Dead Mine

I have to say that this movie did surprise me in the end. Sure, it is below average when it comes to acting and character development, but I've seen way more worse. Two things I appreciated about this movie: one is the fact that they used Japanese language, and not some flimsy hybrid English stray hobo slang thing with the Japanese actors; two, the attention to details and a very well organized set and environment. Thou the characters in the movie were very poor developed and the lines were just dull, the action did compensate for that loss. As I said, the ending did surprise me, a lot in fact, because it wasn't predictable and it kind of showed that the main characters weren't indestructible and did face a dangerous situation and certain death. The plot is there, not very well explained but it does give a proportion of reality to the events, but, in the same time, it may be also stretched a bit. Let's be serious, those soldiers didn't move for 70 years and when a stupid guy enters a freaking sand circle they all weak up ready for action!? I give it a 7/10 just because it has potential and it did kept me watching all the scenes without making me want to skip faster to the ending. I hope this movie director/writer is just starting his career and will learn to get better actors, for his future projects, because his ideas for horror genre could make him the next best thing.

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source: Dead Mine

Here we go again, different location, different nation, but the same WWII bunker story. Instead of the German's and the Nazi's we have the Japanese and the undead Samurai. This in itself should have made for some great and spectacularly gory fighting scenes... but it doesn't. This isn't just down to the direction and special effects though; the story plays a major part in this disappointment. The writers, Ziad Semaan and Steven Sheil, meanders through the telling. It starts well and then gradually slows and slows. There are a lot of pregnant pauses and translating. All of which isn't necessarily needed. Then by the time, the crap hits the fan and the undead Samurai super-soldiers appear (which is way too late in the film) the director cannot increase the pace enough to re-envigorate the viewer. The director, Steven Shiel, isn't too bad, though a bit more imagination wouldn't have gone amiss. Everything about the shoot is average. There's no play with light. Even though they're in an ancient bunker the lights work brilliantly - Great Japanese Electronics. Not once do the lights go out to create tension. Unfortunately, Sheil isn't able to create tension or suspense in the light. He could have tried different camera angles, blurred backgrounds with moving shapes-come-shadows. But, no. However, this doesn't damage the film too bad but it would have made it so much better. The best thing about this film is the strength of the cast. Each of them gives a good performance of their character. Sam Hazeldine is particularly good as Stanley. He has screen presence. You know when he's on-screen and he delivers his lines superbly. He makes his character realistic and you can't help but believe in him. Two couples have some nice chemistry together. One is Warren Price (Les Loveday) and Rie (Miki Mizuno) who are lovers but just think about making the quick buck. The others are, Captain Tino Prawa (Ario Bayu) and his second in command - these two have a fine bromance going for them. The acting does lift the story and the film, but not enough. It's watchable, though, I don't think you'll be recommending it to anyone. If you've not watched a WWII Bunker horror flick before... There are better than this around to cut your teeth on. Check out the Outpost series. However, if you're all watched up and there's nothing else on (which was my case) then this will pass an hour and a half. But the slowness and meandering story may bore you a little. Feel free to check out my Absolute Horror list-come-chart to see this ranks or to find something to new to view.

As other reviewers have noted, Dead Mine is a bit of a mash-up of The Descent with Outpost, but it does have a charm of its own. A key element of the film is that it needed to move much more quickly, but the focus upon Unit 731 is novel and gives the film a sense of originality and a clear rationale for the mutated Japanese soldiers. Of the 'creatures', the differing classes is really interesting, with the muzzled feral creatures acting in an effective way, but the film really scores with the awesome Imperial Guards. Of the Guards, their visual introduction in their terracotta warrior stance is great and they really are impressive and conceptually excellent, to the extent that, while the film ends rather choppily (ha!), I was totally on board with it as I didn't want the splendid Imperial Guard to be defeated! However, they should have been introduced a little sooner and some of the pointless bickering and wandering mid-movie scenes cut down (again, which would have left room for a clearer conclusion). So, a mixed bag of a horror film, but the elements of originality are very good and the main 'villains' are well conceived as who could ever have a problem with zombie samurai?

This felt like a 'The Descent' wannabe, only very theatrical and not very believable. Sam Hazeldine was by far the best actor, as I found the rest very mediocre, as if they didn't really believe in the film themselves. The make-up effects are so clearly B-movie, but this was low budget after all, so I'll just convince myself they did the best with what they had. The plot and execution thereof, though, was not credible. And what an absolutely stupid ending! The abrupt ending WILL make you feel you've wasted your time watching this.

I wouldn't watch Dead Mine in the theater but for on television it's okay I guess. And by okay I mean it just passes, because it's still an average movie. The story was promising but at the end I thought it was poorly executed. For example when you're on the run for evil murderers you don't stop to watch how they butcher somebody, you just keep running. It's small mistakes like that that will bring the movie down. The actors are also not Oscar winners. It's pretty lame sometimes. But the story is still watchable if you have an open mind and are not too critical. With a bit more effort and better actors the movie could have been better but I guess they didn't have the budget for that.