Dead Mine, 2012.
Directed by Steven Sheil.
Starring Sam Hazeldine, Joe Taslim, James Taenaka and Miki Mizuno.
SYNOPSIS:
The legend of Yamashita’s Gold lures a treasure hunter and his group deep into the Indonesian jungle. Once they are trapped in an abandoned World War II Japanese bunker, they face the terrifying reality that the only way out is to go further in.
Dead Mine is the story of a group of treasure hunters searching for a lost WWII bunker hidden on an Indonesian island. Thanks to some troublesome pirates they become trapped, forcing them to go deeper into the mine. Unfortunately for them, there is something lurking in the bunker that should have stayed hidden.
This film is the first in HBO Asia’s output of original films and the big positive of Dead Mine is that any following features can only get better.
The story starts simply enough thanks to some horrendous exposition spouted by any and all characters who open their mouths. This allows you to work out 90 percent of the story before you even have a chance to engage with it, leaving guessing who might die next as the only source of entertainment.
A poorly executed set-piece isn’t far away as our team is forced to go deeper into the bunker to search for their treasure and it doesn’t take long before things go awry. The bad guys begin to appear in a way that is laughable and makes you consider whether this film is meant to be so tongue-in-cheek. While you’re pondering this, another thought may spring to your mind and that is simply “Why do all of the baddies look like hungover students covered in toilet paper?”.
The film continues to trudge along and it’s not long before you are wishing for a decent scare just to give yourself a bit of a boost but thanks to a pitiful score that rips off 28 Days Later and Resident Evil – alongside some god-awful direction – a scare or a jump never arrives. And, seeing as this is a supposed horror film, this becomes incredibly frustrating.
We can’t place the blame solely on the director though as there are several other issues apparent, namely the script and the actors. All of the characters on screen are as two-dimensional as a Sam Worthington role and the actors portray them with the passion of a melting packet of butter. The script doesn’t help them either as we’re left wincing at some of the turgid lines delivered, none of which are memorable enough to quote for you now.
Eventually we get to the blessed relief that is the climax of the movie but unfortunately it’s as lame and nonsensical as the preceding 85 minutes. While Dead Mine would make for a very good student project, for a company like HBO to produce such a poor offering it does make you consider whether they should just stick to television.
Flickering Myth Rating – Film: ★ / Movie: ★ ★
Ozzy Armstrong is a Stargate and Rocky superfan. Follow him on Twitter.
Originally published May 18, 2013. Updated April 11, 2018.
