Every now and then the occasional unknown flick will end up in my mailbox or on my doorstep for me to review and there are often times it turns out to be pretty decent. A few big name actors are thrown into the mix along with a plot line that hasn’t been played out fifty million times and add in a touch of good direction and there is a veritable surprise hit on my hands. So The Devil’s Tomb showed up for me to review and the only thing I knew is that Cuba Gooding Jr. was in it. Little did I know that Ron Pearlman, Bill Moseley, Taryn Manning, and the awesomeness that is Henry Rollins were all involved as well. This has to be good right? Right?
A top scientist by the name of Wesley and his entire team has gone missing from a Middle Eastern archaeological site and not a soul knows where he may be. Needing some answers and to make sure the MIS team is safe; an elite team of soldiers, led by their leader Mack, heads to the underground bunker for a search and rescue mission. Upon their arrival at the site, the soldiers automatically come into contact with all sorts of weird happenings that lead them to believe something far beyond their understanding is going on. Odd beings, strange occurrences, and even personal hallucinations are just a few of the problems they have to deal with but the worst and most confusing is yet to come. Far and deep into the bunker, the soldiers come across a huge block of ice with something frozen deep inside. And it isn’t just anything in particular or some caveman from the ice age but an angel cast out from Heaven and on Earth to cause trouble of huge proportions.
That’s an angel?
Come on man, really? I know that half of the actors in this film have better things they could be doing with their time and talents. Nothing about The Devil’s Tomb is any good: from the lame story to the dumb dialogue to the shockingly bad acting. It has been proven time and time again that these people know how to act yet they obviously had no idea how to handle such a lousy script and bad direction. There isn’t much else that can be said here because how many more ways can it be described as being ridiculously bad? Oh well, guess you can’t expect every random film to show up on your doorstep to be a diamond in the rough.
The film is shown in 1.85:1 Anamorphic Widescreen format and it actually looks really good. Colors are bright when they need to be and more drab purposely for the drier and darker scenes.
The film is heard in Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound and it comes through fine with all dialogue coming through clearly while sound effects and music are never too loud to overpower.
Audio Commentary – Director Jason Connery and Cuba Gooding Jr. are together for the commentary track which makes me wonder why they couldn’t have gotten at least another cast member or two. They discuss the shooting locations, behind the scenes stuff, and talk about working with the different actors. Nothing of interest whatsoever and certainly not worth sitting through the film a second time.
Alternate Scenes – There are six scenes in all here and nothing that didn’t deserve to be left on the cutting room floor.
Outtakes – Laughter and messing up is all that you get in this short feature. (1:37)
Beneath The Desert: Behind The Scenes Of The Devil’s Tomb – Cast and crew discuss the film a little bit while behind the scenes’ footage is shown. Nothing too exciting here although I will admit that the entire cast at least seemed to enjoy the shoot. (16:47)
Trailers – The Art Of War Retribution, Blood: The Last Vampire, and The Grudge 3
Boring. Dull. Unimaginative. Tiresome. Drab. Uneventful. I could keep going if you’d truly like me to but I won’t overly bore you with a ton of synonyms. It amazes me when films like this are put together with a lot of names you recognize and know have appeared or still are appearing in box office hits yet somehow can do something this God awful. The Devil’s Tomb just isn’t any fun and it is made even worse by the severe lack of music. I didn’t touch on it until now, but the more I think about it the more bothersome it is. Then there are the special features which are a waste of space as well. Bill Moseley, Henry Rollins, Ron Pearlman you disappoint me. Cuba Gooding Jr? You started that a long time ago so this is no surprise.
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Sony presents The Devil’s Tomb. Directed by: Jason Connery. Starring: Cuba Gooding Jr., Henry Rollins, Taryn Manning, Zack Ward, Bill Moseley, Ray Winstone, Ron Pearlman. Written by: Keith K. Jornes. Running time: 90 minutes. Rating: R. Released on DVD: May 26, 2009. Available at Amazon.com
