The Depraved (2011)

aka Urban Explorer

RATED- UNRATED
RUN TIME- 94 MINS
WRITER(S)- MARTIN THAU
STARRING- NATHALIE KELLEY, NICK EVERSMAN AND KLAUS STIGLMEIER
DIRECTOR- ANDY FETSCHER



Synopsis taken from IMDb
Anxious to explore the mysterious hidden world under metropolitan Berlin, an international group of four urban explorers hires a local guide, Kris, who leads them into the maze of escape tunnels and subterranean fortifications under the city. When their guide has a bad fall, two of the girls in the group frantically set off to seek help while Denis, the young American, stays behind. Armin, a former East German border guard suddenly appears from nowhere. Out of sheer desperation, Denis allows Armin to lead them and their unconcious guide to safety. And it is at this moment, that Denis realizes he has just made the biggest mistake of his life!




For me, this was one of those movies that I had to sit and think on for a bit before coming to a conclusion on if I liked it or not. I stumbled upon this film while stopping at the local Walgreens redbox machine. We all know redbox isn't known very well for carrying good horror films, but I figured I'd give this one a shot. Blame it on my positive attitude as to why I couldn't turn away, maybe somewhere inside I was hoping that I'd find a gem. Curiosity is the killer, I never want to pass up a movie that may turn out to be great. Can't knock it 'til you try it, right?

First of all, I had no clue what this movie was or what it was about. I have a tendancy to do that lately, I hate spoilers and I let my own opinion judge my movies, not the opinions of others. I don't review movies hoping to turn people on or away from movies. I do it to share my opinion (which is rather awesome). If you try or don't try movies out because of what I say than I am truly greatful that my opinion matters so much, but I always suggest you to check out movies for yourselves, you never know what you'll find. Of course from time to time there are ones that I have to suggest you don't watch due to how terrible they are.
I wouldn't be a pal if I didn't save you a few hours of you lives that you'll never get back. 

"The Depraved" director Any Fetscher, actually shot this film on location in what used to be inaccessible tunnel systems underneath Berlin. That's a nice touch, if I say so myself. I'm certain it added a ton of realism for the actors and actresses who were actually on scene shooting. I just wish that the film didn't take so long to pick up. Don't quote me on this, but I believe it was close to 45-50 minutes into the 94 minute film before things actually started getting interesting.

It comes off like "Hostel" and "Turistas", only the characters aren't as likeable and there's hardly any in-depth developement between them. It takes so long to pick up that by the time the suspense hits, you're excited something interesting is happening, over anything else. The kills and torture are clever and brutal, but not enough for the movie to stand on. Had I actually liked the characters, or cared about them, the realism of the brutality done to them would have sunk in deeper. Instead, I was just watching a bunch of awful things get done to some random people. I had no extra sympathy for them than I do roadkill.

Yeah, it's terrible it happened, but what can you do? There's no emotion there.

Another thing that I didn't like about the film was that it's yet another film showing how weak and feeble American's are. Being an American, I'm okay with this being done, it's been done countless times. It's funny to me how people seem to forget that us American's are ass-kickers and only want to exploit weaklings. But, the characters in these films fall into the cliché that past horror movies have created. They're moronic and have no guts.

The actors in this film do a decent job, you just simply don't care. Some of the gore in wince worthy, but that's about it. I really liked the story of the underground tunnels with the Nazi's, this film had all of the tools to be a good horror film. It just dropped the ball with little to no character maturity, or developement. I'd be praising this movie if the film makers made some room for the characters to flourish in that near-hour it takes for the film to pick up!

Sadly, this film is another coulda woulda shoulda horror film that let the grip slip on what could have been something special.

THIS FILM GETS 2 REAPER SKULLS OUT OF 5