Writers: Tomm Coker, David Elliot
Directors: Tomm Coker, David Elliot
Cast: Shannyn Sossamon, Pink, Emil Hostina, Sandi Dragoi, Mihai Stanescu, Cabral Ibacka, Radu Andrei Micu, Cain Manoli, DJ Kosta
Rating: Unrated
Studio: Lionsgate
Release Date: February 19, 2008
The thing I hate most about the horror genre is when a story has promise, but just doesn’t live up to its expectations. That is what I consider to be the major flaw of Catacombs. With the potential to be claustrophobic, intense, and freakishly heart pounding, you think I’d be somewhat satisfied with this movie. I wasn’t and in fact, I was disappointed by how un-scary it really was. That is just one of the major flaws of Catacombs. Well, that and the fact that Catacombs would work out much better if it were a short.
Unfortunately, the movie drags on for 30-50 minutes too long, and the audience, who could have been gripping the arm rests of their seats, are instead left to twiddle their thumbs, wondering when the movie is going to end. There are a few twists that might be surprising, though I’ve heard some say it was predictable, but by the time you reach that part of the movie, you’re already going to be bored out of your mind.
Release Information:
Catacombs was first released at the European Film Market on February 8, 2007. From there, it traveled around Europe opening in Italy, Latvia, Russia and Lithuania before heading to Asia, where it premiered in Tokyo, Japan and the Philippines. Catacombs also made its way to theaters in Mexico though that’s the only time the film made its way to North America, until now.
Catacombs is now available on DVD in the United States as of February 19, 2008. Released by Lionsgate, Catacombs can be purchased online or it may be available at local retailers like Wal-Mart and Target. Online, Catacombs can be purchased at Amazon, where it is available for $19.99 USD.
The Catacombs Plot
The majority of Catacombs takes place in the catacombs of Paris, France, which is part of the main problem with this movie. For starters, you’d think the catacombs would have the potential to be creepy, scary, and ultimately, claustrophobic. The camera, initially, does a good job of establishing this. Of course, after awhile, it gets old. It just isn’t scary anymore. I truly believe Catacombs would have worked much better as a short film. It’s 30-50 minutes too long, which means the majority of it’s initial scare is worn off before the film even hits the halfway mark.
The movie focuses on Victoria (Shannyn Sossamon), a barely 20-something girl who just happens to be uptight, neurotic, and on medication for her neurosis. Victoria’s older, more worldly sister, Carolyn (Alecia “Pink” Moore), just happens to be living in Paris. She’s in school there as an international student. Thinking it will do her sister some good, Carolyn invites Victoria to Paris for a visit. Of course, expect to see Victoria, shaking pill bottle in hand, the entire trip.
Carolyn is late in picking Victoria up from the airport. When Carolyn takes Victoria to her decrepit apartment building, she tells her about the murders that were committed in the building. As Victoria freaks out, Carolyn laughs and confesses she was fibbing to her sister. When they enter Carolyn’s apartment, some of Carolyn’s friends (the gang), jump out and scare Victoria, who scrambles for a pill. As Carolyn says, the crew lives for scaring people.
The first evening in Paris, Carolyn tells Victoria she’s taking her to a party. What she doesn’t tell her is that they are in the catacombs. The two enter the tunnels to the catacombs and that is when Victoria finds out where they are. Carolyn says it is no big deal. Sure the police have formed a taskforce to try and weed out the parties, but they never party in the same place twice and the catacombs are over 200 miles of tunnels.
The host of the party is a man named Jean Michelle (Mihai Stanescu). He is charismatic, though he quickly tries to scare Victoria by telling her this ridiculous story about a sub-human they call goatman or goat boy. Raised by a cult that made him eat raw meat and kept him chained up, Goatman lives in the catacombs. He roams around, in a skinned goat face mask and kills humans. Victoria doesn’t believe it, but Jean Michelle insists it is real.
