I think this could have been an engaging flick. It has some good character development and an interesting premise. The acting is acceptable, and the filming/directing is solid. With that said, this movie does suffer an identity crisis – even the title shows the problems in the movie. The Depraved – Urban Explorer says it all. The movie is not really either, but a poor cross of both. This is not the traditional slasher, gore fest circa Hostel or Turistas. Nor is it an adventure film with Nazis and underworld crime, rather it is a blend that does not succeed in either genre.
The movie starts as a group of tourists is lead into an underground tunnel system under Berlin. There are plenty of interesting red herrings, and exciting action as they descend deeper and deeper under the city. This goes on successfully for nearly 2/3s of the movie, and I was engaged enough that I forgot that something 'depraved' was going to happen. It does, and when it does it is pretty lame.
The movie then turns into a cliché horror with all the classic conventions – girl getting tortured, cell phones dying at the right (wrong) time, the 'is he dead?' bad guy. However, there is nothing overly interesting or unique about the depraved or the situation. I kept wishing they would get back to the interesting tunnel system to explore.
As in all slasher movies, the ending is underwhelming, but by then I had pretty much tuned out. This movie could have been pretty entertaining, and starts off enjoyable, but can't decide what it wants to be. I would have been happy with just the Urban, keep the Depraved to yourself.
