Catacombs - Il mondo dei morti

The catacombs of Paris, a lesser known historical marvel of how Paris' over populated cemeteries were cleaned out and 7,000,000 human skeletons were arranged in a macabre maze underground!

So in 2007 when I heard it was the setting for a new horror movie I just had to see it! There's no cheap CGI, it's filmed on location.

Victoria flies from Boston to Paris to visit her sister, a drugged out drunk party girl. It's the role Pink was born to play.

Pink takes Victoria to a rock concert in the catacombs. And by "concert" I mean an orgy of drugs and alcohol. Predictably Victoria gets lost and chased by a goat headed monster said to haunt the catacombs. This goes on for 80 minutes and it's more boring than words can describe.

At least the ending is a good one. SPOILER WARNING!!! Eventually Victoria kills one of her pursuers only to discover this was all a prank by Pink and her friends. Ha ha ha. What it's a joke is that Victoria really did kill one of the friends out of fear. As Pink is cursing her Victoria beats all of them to death! Amen. They all deserved it for the hell they put her and the audience through.

Can't really think of single reason to see this film as they don't make use of the on location filming in the catacombs. Come on! 7,000,000 human skeletons and they couldn't come up with anything scary?

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.

People are slating this as a "bad" film however it is a decent enough, unnerving thriller that doesn't quite give the feeling of crushing claustrophobia the Descent does, and doesn't quite set you on the edge of your seat like monster chase films such as Creep does...

Some camera shots are a bit too "arty" for my taste, and detracts slightly from the overall effect seeing as it is a horror film, however it is easy to see what they were trying to achieve with such closed in, minimal light sourced tunneled shots that fade into the distance only as the main character rounds the bend taking the torchlight out of shot.

But overall, a good enough film with a slightly transparent ending that will either have you smiling or groaning!

I went to watch the film giving it a chance. I think it was OK but nothing more. The film at the cinema was quite scary in parts (expecially first part), I was surprised not to see gore and extreme violence like in the most recent films (hostels and similar) but I think on TV won't work as well. It wasn't one of those horrors you laugh at when you watch it the cinema, if you know what I mean. The finale is OK but ruins all the film a bit and makes you no need to watch it again (you will understand this last sentence watching it). My final comment is: "It was alright but I wouldn't watch it again. No plot holes or absurdities (like in many horrors) but maybe a bit weak. If you don't spend too much money to watch it you can enjoy it easily and as easily forget about it.

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!