Mine Games

Four males and three females head out to a vacation home in western Washington to celebrate graduating college, but they discover something disturbing in the nearby abandoned mine. Will any of them make it out alive?

"Mine Games" (2012) is cabin-in-the-woods sci-fi/horror, but not a slasher. It borrows a concept used three years earlier in "Dark Country" and, before that, an episode or two of Star Trek: The Next Generation. Thankfully, it presents it in a different setting and in a fresh way, tied to the ouroboros, the circler symbol of a snake eating its tail, which suggests cyclic renewal, life and death.

The production cost $1,500,000 at the time and is proficiently made, which is a plus seeing as how most cabin-in-the-woods flicks seem to be low-rent. So, this is first rate as far as general filmmaking goes, just with second-tier actors, who are convincing. The problem is that the second act is dramatically dull whereas the first act is an effective enough set-up and the third act is quite compelling with its revelations. The script needed tweaked to make the second act more entertaining, one way or another.

Julianna Guill is notable on the feminine front as blonde Claire, followed closely by Briana Evigan as brunette Lyla. Lindsay Lamb has a small part as blonde Sarah, which includes a fairly overt sex sequence, albeit brief (just a heads up for those who might want to steer clear). On the masculine side of things, Ethan Peck stands out as Guy, the grandson of Gregory Peck.

It runs 1 hour, 32 minutes, and was shot in western Washington at Gifford Pinchot National Forest, which is southeast of Mt. Rainier; Ape Cave, which is five miles due south of Mt. St. Helens; and Seattle.

GRADE: B-

Here yet again, we have an interesting premise with horribly written characters. Maybe most Americans think this is normal behavior or the writer's are not good at moving a plot line, so they write these types of characters in the plots so it's easier to get to the outcomes they envision. Anyway, the movie is kind of interesting, and you might enjoy it. Too hard for me anymore to get past what I feel is lazy writing.

The Mine plays games with your mind...LoL

I wasn't expecting much at first due to the poor user ratings but mainly thought I'll give it a go as I was so impressed with the beautiful scenery.

The movie takes quite a while to make sense, but in the end I was satisfied with the meaningful ending cos all they had to do was for somebody or anybody to brake the cycle.

Overall, original and great story and really worth the watch if you're into high school or college horror/mystery movies.

Seven friends on vacation stumble upon an abandoned mine shaft in the middle of a remote forest and live to regret going in.

The film takes a while to get to the action which is a positive as you get to know the characters. To the films benefit most of them aren't so obnoxious you want to see them die, which always adds to any tension a film may build up. Although there aren't any real stand out performers the acting is decent throughout. The production values for a relatively small film are of an impressive standard.

There is a nice air of panic and mystery built up as some of the group slowly to begin see things that they wish they hadn't. This is an unusual story line and is to be applauded for being a bit different. There are a number of unsettling scenes and you never quite know where the film is going to go.

This is a small film that punches above it's weight and is well worth watching.

This one didn't seem as bad as some other reviewers would indicate. I didn't have a lot of complaints about it. I like the time loop / flashback or whatever type movies as long as they don't have a lot of flaws.

One of my favorites along those lines was Triangle

+1 Star for Putting some Nudity in where there should be some nudity.

-1 Star For Not really having much at all to do with a 'Mine'. I mean it could have just as easily been called 'The Cabin In The Woods' but I think that title has also been used a few times!!!!

5/10