- Directed by C. Courtney Joyner
- Written by H.P. Lovecraft, C. Courtney Joyner
- Stars Jon Finch, Blake Adams, Ashley Laurence
- Run Time: 1 Hour, 16 Minutes
- Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0acDABLFLQ4
- Watch it: https://amzn.to/3RRWpEF
Spoiler-Free Judgment Zone
This was kind of a mishmash of action, horror, and crime drama. It wasn’t stronger for the mix, it almost seemed like it didn’t know what it wanted to be. We thought it was watchable, but not really great.
Spoilery Synopsis
We open on two women and a baby. They have guns, and Cathryn doesn’t approve. We see something with big claws reach through an air vent and try to kidnap the baby. It pulls Cathryn’s sister Leigh through the tiny vent instead, breaking her apart. Credits roll.
We cut to John Martense, who’s just been released from prison. He goes to see Knaggs, a mortician. They both have matching maps of a cemetery where a man is buried. That man is stuffed with money; Martense’s father buried him and Knaggs is the man who stuffed him.
Meanwhile, at the Leffert’s Corners Cemetery, Cathryn’s there burying a bundle of dynamite. “I got a surprise for you tonight!” Later, she helps Dr. Haggis subdue a recovering addict. He helps her load more dynamite onto a truck.
Back at the mortuary, Knaggs meets Mrs. Marlowe, a recent widow. She pulls a gun on him; she works for Bennett, a gangster. They cut open his current customer and fish out bags of drugs. They steal his copy of the map, shoot him, and head after Martense.
Cathryn, Haggis, and her people talk to Father Poole at the church. “These daned things have been living under our feet and tearing us apart for years,” yells Dr. Haggis. The group is gearing up to battle against something really bad tonight.
Martense arrives just after dark and is quickly grabbed by Cathryn. Bennett and his people are right behind him. There’s a quick scuffle as everyone gets to know each other. Bennett says he wants the money, but no one knows what he’s talking about except Martense, who plays dumb. His people disable all the bombs spread around the cemetery.
They all go out into the very well-lit cemetery and start digging as it begins to rain. We cut to a monster under the surface who knows the storm has begun and starts to get excited. The monsters come up through the bottom of a grave and pull Martense down a long shaft into their cave network. He pops back up through the opening in the church floor.
The locals explain the monsters to the mobsters. These creatures have tunnels all over town and eat the townspeople occasionally. Martense is threatened by Pierce, one of the baddies, but then one of the monsters pulls Pierce out the window.
We get some quiet time as Cathryn goes out for a gasoline truck and Haggis keeps guard on the others, needing more booze.
Father Poole calls to the monster and tells him the situation. The monster tears his heart out and then grabs Dr. Haggis.
Bennett gets the drop on Martense, and they go back outside to dig some more. Marlowe and Cathryn fight in the rain outside, which soon turns into a mud-wrestling match, at least until things start exploding.
The monsters grab Cathryn and pull her down underground where Martense and Barrett are. The creatures see Martense’s birthmark; he’s one of them. Martense lights up a dismembered arm as a torch and leads the good guys out of the caves. Barnnett gets the money he came for, but it’s not going to do him much good.
The gas truck explodes, which ignites everything, blowing up the church, the crypts and many of the buildings in town. Martense, Cathryn, and Beth walk out of the cemetery in the morning.
Brian’s Commentary
This is based on the H.P. Lovecraft story of the same name.
The creature effects are good, there’s lots of action, but this one just didn’t do it for me. It’s like they were aiming more for an action-vibe than a horror movie, and didn’t quite achieve either.
Kevin’s Commentary
The creature effects are decent, but they kind of lost me when one of them started to speak and it sounded like the Cookie Monster. It’s hard to be scared when you’re snickering. And the action attempts took too much away from the horror. I thought it was just okay, though I liked it more than disliked it.
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