After the story, everyone, but Victoria, decides to go swimming. She wanders back through the catacombs and gets lost, trying to make her way back to the party. A lot happens as Victoria witnesses a murder, goes through a police raid, gets knocked out, and finds herself locked down in the catacombs, all alone, with no way of knowing how she can get out, especially with a mad man on the lose.
So, Catacombs definitely has some corny moments. It also has some decent moments that make it almost seem like a horror film. The catacombs have the potential to be wicked scary. However, these glimpses were too few and far between to really have any substance. Overall, Catacombs took all its potential and threw it down the drain. It was the plot and story that suffers most here, as too much was done to make this a full feature movie. At 90 minutes, it’s just too long.
The acting was okay compared to the story. Pink isn’t a bad actress. She’s no Meryl Streep, but she’s somewhat believable. Shannyn Sossamon got on my nerves. I think she was supposed to be rather annoying, but it is incredibly hard to sympathize with a highly unlikeable protagonist. That, is yet another flaw of Catacombs, which I would describe as dreary, boring, and lacking cohesive thought or substance.
In retrospect, the whole goatman story was ridiculous. I mean, seriously. Who makes their bad guy a man who wears a skinned goat mask? Bring on the Freddy’s and Jason’s any day. Goatman just isn’t scary. He’s lame. If the movie hadn’t been filmed in the catacombs, Catacombs would have been a comedy, not a horror flick. The only good thing going for this movie, is its location.
Storyline/Plot: 
Replayability:
Acting:
Directing:
Audio/Visual:
The visual quality was sub par for any recent horror movie I’ve seen, let alone one made by Lionsgate. Catacombs was transferred at an aspect ratio of 1.85:1 letterbox. No anamorphic enhancements here, the overall quality was just okay. There were some darkness issues. I know the catacombs are dark, but it isn’t always easy to see what is going on. Some of that is intentional and some of it is the crappy quality.
The audio was better for Catacombs. The sounds just added to the horror feel. Too bad the movie wasn’t good. The sound quality could have been used to its advantage, especially those terrifying moments of complete silence. Catacombs has two audio options, Dolby Digital 5.1 surround sound and Dolby Digital 2.0 stereo sound. I recommend the surround, but that’s just my preference.
Visual:
Audio:
Bonus Features:
Catacombs, unfortunately, has bonuses. This just reaffirms my belief that crappy movies almost always seem to have bonuses, while good movies tend to be bare bones. I guess that’s because the good movies can stand on their own. The bonuses start out with audio commentary. You get to learn about the conception of this dismal horror flick from Tomm Coker and David Elliot. Yippee! I’m sure you’re as enthusiastic about this as I am.
There are two featurettes included in the bonus features. There is “Inside the Catacombs“, which looks at the movie and has commentary from the actors about making the movie. The other is “The Making of “Blue Butterfly” with Violet UK”. This deals with the recording of one of the main songs for Catacombs.
There are a series of storyboards with commentary by Tomm Coker. Deleted scenes is one of them. Others include Set Designs, Guest Artist, and Meet the Goatman. Finally, there are a series of trailers for other Lionsgate films including The Eye, Fear Net, Saw IV, Wristcutters: A Love Story, Killer Pad, Born Killers, and Boy Eats Girl.
Bonus Features:
Bottom Line:
Catacombs has received mixed reviews from critics and audiences alike. While the vast majority seem to favor my opinion, there are some who claim Catacombs is brilliant. I guess I’m not as claustrophobic as they are. That being said, I highly recommend that if you decide to check Catacombs out, and I really don’t care either way, because the movie lacked substance, you need to rent it, and highly consider whether purchasing it is worth it.
Overall Rating:
Technorati Tags: Catacombs, Lionsgate, independent, horror, film, Pink, Paris, DVD Review, Pink, Alecia Moore
[...] respective roles, even though I wasn’t sure about Sossamon, since I’d recently seen her in Catacombs and she annoyed me terribly in that movie. If it weren’t for the ending, I’d have no complaints [...]