"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.

Catacombs isn't a bad film, the actors are quite believable and do a good job, and the story keeps you mildly engaged. However, this isn't really a proper horror film as there is little gore or scares. There's a lot of mumbo jumbo about demons which is hard to follow. Apparently it's all to do with a demon trapped underneath the monastery, causing strange things to happen.

There was one good scene where a statue of Jesus comes alive and kills a man, and I suspect anyone deeply religious would be offended by Catacombs for this reason. I wouldn't recommend this film to horror fans as it's neither here nor there. It's not bad but not that great either.

I got this film in a pack with three other horror films. The other three are "Dungeon Master", "Cellar Dweller" and the horrendous "Contamination .7". The only other one I have seen was the awful "Contamination .7" so while this one was not particularly good, compared to that it was spectacular! Seriously though, this is another in a long line of horror films that had something good going for it and an interesting premise, but ends up being done the wrong way. It starts out fast enough as something happens in the past and then it is not all that long in the present that something is released making me think this one was going to be one heck of a ride; however, it slows down significantly and ends in basically with an exorcism that is very anticlimactic. This one was watchable though and it held my interest, I just feel it could have done better considering how it started out.

The story has an exorcism being done in the past and it fails to produce results so the accursed is sealed within a tomb under a monastery. It switches to present time and a young lady is visiting the monastery and wishes to see the wondrous catacombs underneath it. Unfortunately, the evil that has been sealed is now about to be released for reasons only the makers of the film know and chaos will ensue! Well, it does ensue, but it does so rather slowly. It is up to Timothy Van Patten to get to the bottom of the evil and destroy it once and for all!

So yeah, the film does have a nice scene at the beginning. It just kind of fades out quickly after that. You have the monk who warns everyone that the evil is coming and he is ignored and thought a fool by the head of the place and even though he is absolutely correct, he is still presented as someone to root against. Though if they had listened to him, lives would have been spared. The girl is attractive and near the end of the film she would be possessed, but all that would play out is your basic exorcism scene, well not too basic. I do believe it is the first time I have seen evil defeated with a flashback.

So another in a long line of horror films that was almost good, but they pretty much blew it. There just was not enough going on after the initial scenes and the end was rather weak. They gave us a monastery full of people and had a very low death toll. Still, it was short and while not great, it held my interest enough that the movie did not feel overlong either. So, with a bit of work and some more death, this one could have been something special. As it is, it is just another horror movie on a package of four.