Die verborgene Gruft

Ron Silver, James Coburn and Christopher Plummer are interesting to watch in this unoriginal plot about something rotten in an apparently perfect New England small town. The film suffers from a crisis of identity, starting off like a legal drama, developing shades of high school angst, a horror element and, well, I'll stop there rather than give away the ending. As someone else has said in this forum, the story fizzles out at the end. Bad plot, only just saved by some decent acting. 5 out of 10.

I was quite surprised by this movie which keeps you watching right to the end, mainly due to the cast. The story itself fizzles out towards the end but still very watchable. Ron Silver is very good with a fine performance and supported by some fine actors (James Coburn great as ever) The director David DeCoteau has made more than his fair share of low budget drivel but this does rate out of the movies I've had the misfortune to watch, as his best and certainly the only one with anyone you have ever heard of starring in it. So much so when you look at the other movies on IMDb that he has directed before and after this one you really do wonder how he got the job directing such a good cast? So I'm presuming that the cast has more to do with how watchable the movie is rather than the ultra low budget director, who must hold some sort of record for the Director with the lowest voted movies on the IMDb. Above Average Movie 5/10

this film was acceptable, but not worth more than 6/10. some parts are quite boring and tedious, but the exciting and scary parts make up for it. James Coburn plays very well in this film. some of the better parts are where a burning scarecrow is hung from outside their home, and there car windows are smashed, and where the son is beaten-up. this film is worth about £7 or $10 no more.

I hold this movie in absolute disdain. It is one of those "we have a do-good, politically correct, neatly packaged little movie that we swear really does have a point." This movie is about a sleepy little town that has a gay murder that may or may not have been a hate crime (though they not-so-subtly make it clear that it was). An ill writer moves there, exposes the story, and is harassed to no end. This movie is basically here to say that moral positions against homosexuality are wrong, that religion is really an evil narcotic, and that anyone who disagrees is a bigoted homophobe. It is sad that the director let the soap-box proclamations get in the way, because the idea of a xenophobic little town with strange people and not enough genetic variation is a decent premise. James Coburn, Christopher Plummer, and Ron Silver are all very good actors, but they are simply not able to show what they can do.

The pace at which this film staggers reminds me of one of my alcoholic friend's storytelling abilities. It lurches forth and alternates between fast action that makes no sense, then bizarre attempts to build suspense that fail miserably. The film also takes a turn for the bizarre when a crazy lady befriends the ill writer. I can't say too much about it without giving the move away, but the end is especially bizarre and disappointing. All in all, a very bad movie.

I would, in closing, like to point out one key similarity between this movie and my aforementioned alcoholic friend. At the end of his stories he would usually throw up. At the end of this movie, you will.

Religious cult type film, was brilliant to see Ron Silver and Christopher Plummer at work with a really good script and set up. The plot is very well done and I always wanted to see what was coming next, I think this one's a bit underrated, especially with the small budget they had, story over special effects.

The cult in the film is homophobic and racist, with no black people or gay people being allowed to live in the village. Ron Silver's character is a well renowned actor and whilst initially well respected him and his family are soon attacked for looking into the suspicious death of a homosexual man which the evil cult obviously wants to cover up.

7/10: Very good storyline and acting, definitely a gem!