Mine Games

source: Mine Games

This one didn't seem as bad as some other reviewers would indicate. I didn't have a lot of complaints about it. I like the time loop / flashback or whatever type movies as long as they don't have a lot of flaws. One of my favorites along those lines was Triangle +1 Star for Putting some Nudity in where there should be some nudity. -1 Star For Not really having much at all to do with a 'Mine'. I mean it could have just as easily been called 'The Cabin In The Woods' but I think that title has also been used a few times!!!! 5/10

A group of friends stumble across an abandoned mine, while on vacation. There's something eerily peculiar about said mine though and it wastes no time getting the group all discombobulated with it's timey-wimey shenanigans Highly reminiscent of "Triangle", but not as nearly accomplished as that film. The insipid number has a group of unlikable characters and a script struggling too hard to be clever that it falls over it's own feet several times. Shame as it had potential, only to flounder it all away. Eye Candy: Lindsay Lamb as Sarah gets topless

Richard Gray is director, co-writer and co-producer of this cabin in the woods film. A group of friends set out on a little trip to a mutual friend's cabin in the woods. While stopping to gas up the van, they see a newspaper announcing "a missing unidentified girl is found dead in the woods". Oops, great way to get people thinking. A little later, Michael(Joseph Cross)has to swerve off the road to avoid hitting a waving figure(that can't be found). Now lost in the dark, Lyla, Claire, Lex, Rose, TJ and Guy on foot reaches their destination...a nicely furnished cabin deep in the woods. Morning comes and exploring the grounds an old abandon mine is found. And what is found turns this movie a little creepy, well...a lot creepy. Now comes paranoia and psychotic reactions to some time travel. What started out as ho-hum turns into entertaining. Filmed in Seattle, Washington with minor special effects and acting. Also in the cast: Briana Evigan, Julianna Guill, Rafi Garvon, Lindsay Lamb, Alex Meraz, Ethan Peck and Rebecca Da Costa.

A group of college graduate friends on a getaway weekend trip. Time for fun and drinking. As the van breaks down, it's a horror film as they always do, the troupe hoofs it to the nearby cabin to rest up. Upon discovering a nearby mine, the group explores. Spelunking discoveries become eerily ominous. Every trip back to the cabin to regroup provides no relief as does each trip back into the mine. Tension builds steadily throughout, the plot seems thin and weak. Just when you've got it figured out, everything changes. Break the cycle or else. Overall, well thought out and executed. People can always compare Mine Games to this and that but this dig is worth it...

MINE GAMES has something going for it, I'll admit that: it's a film that at least tries to do something different from the usual low budget American B-movie horror flick. Instead this has much in common with the likes of TRIANGLE and the (excellent) Spanish film TIMECRIMES in that it deals with characters who find themselves trapped in a time loop, forced to repeat the same actions over and over again. Unfortunately it's much worse than either of those films mentioned, thanks in part to a muddled story which doesn't make a whole lot of sense when you think about it closely. A group of unappealing characters head off into the wilderness for a break, only to visit a creepy abandoned mine which messes with their heads. One bizarre event after another makes them realise that something REALLY odd is going on. The execution of this film is very poor, particularly in terms of the cinematography. Much of it is too dark so you end up squinting at the screen trying to figure out what's going on. The cast is poor, with below averages performances from Briana Evigan (SORORITY ROW) and Gregory Peck's grandson, if you can believe that. The director is too obsessed with shooting this like a slasher film - bumping off his cast members one at a time - when instead he should be focusing on the novel stuff, not the predictable.

"Mine Games" creates a strong story that manages to be chilling and intense. There is no lag in the time span from when the film starts to when the action begins. The film isn't an all out high production thrill ride but it maintains a steady, entertaining pace filled with creepiness, and excitement. The style is pretty standard as far as horror direction and character definition but the unique blended nature, adding time/space situation on top of mythology, keeps the "cabin in the woods" set-up from being cliché or boring. "Mine Games" offers a more cerebral nightmare that never looses total cohesion. The cast deliver pretty believable characters, they are stereotypes scene in horror, however Gray and the writers give enough material to allow the characters feel authentic, convincing, and relatable. The acting never becomes stale or over-drawn. A lot of horror films either play up the clichés until they look clownish or create characters that not even fiction could make believable as friends. "Mine Games" keeps the relationships and social dynamics even keeled enough to make, both the group, as college friends, and the individual interactions seem plausible. The special effects utilized in "Mine Games" are tight. There isn't an exploitative nature to the gore or deaths, but what is scene on film comes across realistic looking. The shadowy nature and fact that almost all of the scenes are in nearly dark areas, or at night, gives the film most of it's spooky quality. The cinematography hearkens back to more traditional methods of straight cam shots, light inflections and natural third person views. With all the gimmicky, modern methods of handhelds, shaky cam shots, or first person view points, it is nice to see some aspects of classic horror story telling style still used. Not that I have a problem with fresh, innovative filming techniques like first person POV or found-footage. Overall "Mine Games" gives us a great nightmare scenario that is well executed. The story is creepy, creative and cerebral. It will not appeal to all horror fans, and there is plenty to get the intellectuals stirred up, with the whole time/space-Ouroboros aspects of the story. Personally I spent a lot of the film wondering what exactly was the real deal happening- was it a "Soul Survivors" situation or was it a take similar to "Triangle". Once I caught up with the true nature of the hell these guys were dealing with I was still compelled to the story. It does weaken a bit toward the end after the big reveal. Not much though, and the time until the ending-when it all becomes clear- isn't all that long, so "Mine Games" works pretty much from start to finish.

This movie was so much fun. Mind bending thriller! It is a MUST see. My favorite in a long time!! We loved it!

Boom, this movie comes up right behind you and clocks you in the back of your knees, then forces you to watch it so you don't stay up at night thinking "But what about that thing", even though you will end up staying up at night wondering why the hell you still watched this terrible excuse for a film anyway. 90% of the film is underlit and the only reason you can see anything in dark scenes is because of the extreme amount of film grain in it. This movie relies on bad stereotypes to give the watcher a sense of depth to the characters, but the director might as well have told the actors to all talk in a monotone because it would have given the movie a reason to be watched.

This movie started off painfully dull. Seven friends are on their way to the woods where there will be A.) no telephones B.) no cell phone service and C.) no other human beings for miles. Sound familiar? Oh yeah, and on the way to the cabin in the woods (so cliché) their van breaks down. So already I'm half checked out of this movie. The oddities began with the main character, Michael (Joseph Cross), and they only ramped up from there after the gang explored an abandoned mine. The exposition and build up phase of this movie was dreadfully slow. We were treated to little tidbits of strange activities without giving us the full entree. Though the plot can be readily deduced with all of the hints throughout you still have to be patient to see how it all unfolds. This movie is not unique and it's been done better by others. I will say that the end picked up the pace and delivered a solid finish. Not all questions will be answered, as is typical with this type of movie, but enough to at least make you feel like you were invited to the party.