bodine-1

This senseless and incoherent action/horror flick is one of director Pyun's better movies. Number one...it's short, clocking in at a brisk 77 minutes. Number two...it's got the "Species" babe Henstridge in a role that doesn't require her to shed her clothes, but she STILL looks great. Number three...I like Lambert, no matter how awful the movies he chooses to be in happen to turn out.

As another reviewer stated, Lambert and Henstridge are cops chasing a mutant killer, who is carrying a contagious disease, through what looks like a sewer. That's about it for plot development, although there are some half-baked attempts to fill in Henstridge's character. Pyun is best suited to directing action set pieces and he has lots to work with here. Nice little time waster that's never boring and is over before you know it.

I only viewed the uncut, unrated version of this film, so these comments are directed at that version, not the theatrical release. I doubt it was any worse than this one, written and directed by the same guy who made the underwhelming "Cabin Fever". The same old horror clichés get the same tired treatment, with no surprises and very little to interest anyone but those who are easily entertained. Made by profiteers, who apparently believe that by hacking off limbs and cribbing from every horror movie in recent memory, it will pass as an original.

Eli Roth, the movie's writer/director, should stick to direction and leave the writing to someone else. It's so thinly plotted, with obvious situations and badly developed characters, that it threatens to evaporate before the series of incredible coincidences that end the film.

On the plus side, there is some very attractive location photography in Prague and the usual excellent makeup effects from Howard Berger & Greg Nicotero. The fact that Roth had the guts to employ real makeup artists instead of using cheesy CGI is to his credit and that is what earns this movie a 3 instead of a zero.