Underworld (1986)

Too much of everything

How sad is this?

Crappy film

The thing I enjoyed most about the film is the fact that it doesn't shy away from being a super-sized-cliche;

A high class prostitute is kidnapped from a brothel and taken to the Underworld. A business man hires her ex-lover (played by Larry Lamb) to find her. The Underworld is where a group of ex addicts who have been used as test subjects live, away from public view. They have been turned into mutants by the chemicals they were injected with and are seeking a cure to return them to their previous selves.This movie is awful. Words fail me to be honest. Not even the name of Clive Barker can save this one. It is badly acted, stiff, wooden and the creatures are laughable. It's frustrating and boring to watch. Another Z movie with many famous faces whom could have done much better.

"Transmutations" is an overly-long and not-that-worthwhile creature feature.**SPOILERS**Abducted from her house, Nicole, (Nicola Cowper) finds herself in the possession of Hugo Motherskille, (Steven Berkoff) a ruthless gangster. The abduction forces Roy Bain, (Larry Lamb) a former associate of the group, into action, which he finds is not his doing and wants her back as much as he does. Investigating the disappearance, he eventually finds traces that lead to Dr. Savary, (Denholm Elliott) who has produced a strange white powder that's coveted by a race of deformed human beings who live in the underworld in the sewers below the city. Finding they are engaged in a war with him over the control of use of the powder in experiments he conducted years ago that turned them into their deformed state, he agrees to help them in their battle against their demented enemies.The Good News: There's only a few minor points in here that make this worthwhile. The main thing with this one is that the final confrontation is actually really good. The shootout between the two sides is really nice, taking out some members from each side in acceptable gunfights while also utilizing some grenades as well. Mixed with the final confrontations in the underground lairs, including the brutal gassing sequence and the single worthwhile kill in the film, where one's head is set on fire and melts away, all make these scenes the best part of the film. It's twenty minutes of pure excitement and interest, mainly since it's the only part of the film that has any. The only other point of interest is the storyline, which isn't that bad and doesn't really feel all that complicated or hard to figure out, it just takes a while to get out. These here are all the film has going for it.The Bad News: This was a woefully underwhelming effort for several reasons. The biggest one, and the most interconnecting one is the absolute and utter dullness. Pretty much everything in here is either way to long to get to the point or just nothing happens. The mystery angle would've been nice had it lead to anything, but here it just leads to tediously long stretches where he spends the time talking to everyone around, which is just plain dull, and when it just seems to go on and on, such as the sequence in the club with the dancers or searching the lab for ideas about what's going on, all of which are just plain boring and overlong and make the film just plain tough to get through. Since the only action scene is the final twenty minutes, everything else until that time manages to feel very plain hard to get through. That's the biggest flaw with the film, that nothing happens in here. The other flaw in here is the fact that the cheese level isn't good at all. The creatures look lame, the disco soundtrack isn't any good and it's hard to determine what other elements are here are caused to help the film. It's still not as damaging as the other flaw, but these here are the film's biggest problems.The Final Verdict: Hardly anything worthwhile in here manages to be the main spoiler to a terribly underwhelming effort. Really only give this one a shot if these kinds of cheesy creature features are interesting for you, otherwise then just ignore this one and seek out more worthwhile entries.Rated R: Graphic Language and Violence

Given that this is based on a Clive Barker story, and contains some major acting talent it should be good. It's NOT good, and the blame for that rests squarely with director George Pavlou.It could have been an interesting melding of the crime/horror genre, but takes every wrong turn possible.Larry Lamb is a good actor, but he is so hopelessly miscast here as the hard man reluctantly dragged back into the criminal underworld, that there is a gaping hole at the heart of the film where a central character should be. In fact most of the normally reliable actors here, turn in awful performances.The sets are awful (the neon tube underground lab looks like a Gary Numan stage set). The costumes are awful (the gangsters dress like Duran Duran). The music is awful, and the dialogue is awful. The script is so bad its difficult to imagine Barker had anything to do with it. At one point "our hero" is injected with the deadly transmutating drug, absolutely nothing happens to him, its simply not referred to again !. In playing down the horror element, and playing up the crime element, the producers missed an opportunity to produce a piece of contemporary horror, and instead produced a cheap looking Mockney version of Miami Vice. Most of the people involved leave this off their c.v.'s. I'd certainly leave it off your shopping list.

This movie looks like those from the end of 1950s or beginning of the 1960s, only badly directed. A very weird and confused story, ham actors and actresses, I believe nothing is worthwhile in this film. The unique curiosity is the name of Clive Baker in the credits. But my advice is: - Do not waste your time! My vote is three.