A group of students go searching at an old house after a professor disappears during his exploration into a closet’s space.
I would like to start by saying that the DVD artwork did not do the film justice. The look of the film is great with the SFX and atmosphere being top notch. The film is hard to describe without giving away key plot points, but if you enjoy Lovecraftian tentacled creatures and spacious caverns combined with the claustrophobic crawlspaces of THE DESCENT, you will like this film.
The story is very creative and reminded me a bit of FROM BEYOND. We are first sucked in during the opening credits when the Professor is shown talking into a video camera. The tapes are corrupted, but you get the point that the people seemingly go crazy and die. When the students show up to initially explore the closet, they learn that it is a half mile long…which is physically impossible. Then they begin their journey into the darkness covered in lights and with only a single gun.
The acting was pretty fair all around, but the one really good performance came from Melanie Donihoo as Nancy. This may come as a surprise since she is the wife of the director and this is her first feature credit. But she has amazing energy and could have easily fit in with the ladies of THE DESCENT (one of last year’s greatest films). While the other characters in the group of students came off like jerks, Nancy was the one person I wanted to see live.
I am extremely happy that they chose to go with man-made tentacles instead of CGI. There are some great kills and watching the slimy tentacles twisting around limbs or penetrating bodies (like the EVIL DEAD trees) was fun. The best death hands down comes from the killer vagina. I won’t even elaborate. Other scary fun to be had is the critter under the sleeping bag, the characters tearing through tunnels in complete darkness, and an exploding neck.
This is a great looking film considering it was low budget. While watching the film, I was wondering how they even built the sets for this. I learned later that the amazing catacombs and tunnels were built in carports and dried out lakes. Looking at the overall results, I had guessed the production cost twice what it actually had.
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No official DVD release date yet, but it will be popping up at a few festivals and conventions this year.
Bottom Line: Old school horror story that oozes atmosphere. For fans of Lovecraft stories or of the film THE DESCENT.
Rating: 7/10
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