H. P. Lovecraft’s The Tomb (2006)
Picture:
C Sound: C+ Extras: C- Feature: D
H.P.
Lovecraft wrote true Horror literature and some of it has proven to translate
very well into films like Re-Animator
(see our reviews elsewhere on this site) but the other adaptations have not
been as memorable and Ulli Lommel’s attempt to do H. P. Lovecraft’s The Tomb (2006) is a wreck. Instead of doing something with suspense and
terror, he uses the name as an excuse to recycle the Saw films, which are almost totally played out to begin with.
When we
see a body dropped into a basement, it looks like a sack of grain, but soon, a
young lady emerges. Unfortunately, a
good script does not. Then for 81
predictable, boring minutes, we have to watch one-dimensional characters with
nothing else to do but be snuffed out.
Too bad the greenlight to this project did not befall the same fate
before the tapes rolled.
The
anamorphically enhanced 1.78 X 1 image looks shot on digital video (poor HD?)
and is soft throughout, plus looks very phony, especially in the “grizzly”
moments. We will not even guess where
Bianco Pacelli learned how to use a camera.
The Dolby Digital 5.1 mix is rough, has limited surrounds, is harsh and
has more echo in the dialogue recording than it should. The combination is poor. The only extra are previews for other titles
that cannot be worse than this one.
- Nicholas Sheffo
