sweat and gyrate to rave music, smoke Gauloise, swig absinthe and skinny dip in the underground pond, which looks like it resulted from a ruptured sewage pipe. They also spin yarns of a satanic man-beast who lives in and stalks the catacombs in a ceaseless quest for fresh meat.
After a police raid, Victoria gets trapped in the catacombs and, believing her sister to have been done-in by said beastie boy, spends the rest of the film running around in a raging panic, sweating, screaming, scrabbling, sustaining minor injuries (the sort a half-hearted self-harmer might inflict) and rejecting the advances of Henri, a non-English speaking Frenchie who is also trapped underground with her. Henri behaves like all non English-speaking Frenchman by grunting, posturing, pointing at things and exhibiting a rapid multitude of mood-swings in a fantastically short space of time. That's about it, folks, until the earth-shattering shock twist ending which proves to be as unpredictable and inventive as a song by…er…Pink, I guess.
Put simply, Catacombs is crass, dull, monotonous, scare free, noisy and irritating. One of the most pointless films I have ever seen in my life. It sets out to achieve little and undershoots spectacularly by succeeding in achieving nothing at all of any worth, merit or significance.
Which brings me to The Blood Beast Terror. Not the best of its ilk by any stretch of the most lenient imagination. It's a Hammer rip-off from the late sixties and the film which its star, the late, great Peter Cushing, classed as his worst ever. When you consider some of the stuff Mr Cushing churned out, that's quite some put-down. He was in Star Wars.
Mr Cushing is a Scotland Yard detective who seems to spend most of his time in the Victorian countryside trying to solve a series of murders perpetrated on young men. The victims have been mutilated and drained of blood. The perpetrator is the "daughter" of local entomologist and mad scientist Dr Mallinger who is in fact one of his genetic experiments and she is able to, nay, compelled to turn into a giant…wait for it, wait for it…Death's Head Moth! That's right, the girl can turn into a huge moth with a craving for the blood of university students and brawny gardeners. She spares the local coach driver, who goes promptly off his rocker and gibbers: "The eyes! The eyes! Oh the eyes! Leave me alone!" This prompts the kindly visiting police doctor to diagnose and prescribe in one: "He's completely insane. We'll take him to the lunatic asylum in the morning." Yes, the script is laughable, the budget would probably just cover the price of a bag of chips and a bottle of pale ale by today's standards, the acting is woeful – even Cushing, a man capable of elevating the shoddiest material way beyond the most plunging of depths, is left floundering here. When one character proudly announces "They call me Billy the Bug-Catcher" you really know that this film has transcended the boundary separating the mere crap from a realm of infinite mind-numbing stupidity the like of which is seldom if ever breached for fear of ending up just like the gibbering coachman and facing a lifetime caged in the booby-hatch. Well, you would if you saw a giant moth with furry breasts.
Yet, in comparison with Catacombs, The Blood Beast Terror is almost a work of art. What it has in common with Catacombs is being equally as scare-free. But, and here is where it scores points, the acting is better, there's more actually going on to keep you interested and engaged, there's the camp comedy value (unintentional, but it at least amuses), and it has an un-cynical attitude and Gothic atmosphere that worthless tripe such as Catacombs replaces with ruined expectations and cheap anticlimactic plasticity. At least The Blood Beast Terror has the gumption to go all the way with it's monster - no matter how ludicrous. Whereas, Catacombs...
Should it be worrying that, to me, a mediocre sixties movie about a woman who can turn into a blood-sucking death's head moth seems more credible, valid and fun than one about a shrieking idiot bumbling around in a mass grave beneath the streets of modern day Paris? Moth probably, bug who knows?
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