To me, this movie is perfection.

just watch it!

A Major Disappointment

The film creates a perfect balance between action and depth of basic needs, in the midst of an infertile atmosphere.

The gates of Hell opened up and spit out this film, then closed again.Watching this movie makes me appreciate other movies I have seen, like all other movies. Nothing makes sense in this movie.It would really take too long to mention all the plot problems. In fact, except as a warning, it really isn't worth wasting some of the nearly infinite space available on the internet writing about this film.From now on, I will check IMDb before watching any film.Hot darn, IMDb is forcing me to write more about this film. I guess I should warn you about Edison Force while I am at it. But if you had to chose between the two, pick Edison Force.

I must say the movie is highly under-rated in IMDb. We are not looking here for a typical FBI Thriller or a romantic plot. It is a discovery of a legend by Sergei and this leads to so many discoveries. Although the movie is mostly set in dark and closed alleys, but it was well shot and actually depicts the real feeling as if you are inside that place as defined in the plot.It is a 'different' kind of a movie and it is actually very nicely done. The story has been treated well.The Sister tried to protect the kids from daemons that lived at higher levels... and I presume all the kids and the sister died of hunger... But what was not clear is why would children (shadows of daemons) kill people who would come down... Well maybe because all of them had to sacrifice their lives and die of hunger.

Val Kilmer is almost nowhere in this film -lucky for him! He plays maybe 30 seconds of screen time and his role is completely irrelevant. After seeing the film I couldn't tell you what "role" he plays in the film!!?? OK... they suck you in the first hour by immersing you in dark underground tunnels. Spooky movies filmed in dark underground tunnels easily suck most people in to last the first 30 minutes to an hour. Then you will begin wondering, "why am I watching this?" I remember thinking how easy it must be for a director/writer to use dark underground labyrinths to make a film. Simply film people wandering around in dark tunnels and you have instant "suspense". But that is where this movie goes no further! We all wonder what goes bump in the night, but there is nothing out there in the dark in this film but more darkness. The story is even worse. Apparently there is an underlying story to the film that I learned of "after" watching the film. But the film uses such poor dialouge that it never came across clearly during the screening. I still don't understand what the writer/director meant to say. Some children trapped underground by a misled sister in Russia? Why? Are they in our time -the same time as the characters? Are they ghosts? This was an absolutely Horrible film that drew me to write my first IMDb review to warn others to avoid it.

It seems that there is great potential for the story line of this film to be something worth watching. The acting was flat and the story lacked depth. There was too much reliance on camera work, which had some high points. I have to agree with the other negative comments. I only wish I had read them before buying the DVD. The film may be worth watching for free and you are bored to tears before hand. There could have been a lot more plot development with why there are homeless in Moscow (i.e. post-Soviet 'capitalism', rampant drug usage (i.e. increased heroin trafficking from Afghanistan); more development of why the resurgence of Russian Orthodoxy after the fall of the U.S.S.R.; the archaeologists themselves; or even more into the struggle against nihilism.