Apocalypse Pompei

Apocalypse Pompeii is a production of The Asylum—a film production company known for making so-called 'mockbusters'. These mockbusters are films that are released to coincide with the release of big studio epics in order to capitalize on the hubbub surrounding the big-budget movies. They feature titles that are VERY similar to the bigger films—and the movie poster for Apocalypse Pompeii looks an awful lot like that of the upcoming Pompeii! A few other examples of their films are Atlantic Rim, Death Racers, American Battleship, Snakes on a Train…and many others. They also are the same folks who have given us the Sharknado franchise. Because of this, it's obvious the film will have a low budget and very modest pretensions—and most likely will be a film you'll see coming direct to DVD. Despite all this, it is surprising to see that the film actually was shot, in part, in Pompeii as well as…Bulgaria?! Also, the plot is radically different from Pompeii—with the big budget film being set in ancient times and the mockbuster being set in the present.

The film begins with a prologue showing some Hispanic family fleeing in terror from a volcano eruption. Oddly, however, this has almost nothing to do with the film—a film set on the other side of the globe in Italy! After the credits roll, you see a family in Naples. The father has a business meeting and he's brought his wife and teenage daughter with him. While he's at his big meeting, the rest of the family goes to an outing to nearby Pompeii—site of a huge mega-explosion that killed thousands in 79 A.D.. Not surprisingly, soon after the pair arrives at Pompeii, the mountain explodes—and folks run for cover. Fortunately for those who teamed up with the wife and daughter is the fact that the teen knows MORE about volcanoes and how to survive them than a team of volcanologist!! This all-knowing girl, again and again, knows EXACTLY what to do and helps this group survive long enough for the father to become a Rambo-like action hero! The dad (of course) is some sort of ex-military genius and he instantly assembles a team to help him steal a helicopter from a military base (!!) and head to Pompeii to look for his family. If it sounds like the plot is stupid and filled with significant plot problems, then you are pretty much right on the mark!

So is the film 100% bad? No. As I mentioned above, it does have some actual footage of Pompeii. It also keeps your interest, as the pace and music work fairly well and SOME of the acting is competent. Unfortunately, the plot is stupid and the characters are shallow—often coming off as caricatures. I wouldn't rush out to buy a copy or rent the film. Instead, I'd wait until it most likely shows up on the SyFy Channel and watch it if you have absolutely nothing else to do (and that includes washing your hair, checking your air conditioner filters and breathing).

Seriously... the acting in this pile is so wooden I half expected them to get naked and start going at it at any time.

Or, actually, that is an insult to porn stars, as even they act better.

Effects look like something from a 1960s movie, plot is a joke, script is a roll of toilet paper (the used kind).

I guess you could sit down and watch it if you have nothing better to do with your time. Even though pretty much ANYTHING is better.

Your best bet would be to drink a LOT before sitting down if you want to last more than 5 minutes. Maybe then it passes into "so bad it's funny" territory.

Seriously. If you set out to make the worst movie ever you could not do a better job than this. Even the workman-like acting and confusing accent of Adrian Paul, the commanding presence of John Rhys-Davies and the awesome bust of the lovely Georgina Beedle could not save this travesty of a movie. Truly one of the most appalling things ever committed to film. There are so many things wrong with it that it boggles the mind. It makes a Troma film seem positively Shakespearean. Where to start? The writing is probably the worst part of this, the story horrible, the "science" idiotic and the dialogue just plain stupid,followed by the wretched "sets." No doubt hundreds of dollars were spent on sets and special effects. I honestly felt embarrassed for the producers of this travesty, it was so bad. Stay away.

Now I know that The Asylum is known for churning out B movies But this pile of crap will go down in the history books as the worst movie ever made. The Plot Mother Father Daughter are in Italy as the father has a meeting,The reason for this meeting I could not tell you or I was so board by the first few minutes I could have missed it. Also watch out for the Briefcase in the first 10 minutes that gave me a good laugh (you will see why if you watch it) So Mother and Daughter take a tour bus to Pompeii Volcano erupts they get trapped,Now why the tour guide did not take them back to the bus when this happened is a mystery only the Director knows the answer. Now the Father seeing the eruption from a window quickly grabs his Briefcase and goes out to rescue them.

Do yourselves a favor watch Plan 9 From Outer Space instead

-100 out of 10

Imagine a group of strangers involved in an apocalyptic event with no story and meaning behind their meeting. No development of the characters at all. Imagine volcano fumes that on one hand kill by-passers on the spot, but on the other hand are stopped by a glass&lead door. Imagine parents who take their daughter to a bus-trip to a volcano mountain, that is obviously waking up. Imagine all sorts of ridiculous things, e.g. a man going to a sort of job interview, coincidentally having with him 2 satellite telephones... Last but not least, imagine few busty slim cute chicks running away from a disastrous hot gases etc. And that would be the summon of evil of this movie :)