Cinema Suicide

I think I can speak for everyone when I say that Fearnet.com and it’s on-demand counterpart was a huge disappointment. What was a brilliant idea and would have been an enormous gift to horror fans ended up as an unbelievable waste of time. I mean, despite the occasional gem, they show movies that even I wouldn’t watch. So with that in mind you can only imagine my surprise when I took a chance on the company’s debut feature “Catacombs” and found what I believe to be one of the best new horror films in years.

When the unbelievably neurotic and high strung Victoria (Shannyn Sossamon) sets of to visit her sister Carolyn (well played by singer Pink), who is studying in Paris, she has no idea what kind of nightmare lay ahead. Shortly after arriving Carolyn whisks Victoria off to what she promises to be a “life changing” rave in the city’s underground mass graveyard. Upon their arrival they find that, much to Victoria’s horror, the rave is being held in near darkness and patrons are being given flashlights to light the way. After leaving the party and joining a smaller group in a different part of the Catacombs Victoria proceeds to get drunk with her new friends and loses her way on the way back to the rave. After being found by her sister the two do their best to find the way back to the party, unfortunately something else finds them first. What follows is a hellish and disorienting race to get out of the Catacombs before the evil that lurks beneath the streets finds them.

In a time where the best that Hollywood can offer horror fans is a piece of garbage like “Saw”, “Catacombs” is a refreshing and genuinely eerie film. The feelings of isolation and desperation transfer well, leaving the viewer felling skittish and uneasy. OK, so maybe the plot isn’t rocket science (you’re not always alone in the dark) but when paired with decent production and original ideas what we get is a thoroughly entertaining film that’s reminiscent of the great thrillers of the 70’s. Now, if Fearnet would learn from this success and go on to produce equally as wonderful work they may find a place in my heart after all.