Unreal Movie Review: Sanctum

Sanctum is a slasher film masquerading as an adventure drama. Though there’s no axe wielding bad guy in sight, and the only real enemy is a looming grave and several millions of gallons of whatever, the film still falls victim to many traps of the horror genre. But at least it’s set in quite a pretty place.

In truth, a movie about a no-name cast exploring a vast cave system would be getting no attention were it not for the name of its executive producer, James Cameron, who, for all his usual ego has gone to great lengths to help this film succeed. He lent them his fancy 3D cameras, he joined Twitter to promote it, and he even did an underwater interview as a publicity stunt for the project.

I’m not exactly sure why James Cameron has such a fetish for underwater camera work (The Abyss, Titanic and a handful of under the sea documentaries), but it appears wherever there’s murky depths to be filmed, he’s there.

Sanctum follows the (inspired by a) true story of a group of cave explorers trapped in an unmapped stretch of the earth by a flood. With their exit blocked, they’re forced to press deeper into the cave, and hope they can find a way out before their air runs out and their lights go dim.

Despite his haircut, you have to root for this kid.

In the lost group are father and son cave explorers (Richard Roxburgh and Rhys Wakefield), their billionaire financier (Ioan Gruffudd), his girlfriend (Alice Parkinson) and some other guy (Dan Whyllie). After hearing all their respective roles, it shouldn’t be hard to guess not only who survives to the end, but also the exact order in which they die.

This is where Sanctum fails. For all it’s beautiful sights, the actual plot itself is pretty predictable, as it does follow that of a typical slasher flick. Five people find themselves in a dangerous environment and are picked off one by one by forces beyond their control. Usually this force is a maniac wielding a chainsaw and not a whirlpool or stalagmite (or is it stalactite?), but the principle is the same.

Sanctum even falls victim to traps of the even smaller “people stuck in a cave” genre, made popular most recently by The Descent. There’s a scene where one person must cross a chasm to ferry the others over, and of course, someone goes cave crazy near the end and goes all homicidal on the remaining cast members.

“And that’s why you always leave a note.”

But it’s actually interesting to view The Descent separately from a movie like Sanctum. The addition of “creatures” makes the former more of a direct horror film, but it’s almost more harrowing when the only enemy is the elements.

This is all amplified by the incredible filming and, dare I say it, use of 3D. As much as I hate the format, it does work quite well here, as the added depth really works for this setting, and creates the feeling of claustrophobia for the viewers which mirrors the present circumstance of the characters. Now, I will say I resent being FORCED to pay 100% more for 3D (my student price ticket doubled from $7 to $14), and the effect does not make the film twice as good. Thankfully it doesn’t make it worse as it usually does, and with no 2D showings even an option at any theater near me, it could have turned out worse.

It’s definitely an intense film, though not particularly revolutionary. The predictable plot and often hammy performances (looking at you Ioan Gruffudd, and you’re the only name I recognize!) detract from the beautiful camerawork and setting.

Alright James Cameron, get yourself out of that scuba gear and start making your own movies again.

2.5 out of 5 stars