Catacombs

Before I watched this horror I watched another one coming from the same year. It's easy to see, again, that horror wasn't very popular around that era. Of course there were some highlights as Hellraiser (1987) but here again, it surely isn't a slasher or a gory piece. But there is a bit of suspense here although that you easily can see who will be possessed by the demon. There is almost no blood in it and the effects used are very cheap. What I mean is, the bodies are doing the tricks and now and then a cross or other things just fall of the wall. The acting is reasonable well and it is strange that this flick never had a proper release. Still up to now it isn't available on VHS or DVD. If you want to see it you will have to find it on rental VHS. It wasn't that bad but it's easy to see that it was a low budget. A perfect example that the latex and slime effects were over, which mostly look gory, and that a new era was on his way, the computer era or better known as CGI. But if you can find it than I would recommend it to watch it.

When I had the chance to sit down and watch the 1988 horror movie "Catacombs" here in 2024, of course I did so. Sure, I had never even heard about the movie, prior to sitting down to watch it. But with it being a horror movie, that in itself was more than enough to make me give the movie a fair chance.

However, writers David Schmoeller and R. Barker Price put together a script and storyline that failed to entertain me. The movie started out nice enough, but then lost its momentum and sort of went from being a horror movie to being a boring pseudo-religious movie without direction and contents. Truth be told, I fell asleep along the slow paced narrative, yeah, the movie was that boring.

Of the entire cast, I was only familiar with Ian Abercrombie and Vernon Dobtcheff. The acting performances in the movie were good, and the actors and actresses did portray their characters nicely on the screen.

Visually, not an overly impressive movie. So "Catacombs" didn't even have that working in favor of it.

"Catacombs" was a swing and a miss of a movie. And this is definitely not a movie that I would recommend that you waste 88 minutes on watching. Some of us suffered through this ordeal, so you don't have to. You're quite welcome.

My rating of director David Schmoeller's 1988 movie "Catacombs" lands on a generous two out of ten stars.

"Catacombs" stands out in the catalogue of Charles Bands' Empire Pictures; it's actually pretty good, with a refreshing lack of cheese and camp. Yes, it's possible that it may bore viewers hoping for more action and a high body count, but it has a serious, somber quality and atmosphere that makes it quite effective. Filmed at Empires' Italian studios, it's earnestly acted by a sound cast, deliberately paced, hauntingly scored (by the ever reliable Pino Donaggio), and uses the classic theme of good vs. evil to good effect. Granted, the finale is somewhat underwhelming, but until then the movie works well.

Directed by David Schmoeller, who co-wrote under a pseudonym, it stars "Class of 1984" villain Timothy Van Patten as Father John Durham, who lives in a monastery but isn't part of the brotherhood of monks residing there. The place is visited by a schoolteacher named Elizabeth Magrino (Laura Schaefer, "Ghost Town"), and this seems to serve as a catalyst for supernatural phenomena to occur. John, Elizabeth, and the others realize then that there is an evil presence on hand.

"Catacombs" is bolstered by its engaging performances; Van Patten is low key but likable, as is the lovely Schaefer. Ian Abercrombie ("Army of Darkness") and Vernon Dobtcheff ("Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade") each have a warm presence as the monks who give Elizabeth a nice welcome, while Jeremy West is very good as Brother Marinus, a humourless stiff who distrusts her presence. Feodor Chaliapin Jr. is touching as the terminally ill Brother Terrel. And viewers are certain to remember cast member Brett Porter as the creepy possessed albino.

Production design (by Giovanni Natalucci) and cinematography (by Sergio Salvati) are first rate, and special effects are good but kept to a minimum.

Fans of 1980s horror who love discovering the more obscure offerings may find this to be very respectable and interesting.

Eight out of 10.

First of all this isn't CURSE IV. It was filmed in 1988 under a different title, but wasn't released to video until 1993 under the title CURSE IV: THE ULTIMATE SACRIFICE. Anyway, this is a lame thriller with cheap special effects, no suspense, and a laughable monster. The only good things are that the plot is o.k. and the actors are decent, but the film is just plain boring. ** out of *****. I don't really consider this part of the CURSE series, since 1-3 are much better.

Picking this title up for a couple of quid, I had hoped for a standard lame monster flick in which those dam monks get there just deserves. Surprisingly, the characters throughout are well rounded, often humorous and quite believable. The demon that stalks the catacombs has some cool moves that unfortunately are not really exploited in the films conclusion. If you like watching these kind of bargain basement titles then Catacombs will serve you well as it is a little more intelligent and atmospheric than usual. Although not particularly scary or gory this movie offers more than enough laughs and thrills to recommend a rental. 5 outa 10