Ben Hart

Despite having a number of recognizable actors and some ok special effects this movie is kind of a mess across the board. The film quality and shots are at the made for tv movie level. Maybe a better producer or dp might have fixed these problems and added some much needed dread or menace to this movie. Of course it could be a directorial or script problem as most of the lines and really the whole plot is awkwardly constructed. It's supposed to be a story about heaven vs hell but there's very little discussion about faith from any of the characters - which seems kind of weird given the themes the movie should be exploring. The plot is comprehensible but the way it plods along through it's paces really lacks any sense of urgency or terror. I think many episodes of Supernatural have similar plots but do it much better. I mean sure there's lots of gore but it's not really scary enough to mean anything. It's supposed to be in a underground temple but it reads as an abandoned building. It's such a shame the sheer amount of acting talent is wasted on such a pedestrian film.

What could have been a great movie is marred by the cartoonish nature of Jim Cummings performance and an overly frantic pace. The movie has some great supporting actors who add polish to the film. However the lead's erratic idiocy on screen lends a fake feeling to the movie which is a shame given some of the well executed elements. The scenery and setting is great but not utilized as well as it could be. The movie pings around time wise and never lets the viewer sit with a moment or shot in any meaningful way. There are way too many scenes in this movie and I have to wonder if there wasn't sufficient editing done on the script. Even when there are great scenes not enough time is spent on them to allow the viewer to believe them. The creature effects are quite decent but you see a lot of it which makes the ending a little unbelievable. There's also a very sloppy edit at 1:10:45 where some frames from a cut scene still seem to be in the movie. All in all this movie is kind of a mess which is a shame given the potential it has within it.