Ligeia

I don't know what the heck that was, or why people need to rip off Edgar Allen Poe for ideas, other than he's in the Public Domain and won't ask for a royalty! The plot, which kind of echoes Poe, is that an English professor is enticed from his engagement to a singer to a sultry Goth babe from Russia, and is convinced to use his immense wealth to rebuy her Russian estate while she looks for ways to extend her mortality through magic and science. What we get is a confused mess of body swaps and the kings of Direct to DVD, Michael Madsen and Eric Roberts, playing largely unnecessary supporting characters.

Other than that, some parts of the film look quite good for a low-budget made in Eastern Europe mess...

Liked the cast. Too many credits as usual. OK beginning but lacked a sense of urgency. It just didn't move along like a good horror movie should. Interesting plot line but fell short. The ending seemed jumbled and disjointed. I wanted more. I would not go out of your way to rent this one, but if you are a alone and nothing else to watch then why not.Poe is one of my favorites but this is NOT one of my favorite stories of his. They tried to make it interesting but for true gore horror fans I would skip this one...I would say it was well cast. I would say the locations are lovely but as a great horror movie..I would have to say um "No". Once again this is NOT one of my favorite Poe short stories and did not make a great horror movie.

I would normally give "The Tomb" about five stars, if only because it was made in a competent manner (i.e., you can hear everything, the editing is reasonable, shots are framed, etc.). But I have to deduct one star for being so blatantly derivative and one star for being an insult to Mr. Poe. No, wait...I'm taking another star away because everybody is just so BAD in this film.

The story is only minimally based on Poe's short story. I can hear the producer's now..."What? No children in danger? Add one! No sex? Add some! How does she come back from the dead? Through strength of will alone? No good! Add some satanic rituals and symbols. While you're at it, go find out how much Michael Madsen and Eric Roberts want for small, crappy parts. Nobody else is hiring them, so we ought to be able to get them for a song." (Madsen and Roberts have two totally irrelevant and shoddy roles in this production, but I guess that Madsen has to buy black hair dye somehow.)

What is more fatal to this film than anything else is that we just don't care about any of the characters. We don't hate any of them, we don't like or sympathize with any of them. They just sort of exist to deliver their lines.

As far as excitement, forget it. There isn't any. No nudity (worth mentioning,) no gore, no mystery, no chases, no fights (of any length or quality,) no shocking or surprising moments. It's just drab.

Overall, a very stinky film. Don't bother.

OK ... So it tried not to be a typical worthless neu-horror failure ... But it fell for all the usual things ... Drained colour flashbacks ... Naff unnecessary quick cut editing ( at times ) ... Acting that would make the local drama group blush ... And a storyline that could ( possibly ) have been interesting if it hadn't been written like a bad soft porn movie I have a feeling the budget on this was actually bigger than it looked ... Some of the settings were quite grand for a low budget film ... Unfortunately the director didn't know what to do with any of them How on earth do these awful directors and script writers get to make these films ... They are just a waste of time and money ... Everyone involved with the production I presume got paid ... Because that is the only thing this sort of junk does ... Pay workers As long as the financiers don't expect people to pay money to watch this dross ... THAT WOULD BE GOING TO FAR

There is nothing that will get a movie downgraded faster than false advertising. If you are going to get an "R", then make the movie an "R", not a PG-13. There was nothing in this film that you cannot see routinely on broadcast television. It was a huge disappointment when you have someone as gorgeous as Sofya Skya, and all you see is her back. Sheesh!

There was no one in this movie to cheer for. Yes, I know it's a Gothic tale, and it really made the grade there, but I expect a little more emotion from the actors. Go back and watch the early Gothic before special effects and see what actors did then.

It was painful to watch.