Putevoy obkhodchik

Or is it "My bloody Russian-tine"? Any which way, this tries to mix horror and action into one movie. And while it is very familiar (to anyone who has watched a slasher movie before), it is done decent enough. Not good mind you, but not bad either. The characters are exchangeable (but then again, what slasher movie has great characters in them? Exactly!) and the death scenes are not overly inventively (not in my book anyway).

What stays is a nice setting/atmosphere and an extra point for trying. Russian movies that are successful outside their homeland were mostly movies that are thoughtful (Solaris et al). Recently of course there was some Fantasy (Nochnoy Dozor aka Night Watch for example) and here we have a slasher. Nice for a try, but nothing to get too excited about.

When I picked up TRACKMAN in my latest online order of DVD's and checked out the cover art, I thought it was going to be one of those cheap annoying and unoriginal slashers, well when I started watching it it didn't look cheap at all it was actually nicely shot and it wasn't the usual annoying teen slasher flick, it actually featured a band of bank robbers who successfully pull off a bank job and take hostages and are looking to make their escape by going through an abandoned metro tunnel, but soon they realize they're not alone in the tunnels.

As soon as we are introduced to our killer hiding in the tunnels, the immediate reaction would be that this guy was photo copied right out of MY BLOODY VALENTINE and the plot or at least from the part where the robbers and hostages go into the tunnels, is like it was taken from a 70's horror movie called RAW MEAT or a latter day horror film called CREEP, to top it all off this film never builds any kind of tension or doesn't really scare you or keeps you on the edge of your seat, its only redeeming factor is the cinematography, this film is beautifully shot, the film makers certainly weren't lazy in attempting to create atmosphere.

Although this film is very well made at the end of the day after watching this film its a question of, seen this, done that and bought the T-shirt, as it doesn't really offer anything we haven't seen before

Obviously blatantly "inspired" by a few other horror films (namely "My Bloody Valentine" and "See No Evil") "Trackman" is a rather boring and lazy film that meanders along through all the typical slasher film clichés that we have come to know. However, a tad of originality never killed anybody and this is a concept that completely eludes the makers of this film.

The plot centers around a couple of criminals who decide to rob a busy bank in the downtown Moscow area. After fatally shooting a security guard the crooks take a few female hostages and escape into an abandoned tunnel that runs below the bustling city of Moscow. However, it seems they chose the wrong hiding place, as a serial killer wearing a variation of a gas mask and armed with a pick axe (sound familiar?) patrols the tunnel, ready to kill and collect the eyes of anyone foolish enough to venture into to it.

The Good: "Trackman" is a great looking film. The production values are top notch and, stylistically, the film the film works better than most horror films that have made it into theaters lately. The tunnel setting is definitely creepy and claustrophobic, but the director doesn't take full advantage of this opportunity. The killer is also pretty creepy and intimidating, and his mask/costume works pretty well. He is certainly your 80's style slasher film killer.

The Bad: For starters, the characters are all annoying as hell (even the two hostages), so it is really hard to sympathize or even care about any of them. Instead of going this route with the plot/characters, I feel the film could have been more effective following the typical "teenagers in peril" formula. Instead of having robbers as the main characters, have a bunch of teenagers who venture into the tunnels for a little partying be the victims. In fact, when I was watching this film, I kept thinking of the film "Catacombs" and how, if we could take elements from each of these films to make one film, it could be pretty darn good. In addition to having uninteresting characters, the film itself gets pretty boring. There are long stretches of time where nothing happens except the group wandering around the tunnel, occasionally stopping to yell at each other or slap around the hostages. It doesn't keep the viewers attention at all, and when the slashing does begin, it's entirely too late and too tame to redeem the film. Again, we don't care at all about the characters, so it is hard to get too invested in what happens to them. When the end finally does come, it is such a head-scratcher that it makes you even more angry that you just bored yourself for an hour watching the dang film.

Overall: A film that is pleasing to look at because of its high production values and stylish setting, but suffers because of a boring pace, extremely clichéd and predictable plot, and unlikeable characters. I'd strongly suggest skipping this one and popping in "My Bloody Valentine"(either the remake OR original!), as no matter how many times you have seen it, it will still be more exciting and entertaining that "Trackman!"

FrightMeter Grade: D-

Trackman could as well be an American movie if you replace the Russian cliché actors with their Hollywood clichés. The whole thing is pretty much ripped from other movies and stretched to the limit. It starts in a pretty modern way where 2 bank robbers make their plan in a McDonalds, time switching to the later bank robbery and back. Although I liked the beginning of the movie it seemed a unnatural and like the director begging to be different. Anyway, we've seen this... although not in a horror movie. So what next... After the robbery fails they take hostages and hide... oh yeah .... in an old abandoned metro tunnel system under a junkyard. You can guess whats coming from that point. Now you got 4 gangsters and 3 hostages to go for a killer who lives down there and has a strange interest in his victims eyes. The whole thing makes absolutely no sense... so the typical comment of one gangster "Did you hear the tale of a mutated maniac living down here" is totally nullified with the ending which is trying to give an endless 80 slasher-minutes some meaning and fails miserably because it makes absolutely no sense with a killer having his eyeball-collection office installed down there. If the movie sticked to its slasher basics maybe it could have succeeded with the eerie atmosphere in the tunnels but still most of the time nothing is happening and the eeriness wears off after seeing dark empty tunnels with something moving far away for the 100th time. The kills are boring, the acting not too convincing and the back story seems too constructed trying to get out of its genre barriers but stumbling across its many plot holes. If you like dark empty tunnels and pickaxe-murders with wielding goggles mixed in with some real annoying modern editing and action-elements thrown in... go ahead. I guess the ending will ruin it even for you... the escape sequence on the motorcycle is beyond laughable.

The movie opens with two criminals discussing a bank robbery and the escape plan. Everything sounds fine, and it goes off as planned. Only, when they get into the tunnel that they were to use for escape, they come head-to-head with a slasher with a pick axe that lives in the tunnel and, believe it or not, collects eyeballs.

I would not call it as gory movie. Yes, the slasher does use some kind of eyeball-removal tool after he kills, but that wasn't really bad. It is the terror that makes it interesting.

Sure, we have seen this many times before. Originality is not something we expect in horror movies. But it was done well and there was plenty of excitement as they try to escape.

I am really not sure about the ending, though. It just didn't seem to fit.