Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #17174 in DVD
• Released on: 2008-03-03
• Rating: Suitable for 18 years and over
• Format: PAL
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 88 minutes

Synopsis
Shannyn Sossamon (ONE MISSED CALL) stars in this thriller about a young woman whose first trip to Paris turns interesting and frightening after she is invited to a party in the catacombs and gets separated from her friends. Alecia Moore, better known as the singer Pink, steps off the stage and onto the screen for her first major acting role.

Customer Reviews

A Weak Horror Film That Could Have Been So Much Better
First of all, I was really looking forward to seeing this film. I am a huge fan of P!nk - real name Alecia Moore - and a big horror fan. However, I am sad to say that I would only recommend it if you want to see P!nk in her first major role or Shannyn Sossamon running around aimlessly for over an hour.

The film was very disappointing given the massive potential it had. This could have been a genuinely great horror film with a lot of atmosphere and tension. Instead it is a rather dull, uninteresting and unbelievably repetitive exercise in boredom. The undoubted saviour is P!nk, who performs very well in a sassy and unpredictable role which showcases her potential as an actress as well as a singer.

The plot is very simple: Victoria (Shannyn Sossamon) arrives in Paris to stay with her sister, Carolyn and experience the great city and try and overcome her depression. Soon after her arrival, Carolyn (P!nk) takes Victoria to a party held in the catacombs, a labyrinthine path which stretches underneath Paris and is the resting place of seven million people, buried there when the city's graveyards became overcrowded. The premise alone has huge potential for a variety of scares, an unlimited number of victims and tons of jump-out-of-your-seat moments. However, unfortunately, these fail to materialise.

In the prologue, a girl is chased through the catacombs by a horrible subhuman creature and is grabbed before she can make it back to the party and sanctuary. This was very encouraging and hinted that the rest of the film would follow suit, but it does not live up to its great potential. Alternatively, the film revolves around Victoria's being trapped deep in the catacombs, alone and afraid, after everyone else has left. Again, so much could have been done with this concept, but instead all that seems to happen is that Victoria runs around pointlessly, thinks she hears something, realises that it is nothing, then carries on and carries out the same actions again minutes later.

There is a pretty effective chase sequence where Victoria dashes around in the maze, falling over an unlimited number of objects before landing somewhere completely unexpected. Another good moment is her being rushed out of the party in a crowd moved along by the police. The moment is so quick and shocking that it will have you gasping, but again, is not scary. The film has no major shocks or jolts and there is very little gore. As for the gore, there is only one person on screen for the majority of the film so it is very limited.

The ending will most likely leave you feeling very angry or completely shocked, as it is so strange and unexpected. However, it is ultimately a cheat and as with most films that do not care about their audience, does not care to explain itself. The only character I connected with was Carolyn, as she seemed to be the only one with a brain. At times Victoria is so stupid that it defies belief - at one point constantly calling a man she meets "Henry" despite the fact that his name is "Henri" and that she pronounced it properly the first name - and seems intent on getting herself into more and more trouble as the film progresses.

This film is very unsatisfying and will probably only appeal to fans of P!nk who would like to see her act in her first major role as well as die hard Shannyn Sossamon fans. As a horror film, it does not perform well on any level but does have some interesting cinematography, despite the constant strobe lighting effects, which will grate on you eventually.

Americans are missing out on the "true" version of Catacombs
I live in the US and I imported this PAL version of Catacombs because it is vastly superior to the "Director's Cut" the US received.

I was first introduced to the movie when I began to take interest in the actress Shannyn Sossamon again after seeing her in the movie One Missed Call. I had downloaded the movie Catacombs to watch not knowing I was viewing a rip of the PAL DVD. So when I finally purchased the Director's Cut when it was released in the US, I was severely disappointed.

The music is heavily downplayed in the US Director's Cut, which to me was primarily the best aspect of this movie. Violet UK and Chris Healings and Mike Truman (Hybrid) do an amazing job on this soundtrack. Right from the beginning of the movie when "Blue Butterfly" opens you know you are in for a wicked ride when you hear the heavy guitar licks followed by a pulse pounding beat which cuts back and forth from a caustic rave to a frantic chase scene. The contrast of the girls cries to the reverbed echoes of the music sends shivers down my spine every time. But like I said, this portion of the film is downplayed in the Director's Cut, as the vibe seems way more like a cheap horror scene with a video camera than the intensely vibrant panic that it really is in this PAL version.

Another portion that was changed in the US Director's Cut was the shopping scene with Victoria and Carolyn riding a motor scooter in Paris. The music in the PAL version made the scene seem like an ecstatic blur in Victoria's mind, but in the Director's Cut it was replaced by the "Love Theme from Paris" piano tune. This was a severe step down in my opinion.

Lastly, and probably the most important reason why the PAL version supersedes the US Director's cut is the fact that the US version features dubbed over voices for Jean-Michelle and others. In the commentary in the Director's Cut the directors explained they did this because people were having trouble understanding him. Not only was he perfectly audible before though, but the voice overs are downright corny and laughable. What a disaster!

On the other hand, there is a lot more footage in the Director's Cut than in the PAL version, but it's detracting more than anything. Scenes seem to go on way too long and the quality of the video seems like it was all shot with a digital camera. This is the only time I've seen there be two drastically different versions of one movie. I'm still baffled at how much better the PAL version really is, both visually and aurally. The only main plus I will say about the Director's Cut is that it features a dream sequence when Victoria falls asleep after meeting Henry that features some particularly fervent imagery.

Judging the second half of the movie on it's own merits regardless of version, it's an incredibly dark, isolated, and claustrophobic experience. I watched this movie for the first time in the dark on a computer after smoking a bit of weed and I was a wreck by the time it ended with it's inevitable twist. Many people are quick to slam this film, saying it's an "hour of screaming and crying" or something to that effect. To them I would say go watch Scream or the Grudge or some "jump scene" movie and leave the intelligent horror to the ones who appreciate it.

Overall, I would recommend this movie mainly to Shannyn Sossamon fans, but also horror fans who want a little something different. Just make sure you watch the PAL version so you get the complete sonic force that the soundtrack provides.

What is stupid?
What is stupid? Look it up in the dictionary and you will find the definition: The girl in the catacombs.
Gee, what is the formula for a modern horror(I use the term loosely)film?
Hmmm, put troubled girl/boy in dark place, scare her/him, make them run around aimlessly(screaming of course),have them fall about a bit
( probably beacause they are tripping over all the red herrings) have her/him make consistently stupid and pointless decisions that not even
a zombie would make(deep breath here)
then have something really horrible happen so that we think its a shocking "surprise" ending.
WELL SURPRISE! this film sucks! in a big way!
The only comfort I took was hearing other members of the audience cheering for the "monster" in the hope that it would get "Ms. Stupid" so we could all go home with a smile on our faces and the satisfaction of having the real horror(this film) end!
Please someone think of something ORIGINAL!
Pink, this will be the film you hope everyone forgets you were in.(Pink plays Ms.Stupid's sister)
The horror film industry needs a powerful colonic! Watch this for the laugh factor only!