My View on Schlock

Soooooo cuba gooding jr...he won an oscar right? Just making sure...because now he is doing direct to dvd cinematic gems like the Devils Tomb. Not to say hes isn't joined by a rather well versed and fairly big named cast... I mean Ron Perlman, Jason London, Ray Winstone, Bill Moseley, Taryn Manning and my personal favorite Henry Rollins. So im not really sure what to think of this film. It isnt bad but it isn't that great either. It has a very good cast and the effects arent bad at all, but the acting, especially on the oscar winners part, is subpar at best.
That being said the plot goes a little something like this: (stop me if you have heard this one) a military unit and their cia handler walk into an abandoned research facility in the mid east to "retrieve" a man(perlman). As far as they know this is theyre only mission BUT as things do tend to go they are very, very wrong. As they search the abandoned facility they soon realize it is far from abandoned and they are greeted by mutilated seemingly religious nigh indistructable zealots. I mean like Tick nigh indestructable; lots o' bullets and nothing doin. The movie does pick up quite a bit though round this point with the team doing the obligatory "let's split up" manuever.
As each mini team searches the find out that physical peril isn't their only problem. They all experience different things with some satisfyingly gruesome results. Those who make it then get to meet my favorite B movie/stand up/ spoken word/ musical artist Henry Rollins (as a side note ive met Henry and he is a gem..just a gem of a man. anywho)..Mr Rollins plays a priest who tells a story of woe to the crew about what is really down there with them. This is of course the twist..so i wont ruin it..but suffic to say it isnt maybe possibly what u think it might be..vague enough for ya? Good. Lets move on. Oh and did i mention the whole time good old cuba is having oscar esque dramatic flashbacks to an old battle that does more to derail the film than to push the story along? By the end of the film i was so unenthused by who lived and who died and why they did or didn't that i just didnt care about the semi twist at the end.
This movie has its ups downs and ebs and flows. it seems that maybe it tries to be a buncha descent premises but doesnt quite hit any of them. i mean if they woulda just picked a hole and boned it i woulda been alot happier. that being said this film had good effects, some descent scares. The bad part to me is everyone in this film has enough cred to do a much better job. I mean its just kinda bland. The dialogue and delivery is just cardboardish. I know its straight to dvd but with this cast it shoulda been better.
so whats this all add u too? well not ed wood movie bad but not major release good. So i guess its right where its supposed to be in the straight to dvd realm. Im sure theyre are better movies that address these same things and use this kinda religious iconography, but do they have Hellboy and Radio in them? Hmmm? Well? I didnt think so.