Failed to impress

Rating: 4/10 (15 April 2007)

I'm not one for playing video games so cannot comment on the adaptation.
It's probably one of the most boring films I've had the misfortune to watch. Any marks I give for the production are for the set, not the script nor the acting.
To maintain interest the storyline needs more than a couple of scared women wandering about a deserted and shadowy premises pointing a torchlight on anything that moves or is likely to move.
The husband seems superfluous but is introduced to provide relief from the two women who continue to wander aimlessly on. Now we have two parties and still little is happening.
The only scary bit for me was when the floor fell away and i thought the good lady was done for. But no! She was very athletic and managed to balance on a protruding floorboard and then jump to safety.
There was no real tension as there should have been. May be the actors did the best they could with a bad script. Perhaps the director should have tightened up the proceedings. If you're going for a dreamlike atmosphere, care must be taken that it does not drag out the action.
The idea of a building being built around a fire shooting up from the bowels of the earth did heat up the action for a while, but it seemed too much for the lady who started to spew up an enormous quantity of writhing worms or slugs.
It's the only DVD I've activated the fast forward button to see if the ending was more exciting. I need not have bothered.