Director: Richard Gray
Writer: Richard Gray, Michele Davis-Gray, Ross McQueen (Screenplay) Richard Gray, Robert Cross, Ross McQueen (Story)
Starring: Briana Evigan, Ethan Peck, Julianna Guill, Alex Meraz, Rebecca Da Costa, Rafi Gavron, Joseph Cross, Lindsay Lamb, Michael Guillod
Plot: A group of young friends make an incomprehensible discovery in an abandoned mine, but the more they try to change the future, the more they seal their fate.
There may be spoilers the rest of the review
Verdict: Mind Bending Thriller
Story: Mine Games starts as we follow a group of college student friends Lyla (Evigan), Guy (Peck), Claire (Guill), TJ (Meraz), Rose (Da Costa), Lex (Gavron) and Michael (Cross) going to a camping trip in a cabin in the woods, they are meeting friends Sarah (Lamb) and Matt (Guillod) as they all look to celebrate their break.
As the party happens on the first night the two friends never turn up, the morning after the remaining seven friends end up finding an abandoned mine and of course they investigate it, even with the warning ‘Break the Cycle’ at the opening. Michael had dreams about the mine the night before being his warning.
Things take a turn when TJ and Lex discover what looked like the bodies of themselves and the friends inside the mine. The friends find themselves in a situation where they have no idea what is happening and only investigating can solve the questions but what secrets does the mine have?
Mine Games is a thriller that plays right into what I love to watch in films, it uses the idea of a time loop that our characters get stuck in. We get hints of what is happening through the film but I do find that sometimes we do get spoon feed the final outcome, I will say that this does help clean up nearly all loss ends with only one not really being solved. If you want to see a film that will test you this will but the actor isn’t the best going through the film.
Actor Review
Briana Evigan: Lyla is the good guy of the group as is the case in nearly all horror like films. She supports her boyfriend Michael who doesn’t fully fit in with the rest of the guys and always tries to find the most ratio reasoning behind everything. She becomes the leading lady of the film when the rest of her friends make the horror movie mistakes. Briana is good in this role but doesn’t end up standing out as much as she needs to in the leading role.
Ethan Peck: Guy is one of the friends, he tries to keep everything on a level where it all makes sense to him, not believing anything as he sees them all having the side effects of the drugs being used. Ethan is good in this role but doesn’t get time to show his skills.
Julianna Guill: Claire is the best friend of Lyla and on the trip with her friends, she comes off as the sexy friend compared to the rest of the woman involved. Claire is good but doesn’t get enough time to evolve her character.
Joseph Cross: Michael is the boyfriend of Lyla, he is on medication but we don’t learn why, he never really fits in with the rest of the group making him the prime suspect as the friends try to prevent their own murders from happening. He is the first to start experiencing the visions of the horror inside the mine. Joseph does the best job in the film playing the villainous role even if he gets pushed into it.
Support Cast: Mine Games has a supporting cast that all give the same level of performance throughout with no one standing out as good or bad.
Director Review: Richard Gray – Richard gives us a mind bending thriller that is easier to watch than others.
Mystery: Mine Games keeps us guessing to what is happening from start to finish.
Sci-Fi: Mine Games puts us into a sci-fi time loop.
Thriller: Mine Games keeps us on edge as we try to figure out what happens next in the film.
Settings: Mine Games uses two main settings, the house and the mine which are in the middle of nowhere all helping the isolation idea.
Special Effects: Mine Games has good effects being used throughout the film.
Suggestion: Mine Games is one for all the sci-fi fans to enjoy because of the time loop idea. (Sci-fi Fans Watch)
Best Part: Story idea.
Worst Part: Spoon feeds a few too many things.
Believability: No
Chances of Tears: No
Chances of Sequel: No
Post Credits Scene: No
Similar Too: Triangle
Oscar Chances: No
Budget: $1.5 Million
Runtime: 1 Hour 32 Minutes
Tagline: The Deeper You Go, The Darker It Gets
Trivia: After Mikey has gone to bed, the others stay up drinking and playing games. One of the games has each player with a piece of paper whit a person’s name on it stuck to their forehead, and they have to figure out whose name is on it. Guy’s (Ethan Peck) paper says “Gregory Peck,” his real-life grandfather.
Overall: A true sci-fi thriller that keeps us guessing from start to finish
Rating
