20 Ft Below: The Darkness Descending (2014)
Below the streets of New York is a dark and dangerous world hidden in the shadows of abandoned subway tunnels and miles of forgotten infrastructure. When a young documentary filmmaker goes into these tunnels to uncover the unseen stories of the people living below our feet, she finds out that there is more to be afraid of than the dark. A mysterious figure, living beyond the reach of the law, has declared war on the outside world that threatens to tear apart the fragile underground society living in the tunnels and maybe even the city above it.
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A Masterpiece!
Good films always raise compelling questions, whether the format is fiction or documentary fact.
It’s not bad or unwatchable but despite the amplitude of the spectacle, the end result is underwhelming.
It is a whirlwind of delight --- attractive actors, stunning couture, spectacular sets and outrageous parties. It's a feast for the eyes. But what really makes this dramedy work is the acting.
'20 Ft Below: The Darkness Descending' was another film seen with not high expectations. Was worried as to whether it would be silly and do nothing new with a tired concept. It was though another film seen out of curiosity for primarily Danny Trejo, who can save bad projects and is one of those watchable enough actors too often poorly used.It was a good thing that expectations were not high because '20 Ft Below: The Darkness Descending' fails to deliver in many, make that most or even almost every, ways. It is not one of the worst films seen, of its genre and overall. It's not even among the worst of my recent film viewings which has seen a lot of above average to gem standard stuff and just as much wastes of potential. That Trejo is the best thing about it, being the actor who tries most without over-compensating and there are signs of his bad-ass persona, but criminally underused in a caricature role with a far too short screen time says a lot about the film's quality. Generally the actors try too hard and come over as cartoonish. Didn't find anything intriguing, investable or rootable about any of the characters and the dialogue is both stilted and over-heated. The direction is flat.Furthermore, the story just doesn't grab the attention, gets pretty silly to the wrong side of camp and hammy and is not easy to follow at times due to being an under-explored kitchen sink of different tones and ideas. It looks poor, very murky and drab in lighting and filmed with next to no care or coherence. In summary, fails to deliver and even Trejo can't save it. 2/10 Bethany Cox
Angel (Danny Trejo) is a tough intellectual anarchist who rules the deep underground of NYC. In the opening scene he kidnaps and kills the wealthy Jason Wells (Peter Dobson) which leads to an unsuccessful police sweep. Jake (Frank Krueger) is an ex-cop who lost his wife, rules the area between the streets and Angel's world. Chelsea (Kinga Philipps) is a reporter who successfully gets an interview with Angel and then takes her time leaving the tunnels.Jake's speeches on his lost love were as badly written and delivered as Angel's anarchy fluff. In fact the whole film had a nausea that reminded me of "Billy Jack."The film is supposed to be a metaphor about living in the dark and alone with Jake representing the microcosm and the underworld the macrocosm. It was done rather sloppily with unrealistic characters.For Trejo fans it is far better than "Voodoo Possession" but not as good as "Bullet." Can't wait for "Volcano Zombies."No sex or nudity. I don't recall any F-bombs.
I watched this under the title DARKNESS DESCENDS which is a little more palatable than the original. Sadly as it turns out this thriller is a complete waste of time, with a plot that just meanders along without anything in the way of purpose or drive. It's just another example of Danny Trejo grabbing a pay cheque while not really caring about the quality of the material in which he appears.The story is supposedly about a young and bland film maker who is making a documentary about the plight of the homeless living beneath New York (although the movie was filmed in Los Angeles, which is a poor substitute). There's a lot of discussion with weird characters living beneath the streets and by weird characters I mean actors giving exaggerated, caricaturish performances. Trejo is some gang leader trying to unite his followers with some semi-religious speeches to start a new war against mankind.The problem with DARKNESS DESCENDS is that it has no idea what type of film it wants to be. There are a few thriller aspects but they take up less than half of the running time. The dialogue is heavy and dull. There are even a few fight scenes but an action film this isn't. The whole thing is shot on the cheap in close up shots and the ending just fizzles away to nothing. It's not worth your time.
Sorry but this movie does not work for we.Danny Trejo being on the cover was enough for me to watch the film, but too bad his stardom did nothing to make the film better. I've seen him save his fair share of B-movies just by appearing on screen for a few minutes and being bad ass, but this movie is not it.I did like the concept of a filmmaker documenting the people living in New York City's subway system, with one of them played by Trejo, seeing himself as a messenger of God who slays the wicked, and by wicked I mean the privileged Wall Street types, so obviously he's able to find a group of people willing to help him rid the city of this vermin.The film making is very lackluster, enough so that the found footage documentary style the film is doing seems so played out. You know the film is cheap just by the fact that they can't get Trejo to even comment to a half hour worth of footage. Not really good when he's your main villain and the most interesting out of his army.Danny's appearance is truly just a few minutes and it's not worth the trouble to see it just for that. I've seen him make a cameo like apprentice in far better B-movies like, In the Blood, which is worth seeing, so see that.