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This film was boring, if you want to watch a movie with an alien you hardly ever see, shred and hang people as ornaments it a film for you. The acting mas pretty bad overall 4/10 bad si-sy but have seen worse.

A renegade archeologist (Goss) revives a mysterious creature that has been dorment for 900 years within an ancient Indian burial ground. As the creature starts butchering the citizens of a nearby town, an alcoholic sheriff (Vaugier), a biologist (Carmelo) and a small group of other survivors must find a way to stop an unstoppable monster.

"Unearthed" is one of the films that is being shown in limited engagements around the country as part of this year's "HorrorFest". It's a film that feels on some levels like grand old-time monster movies like "Island of Terror", but it never managed to grab me the way some of those movies used to do.

A big problem with "Unearthed" is the fact that, with the exception of Annie (the alcholic town sheriff, played with great effect by Emmanuelle Vaugier), and to a lesser extent the two Native American characters that she is friends with (Tonantzin Carmelo and Russell Means, the latter of whom spouts some of the lamest psuedo-mystical babble I've heard in some time) there really isn't any characters in the film that we like or dislike enough to really care when the monster gets them. It's a film that's compentent enough on the technical side, and which features good actors in every role, but which is ultimately empty, because the script fails to fully infuse all the movie magic with life.

(And, personally, I was very, VERY annoyed by some of the pointless lightning-fast jump cuts and the hamfisted "artistry" of some particularly jittery handheld camera shots that seemed to scream "Look Ma! It's that degree from DeVry you paid for that taught me how to do this!" But, I guess there might be someone out there who appreciates those techniques, since they are used so badly in so many movies these days.)

If you like monster movies, "Unearthed" might be worth checking out as a rental somewhere down the line. Despite some decent acting, generally nice camerawork, and some excellent locations and sets, the film is too hollow to be truly entertaining.


Unearthed
Starring: Emmanuelle Vaugier, Luke Goss, Tonantzin Carmelo, Beau Garrett, Charles Q. Murphy, Russell Means, and M.C. Gainey
Director: Matthew Leutwyler

The darkness of the photography makes it hard to follow a lot of what is going on in the film. In addition to that, the story isn't particularly good. It has some tense moments, but not enough to keep you interested.

This was a pretty good film. It has a story. It has a lot of scary scenes. Not a bad film for the after dark horrorfest.

Don't that be it all! One minute you are digging around in an archeological site, and then the next minute you're unleashing an unholy monster bent on making every living creature it can find into a meal for either itself or its young. Unearthed could have been a better film if writer/director Matthew Leutwyler would have realized his limitations in budget and made it work for the film, rather than against it. Plus, a better and more original screenplay would have helped dramatically.

Unearthed might come off as original if the viewer has never seen a single monster flick ever before in their life. I don't condemn films for being inspired by other films, or even paying homage to them. Unearthed unfortunately is just the first Alien movie all over again, just taking place in a desert town instead of outer space. Everything from certain situations to the overall look of the creature are all to familiar to that classic film.

The monster in the film isn't a bad design, even if it looks like the aliens in the Alien franchise. I wish the film would have used more animatronics or prosthetics to create their monster, instead of the noticeably fake looking CGI. I imagine the film had a limited budget, so that would explain why the creature looked so terrible. But instead of flooding all those funds for a monster that took me out of the film, why not try to make a traditional "man in a monster suit" sort of thing that you shoot sparingly. Sometimes not seeing the monster is more frightening than actually seeing it all the time. A lot of low-budget horror films have proven that you can make a small budget work for you when you put your mind to it.

The cast in the film is a surprisingly well collected bunch of actors. The majority will be unrecognizable to most viewers, but some might have you asking "Where do I know them from?" I really liked seeing Luke Goss, who has been in some of my favorite guilty pleasures of all time like Silver Hawk, but was let down that the movie didn't do anything to capitalize on his appearance in the film. And it was fun to see Charlie Murphy (yes, Eddie Murphy's brother) in the movie, but disappointing that they made him the wise-cracking black guy character.

Unearthed is a short film, but it feels like forever when you are watching it. There isn't much that goes on, and not even the deaths are all that great to watch either. Unless you want to see all of the 8 Films to Die For, there is no reason otherwise to see this film. If you want to watch a film where a small group of people get attacked by a monster, or monsters, check out The Mist or even The Relic.

Z-grade special effects and a script that has way too much going on, but a valient effort by a no-name (except for Charlie Murphy) cast. It's a good made-for-Sci-Fi flick, but just average as a horror/sci-fi theatrical release.

:rotten: (out of four)

There is a certain amount of fun associated with a good B horror flick. Cheesy monsters, pathetic special effects, terrible acting, are just a few of the "highlights" to watching one of these. That's why it is sad that Unearthed isn't even good at being bad.

There is a creature hidden deep beneath the ground, waiting to be unleashed. Of course he is and that's when good folks begin losing limbs and lives. The film doesn't live up to this silly premise, and in fact doesn't live up to anything. It is what no horror film should be and that is boring. When the final conflict with the beast occurs I couldn't have cared any less. I was instead waiting for the true savior of the film to appear: the credits.

Unearthed (from After Dark Horrorfest: 8 Films To Die For): During an archeological dig, an unidentified creature threatens a deserted New Mexico town.

Firstly, the creature is a definite rip-off of the alien in Alien. The only difference is the creature in that film is far more authentic than the one viewed here. The creature here looks only believable when it's present in a very dark area. If displayed in a visible light, it's frightless in disbelief due to a restricted budget. Maybe with a little more money spent to produce this creature, it will be more convincing. The acting here is standard, but without any hesitation, no Academy award nominations for anyone featured in this movie either. A viewer only gets a glimpse of two of the victims' faces; one is mauled and the other is dismembered. Whenever the monster does its killings, they are shown in dark locations. To finish them off quickly would have been more sufferable. The budget in Unearthed is the least of its worries. It's the problematic story and directions are the real aim here. The double talk scientific information from one of the protagonists (Tonantzin Carmelo... Nodin) is unimaginable. While one of the laughably idiotic female characters standing by door hiding from the monster, she accidentally shoots her foot and has a less chance of escaping. The person who's mainly responsible for releasing this creature is never explained how or why he did it, and where he found it. And frankly, no one cares. The time the characters spend arguing and one of them presenting a comical relief at the second half, are just jargons to set out a conflict and distraction in this uninspired movie. Eventually, Unearthed finishes in a very convenient and predictable way.

A film that looks as though it was taken from the scifi channel,but it is very fun.

I thought the movie was o.k., the monsters somewhat scary, however the death scenes were very repetitive and I started to drift from the movie near the end.