Bovie Movie

You’ll be yawning as much as the caverns at this horror from first-time director Bruce Hunt. Unlike Neil Marshall’s excellent subterranean shocker The Descent, this formulaic monster B-movie is stripped of true visceral verve by a dumbed-down script and the limitations of its 12 certificate. When a group of cave divers explore an uncharted area in the Carpathian mountains, they are trapped by an underwater cave-in and soon become the prey of a pack of bloodthirsty creatures. With a bit of The Abyss here, a little Jaws there and the beasties a cross between something out of Pitch Black and Alien, there’s little originality in Hunt’s visual arsenal, although the underwater photography is decent enough. The trouble is that the ghouls are kept hidden by a flurry of blurry edits to hide their CGI banality, while the C-list cast can barely keep up with the limited excitement generated by this chill-free black hole. 

Marshall Lawson loses his strike-team in a cold-blooded and seemingly random attack. After this he takes it upon himself to investigate the suspicious circumstances of the brutal killings. Soon he uncovers CTX Majestic, a covert military operation so secret, that now the military wants Marshall eliminated. Resolute in his pursuit, Marshall engages in a merciless battle with a drug dealer operation that appears to be secretly funded by a rogue arm of the military.

Following in the wake of Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels, this thriller from Paul McGuigan is another tale of London gangsters, though this time without the humour. As studies of pure evil go, however, it’s very convincing. Malcolm McDowell plays a crime lord who, concerned that a rival he once double-crossed is about to be released from prison, looks back on the 1960s antics of his gang. Flashbacks show him played by the impressive Paul Bettany, whose psychotic behaviour leads to much blood-letting. This central section is stylistically superb, but the film is fatally flawed by the fact that both boss David Thewlis and his moll (Saffron Burrows) are badly aged for the final section. The gratuitous violence and profanity also leave a very nasty taste in the mouth.