Let's do a horror film checklist shall we?

- Gore: barring one scene near the end this film is about as gory as a papercut.
- Suspense: This film is mind-numbingly boring. It is the Gerry of horror movies.
-Characters you care for: Nope. Glad they were being killed off. Characters were as flat as a pancake and I even think I've seen pancakes act better.
- Really scary killer: The only scary thing about this killer were his teeth. They were huge. And crooked. And they were his own. Which kind of made me feel sad for him. Which didn't help. As he was the really scary killer. Oh and he shouts a lot. In German. Which is a tiny bit scary.
- A twist at the end: The only surprise you'll feel at the end is that you actually managed to finish it.

Don't watch this. Please.

Four friends hire a local guide to take them 'urban exploring' in the deserted tunnels underneath the city of Berlin. One them has a fall, the others need to get help... instead they find Armin, a former border guard. I like a good backpackers-in-peril adventure and Urban Explorers ticks all the right boxes. It's a simple enough set up and executed efficiently with a mean streak and enough nastiness for genre fans to appreciate.

There's nothing particularly new and exciting about the plot of the film (take a group of 20-somethings somewhere dark, kill them off slowly) but it does it well and that's the main thing.

What made it for me is Klaus Stiglmeier's turn as Armin. Looking a bit like a more animated version of David Carradine, his every move screams "Psycho alert!". Added to this is the fact that he speaks in German, while the rest of the cast switch between that and English. The fact that some of the damned don't speak a lot of German adds to the tension, which gives this otherwise generic hack-n-slash its USP.

Manejado como media parte thriller y media parte terror, lo mejor del filme es el ambiente obscuro y claustrofobico que va creando poco a poco. La escenografía y el arte recuerdan a la estilística de la música industrial de los años 90. A pesar de un par de actuaciones sub-par, el director sabe sacar adelante la historia, y sobre todo crear la tensión adecuada para disfrutar la experiencia, aunque probablemente los fanáticos del genero (y sobre todo del gore) salgan decepcionados.

Four friends hire a local guide to take them 'urban exploring' in the deserted tunnels underneath the city of Berlin. One them has a fall, the others need to get help... instead they find Armin, a former border guard. I like a good backpackers-in-peril adventure and Urban Explorers ticks all the right boxes. It's a simple enough set up and executed efficiently with a mean streak and enough nastiness for genre fans to appreciate.

Não vou esconder que não tinha algumas expectativas a respeito deste filme e mesmo quando vi o trailer não encontrei algo que fosse apelativo mas mesmo assim tive a oportunidade de visualizá-lo.
É interessante como, às vezes, a nossa primeira impressão é a correcta. "Urban Explorer" é um slasher com alguns momentos arrepiantes mas não vai mais para além disso, é muito previsível e contém momentos típicos de anti-climax . As personagens, como acontece normalmente no género, não têm profundidade e existe buracos no argumento maiores que o do ozono.
Para terminar, o tempo já muito dispensado a este slasher de fraco nível, gostaria de salientar o meu profundo desagrado por filmes deste género, onde o foco é matar a sede a sedentos por sangue e não em criar um agradável momento cinematográfico.

Cheap and derivative but not without charm, unusually it gets better as it goes on, with a couple of nasty deaths and some clever swipes at German respect for authority.

Ok-ish for a newer film I guess...maybe they could make a sequel with a special police squad going in (and add more action)... ;)

...

This review reportedly contains spoilers. I can handle the truth.