The part horror, part Sci-Fi flick Dead Mine has a very good premise and a lot of intrigue. The strength of this film falls on the horror theme and director Steven Sheil is up to the task. If there is a downside, it’s the very slow place that seems to labor on character development. Now on DVD, the movie should catch on with male audiences that can take a lot of guts and gore.
The modern day story centers on an explorer who has hired a team of military for protection while searching with his girlfriend and an assistant for a dead mine that was used as a WWII military bunker by the Japanese in Indonesia. In the midst of the search they get attacked by pirates who have a base in the area. One of the military team finds the bunker they are looking for and they take shelter from the attack. When an explosive goes off in the mine it blocks the entrance forcing the group to go deeper into the caverns. Here we find what the search was all about and vicious things the group did not expect.
Director Sheil does a good job choosing his locations for the horror flick, especially the Indonesian underbrush and jungle terrain. His dead mine turns out to be the perfect place for the action with all the winding tunnels, special rooms built by the Japanese during the war and several huge caverns that he uses for a lot of the conflict. But his biggest achievement is the costumes, facial appliances and make-up he uses on his creatures that live in the cave. Beyond the doubt the beings are the stars of this film and he provides some ugly and powerful creations that make the film fun to watch.
On the downside, the film does take a long time to play out with Sheil moving his film along at a slow place while he tries to build characters, slowly revealing why the group has come to this place and the tension building between them. He does overdo it however, making me a little anxious at times wanting to get the story moving along. When he gets to the first encounter with the gory creatures, however everything starts to pick up.
His actors work well building their characters, but director Sheil does get a little out of control with their dialog often lowering the intelligence of their roles in an attempt to not reveal why the group has come to this part of the world. Please watch the beginning closely so you can see who attacked and forced the group to enter the mine. Other plot points are not really fleshed out to their fullest and I never really had any empathy for some of his characters.
The video quality of the DVD is good, but does have some faults, especially inside the cavernous areas of the mine where I saw some color distortion. The film however keeps in focus throughout, but lighting may have been a factor in some cases where action becomes dulled down during combat with the creatures.
The sound quality using the Dolby Digital 5.1 is very good even within the cavernous area where you would normally find echoing. The dialogue is easily understood and the action sequences are exciting.
Dead Mine has not been rated by the MPAA but does contain violence, gore and language. Be cautious when deciding to allow anyone immature to see the film as it does have some scenes that may be inappropriate.
FINAL ANALYSIS: A fair horror flick with a good measure of excitement.[rating=3]
Specifications and additional film information:
- Cast: Miki Mizuno, Sam Hazeldine, Ario Bayu, Les Loveday, Carmen Soo, Jaitov Tigor, Joe Taslim, Mike Lewis and Jimmy Taenaka
- Directed by: Steven Sheil
- MPAA Rating: Unrated (language, violence, gore)
- Genre: Action, Horror
- Running Time: 1 hr 31 min
- Video Release Date: May 28, 2013
- Original Film Release Date: January 3, 2013 (Indonesia)
- Language: English
- Format: DVD
- Audio: Dolby Digital 5.1
- Video: Widescreen using the original theatrical aspect ratio
- Number of Discs: 1 Disc
- Distributed by: XLrator Media
Writer, critic, film editor John Delia, Sr. has been on all sides of the movie business from publications to film making. He has worked as a film critic with ACED Magazine for more than 20 years and other publications for a total of 40 years. He earned a Bachelor’s degree in communications from the University of Florida. John is a member of the Southeastern Film Critics Association and Critics Association of Central Florida Send John a message at jdelia@acedmagazine.com
