Catacombs

I thought it was a refreshing horror film, due to the complete crap lately. I have been to the Catacombs in Paris and know first hand how creepy and historical the place is. This movie was obviously a low budget film, yet it captured the damp and horrifying mood of the Catacombs to a T. Also, the actors put out a performance that I thought was quite good.( Pop singer " Pink " wasn't horrible at all) and the directing was well done.

I loved the use of light and darkness throughout the film. In my opinion, there is nothing more terrifying than being in a state of complete darkness. The story of the satanic cult was a little over the top, considering it actually produced a "satan" child. The plot twist , in my opinion, ruined the film. Of course, as in any "scream" flick, there are always some cheezy and predictable parts, but overall, I found it entertaining. Definitely, think the ending could have been thought out a little better. Scratch that, A lot better. Take out the crazy twist, ....much better. Over all though, a good, not great, horror film.

I can't believe that this film has such a high rating. The acting is dismal, even by B-movie standards, I didn't care about a single one of the characters, there was far too much reliance on strobe lighting and flashing effects and the ending was just ridiculous. The basic storyline was fairly reasonable to start with, an underground club in Paris where illegal parties are held by groups of social misfits avoiding police raids. The setting looks awesome at times and there is no denying that in the proper hands this could've been a hit. Unfortunately it is let down by the overall stupidity of the lead characters and just wanders into familiar territory instead of offering anything new. Do yourself a favour, if you want to a see a claustrophobic horror set underground, watch The Descent before you see this or you'll get that deja vu feeling. Shame really, the first few minutes were great.

This film has amazing potential including the mysterious underground catacombs of Paris, a rave in the crypts, weirdos galore including the lead -- even a goat monster on the prowl. Unfortunately, while it offers some entertainment value, it devolves into a jumble of underground in the dark shots that are not patched together well, and in the end, nothing much to take it beyond the potential and into the realm of a good movie.

With hundreds of miles of catacombs to play with you would think they could have dreamed up some interesting places to stop. Maybe the Nazi bunker which is down there would have added some creep. Or a secret meeting place of a cult. An old crazy recluse. I mean, something more than endless stairs and passageways and pools of water and places that look like the attic of an old house in need of a rummage sale. There's just nothing to make you go "Wow!" or prickle the hairs on the back of your neck.

It doesn't help that the attractive lead is an asexual emo queen. Sure, she's been through a lot, but most of her actions consist of screaming and running, followed by more screaming and running, topped off by more screaming and running. By the end she is thoroughly unlikeable mess with no real redeeming qualities, and that's before the real "end" which I won't spoil here.

Actually the best part of the movie was the flashlight. To steal a line from Will Smith: "I have GOT'S to get me one of those." Not only does it last forever, and display immunity to immersion in water, it survives falling ~100 feet onto hard concrete and doesn't lose a lumen in the process. Hmmm. The fact that the flashlight steals the show says something about this movie. Not a bad movie. Just not a good one.

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!

200 years ago 7 million people where buried in the catacombs under the capital Paris in France.Victoria(Shannen Sossomon) get invitation to Paris from her sister played by famous singer Pink .They go to party in the catacombs with some other friends to Victorias sister.Things start to happen..lots of running and screaming but no scares.Not my cup of tea but not totally crap.I think S.Sossomon is good,the ending fine and some scenes well done.The version I saw was the 86 minutes one.Maybe there exist an unrated version with more power in some scenes as I think the movie was a bit tame considering the story is very gruesome. I give Catacoms 4/10