Surviving the Many Levels of Hell's Labyrinth: A Movie Review

*full disclosure: a screener of this film was provided by MTI Home Video.

Director/writer: Drew Maxwell.

Cast: Leah Rose and Ryan Schaufler.

Drew Maxwell developed and completed Hell's Labyrinth in 2007. The film was called Carnivorous back then. Recently, MTI Home Video renamed this title and they have also released Hell's Labyrinth on DVD as of April 17th. As backstory, this movie was almost exclusively shot on green screens, so the cinemascape is CGI heavy. This process also created the film's excessive price tag at 5 million, which then caused some distribution troubles. Three years later and the film has finally been released.

The characters in Hell's Labyrinth were also looking for their release miles below the surface. This film is a fantasy thriller for its location, hell and the story involves 19 captives fighting to escape their devilish prison. The CGI environments and creatures created for some unbelievable situations, but the many elaborate and dangerous scenarios kept the film interesting.

The focus of the story is placed on the characters Kate (Leah Rose) and Ian (Ryan Schaufler). They team up in the underworld after Ian introduces Kate to his man cave. Kate does not introduce Ian to her cave and the next half hour is spent fighting their way to the surface. You see, Kate was let out of a steel prison in the deepest levels of hell with several others. Kate was the cream of the crop amongst her cellmates, but her fellow prisoners were not so lucky to escape the beasts below. They become lunch meat to some porcupine looking denizens of hell. Some traps involving barb wire kept the story thrilling as the cast was whittled down. Yet, this is essentially a story of two warriors fighting against unbelievable odds to escape a dire situation.

That dire situation is hampered or encouraged by the CGI environments and monsters. For some, this style of filmmaking is undesirable and this is an understandable opinion. On the flip side of the coin, the production crew has put a lot of detail into the backgrounds, which would have been impossible to reproduce naturally. So, the CGI environments grew on this reviewer. The monsters were less well drawn, unfortunately.

Before ending this review, a couple more film elements are worth mentioning. The soundtrack was constant and lively. This is how music in film is supposed to be. All of the acting was realistic and director Drew Maxwell has created some interesting scenarios here. From moving bridges to seductive sirens, there are deadly dilemmas to be found in Hell's Labyrinth.

Overall, this reviewer would recommend Hell's Labyrinth as a one time rental. The scenarios and positive film elements create for an entertaining time. The CGI is overly used, but the backgrounds are sometimes enhanced by this film production method. Hell's Labyrinth is for viewers who enjoy imaginative situations where hell rules and the characters are just one step away from the pitchfork.

Overall: 6.75 out of 10 (good setups, believable characters, adult oriented material, not rated, lots of swordplay).

Hell's Labyrinth at MTI Home Video:

Hell's Labyrinth at MTI Home Video

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Posted in: 2012,2012 release,hell,movie review,mti home video,story,underworld