Don't Believe the Hype

Absolutely Fantastic

This movie was so-so. It had it's moments, but wasn't the greatest.

It really made me laugh, but for some moments I was tearing up because I could relate so much.

Where as "Tremors" was entertaining and brought something new to the world of movies, then "Mongolian Death Worm" hardly manages to step up to even half of what "Tremors" managed to do - even with its questionable sequels.The story told in "Mongolian Death Worm" is about huge, subterranean worms that have been brought out from their slumber from far beneath the surface of the Mongolian steppes, brought about by a commercial oil drilling company, of course. As the worms ravage the countryside, it is up to a treasure-hunter, a police officer and two volunteer health workers to put an end to the subterranean terror.Right, well the storyline is just about as cliché as they come in this particular genre. But as every bit cliché this movie is, then it is equally predictable. But yet there is something about the semi-bad monster movies that is alluring. The storyline is lacking anything challenging to the audience, it is just simply put your mind on autopilot and sit back.The dialogue is forced and not really delivered with enough conviction to fully buy into it. And you never really for a second thought that anyone was in any real danger from neither worms nor earthquakes.And it was really, really hard to buy into the attempt of making it seem like this was actually taking place in Mongolia. Especially when everyone was speaking English, and even the local police vehicle had 'police' brandished on its side.One of the carrying factors of the "Mongolian Death Worm" was the worms, as they were actually nicely made. Sure, this wasn't top of the line CGI animation, but it worked out well enough to suit its purpose."Mongolian Death Worm" is the type of monster movie that is hard to take seriously, but still it is fun to watch because it is just that cheesy and campy.

What do I love? I love the title.I love curvy Victoria Pratt in tight tank tops.I love the fact that the Mongolian location isn't even approximately like Mongolia.I love the worms - they are a cut above the usual SyFy monsters, and are not only quite well realised, they are also nicely integrated into the background plates for the most part.That's about it though. The movie owes a big debt to Tremors (and a smaller one to the Alien films in terms of design of the worms), but crucially forgets that Tremors was an entertaining movie, mixing thrills, good dialogue and fun characterisation.

Really bad acting, bad plot and .. too much to critique. My FAVORITE is that in the Gobi desert, we have grass, trees and it a significant resemblance to middle America. Maybe that is why the Mongolians drive GMCs and the police vehicle says "Police".Didn't anybody involved in making this movie give a darn? It appears not.Cheesy movies can be good - Tremors for example, didn't take itself too seriously, but managed to engage us.This one is just bad.

I will not waste much of the time of the reader with explaining how bad the movie is - if ever one has seen a SyFy "original" movie, knows what I am talking about. The only reason I am bothering to comment at all is because all the bad acting, script etc. all that pale in comparison with the "Mongolian scenery and terrain" we are presented. For Christ Sake - someone from the crew could have at least google some photos from Mongolia to see what it looks and feels about. How the Mongolians look like (not like Chinese, or Japanese etc.) in what they live and a whole bunch of similar things. I have been in Mongolia and I did not expected to see any close resemblance but at least they could have avoided the trees and the thick grassy spaces... and all the time they talk about the "Mongolian desert".... In short - run the hell away from this crap.