Urban Explorer

I had the chance to watch this movie at the Fantasia festival in Montreal and it blew me away. Urban Explorers biggest let down came in the introduction and story telling that up to a certain point it followed a bit too closely the usual scary movie blueprint down to the usual characters archetype (the cool guy, the wannabe hero, the scared girl, etc.).

I said up to a certain point because the movie really start to shine once the exploration truly begins. I was sucked in the gritty atmosphere created by the amazing locations Urban Explorer was filmed in enhance by the actors who manage to really make you feel uncomfortable.

All in all this movie is going into my library once released as a must see for fan of the genre.

I think this could have been an engaging flick. It has some good character development and an interesting premise. The acting is acceptable, and the filming/directing is solid. With that said, this movie does suffer an identity crisis – even the title shows the problems in the movie. The Depraved – Urban Explorer says it all. The movie is not really either, but a poor cross of both. This is not the traditional slasher, gore fest circa Hostel or Turistas. Nor is it an adventure film with Nazis and underworld crime, rather it is a blend that does not succeed in either genre.

The movie starts as a group of tourists is lead into an underground tunnel system under Berlin. There are plenty of interesting red herrings, and exciting action as they descend deeper and deeper under the city. This goes on successfully for nearly 2/3s of the movie, and I was engaged enough that I forgot that something 'depraved' was going to happen. It does, and when it does it is pretty lame.

The movie then turns into a cliché horror with all the classic conventions – girl getting tortured, cell phones dying at the right (wrong) time, the 'is he dead?' bad guy. However, there is nothing overly interesting or unique about the depraved or the situation. I kept wishing they would get back to the interesting tunnel system to explore.

As in all slasher movies, the ending is underwhelming, but by then I had pretty much tuned out. This movie could have been pretty entertaining, and starts off enjoyable, but can't decide what it wants to be. I would have been happy with just the Urban, keep the Depraved to yourself.

This movie isn't really that much different from some other "pycho" on the loose movies. Even if some try to tell you different. Though I am excited for you, if you really liked this movie, giving this the approval of "masterpiece" is more than a far stretch. You might think it's really good, but don't go around throwing big words like that, they never tend to stick and do more harm than good.

Having said that, the movie isn't half bad (if you can overlook some bad OTT acting and some flaws in the screenplay). Also there are strands left in the dark (no pun intended), which shows that some scenes only made it into the movie for superficial reasons. The good thing though is that you have a really bad guy as "baddie" and this guy is good at what he does best! Some good effects round everything up. A nice little horror movie with a psycho touch.

My opinion on this movie is kind a selective. Good thing about it is superb directing, scary camera and very good acting. It is as good as in the best horror movies of that kind. So most of the conditions to make a good movie were fulfilled. Still, from my point of view movie is not good for its great downfalls. The greatest one is a pretty bad script full of holes. I am not going to go step by step in naming these holes as I don't wanna spoil your fun. Scenario is also very dry, there are some scary moments mostly due to the clever camera, but the plot is kind of sterile and uniformed. This is because the movie is not involving us on the basis of the clever plot composition, but on the separate scary events. I also found insisting on grouse effects pretty unnecessary. I love European horror movies and among them German very much, but this one looks more like a B class Hollywood movie pattern.

Berlin has many abandoned underground places. Kris leads two couples on a spooky tour. The three groups have never met each other before. Marie and Juna are friends. Lucia and Denis are a couple. They encounter dangerous men and dangerous situations.

This German English film is also known as Urban Explorer. This has a nice setup for a small indie horror. I'm ready to go on a tour, but problematic writing starts infiltrating the movie. As soon as the group gets confronted by the thugs, any sane person would leave the tour. Instead of thugs, the group should be trapped somehow underground. They should definitely stay together. That is probably the movie's biggest sin. It tries to build up some chemistry within the group and promptly breaks it apart. Maybe if they're not strangers, the separation would mean something. The movie falters and falls apart in the second half.