Director: Cire Hensman, Matthew Hensman
Year: 2022
Country: USA
Alternate Titles: N/A
Genre: Creature Feature
Plot:
After getting attacked in an ambush, a group of soldiers finds themselves stranded in a cave with a rouge group of soldiers secretly smuggling gold out of Afghanistan and are forced to team up together to get out, complicated by the discovery of a strange mystical beast living in the caves hunting them one-by-one.
Review:
Overall, this one had a lot to like about it. Among the better features here is the rather intriguing setup that provides this one with a lot to like about the various figures coming into contact with each other. The series of interactions with the military troop coming into conflict with the rebels that push them into the caves where they come into contact with the mercenaries running through the caves smuggling out the gold found in the area that they stole gives this a rather intriguing interconnected setup. That this gives us a great sense of who they are and what they’re doing in the area which brings about a solid sense of mistrust that carries them throughout the film.
This setup serves as a fine means to introduce the film’s main positives in its action and creature feature stalking being mixed into the whole affair. The opening scenes of the mercenaries stealing the gold in the middle of the village has a lot to like with the gunfight featuring some impressive aspects to showcase their skills as they manage to take out the entire group of locals in one go. The later scene of the convoy being attacked in the same village that leads them into contact with the stolen mercenaries brings a rather fun air to it, and with a solid series of scenes confronting and battling against the creature all provide some thrilling action here.
With that taken care of, the film’s horror elements are quite fun and chilling with the context of what’s going on. The discovery that it’s able to induce hallucinations lowers their inhibitions and trust with each other enough to the point that it can attack from the shadows unseen and destroy the victim makes for some fun sequences, much like the escalating series of discoveries inside the cave that brings about a greater sense of the danger it possesses. That leaves the main attacks here to be somewhat shorter than expected but the frenzied energy and brutality shown off in these sections makes for a highly impressive series of scenes here, all holding this up nicely.
There isn’t much to knock this one down but it does have some issues. The main drawback here is the main creature here which does tend to come off with a few minor detriments that mainly come from the lack of information given about it. There’s little here about what it really is, where it came from, or any of its behavioral tactics, so this just comes off like a complete mystery. Considering the unfamiliarity present with the creature, that manages to keep everything here so mysterious that it never makes much sense. As well, there’s the general chaos and confusion created when it attacks due to the shaking camera in place during this section which causes it to be hard to make out at times, which all told manage to be the issues that bring this one down the most.
Overview: ***.5/5
A generally enjoyable if slightly flawed creature feature, this is a pretty fun effort overall even if there are some factors that do crop up to bring it down. Those who enjoy this kind of genre effort or are curious about the creative crew will have a lot to like here while those who don’t appreciate this kind of feature should heed caution.
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