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I'd seen several previews to this film on recent rentals, and when it popped up in the video store last week I decided to give it a go.  It's a surprisingly good direct-to-video horror film starring Cuba Gooding, Jr. as a veteran Iraq war Special Forces commando sent in with his team to extract a scientist from an underground chamber deep in the Iraqi interior, where government scientists have been working hand in hand with a team of priests from the Vatican to control or contain the contents of an unspeakably ancient tomb and the horror they found there.

When the commandos arrive (with the obligatory hot government scientist babe played by Valerie Cruz), they find dead or dying priests and scientists littering the underground chamber - one priest covered with nasty blisters, a zombie like creature raving about Scriptures and sin offerings, and one priest played by Henry Rollins, half-crazed with fear and warning them not to enter the tomb itself.

The lead scientist, played by Ron Perlman, is particularly effective in his possessed mode.  The Nephilim entombed there is playing to everyone's temptations and fantasies in order to seduce them into carrying his imprisoned spirit topside into the world of men.  In the end, only one person can make it out alive . . .


I liked this movie quite a bit.  The performances were solid, the atmosphere spooky, and the death scenes quite gruesome, particularly the seduction of Corporal Yoshi by a female medical Corpsman.  What is done to her is hard to watch.



  My only complaint, and this is just my old Baptist self talking, is that I somewhat resent the fact that in movies, even one of Satan's minor minions is more than a match for every priest or pastor in the movie.  Do they simply forget Who it is that clerics  work for?  Or is it just better entertainment of they holy men don't kick demonic butt?

That sounds pretty interesting, I'll have to check it out.  Sci-Fi did the total cheeseball version of that same film and called it Monster Ark.

I'm about as areligious as they come, and I still agree.  I like it when we see some Holy Warriors kicking demonic *** in movies instead of just the usual everyday and/or military heroes.  On that note, the Solomon Kane movie that's coming out is apparently really good (well, he isn't a priest, but still).  Looking forward to that one!

I'll check this one out, just added it to my netflix queue.