User Reviews

Just watched this on Sky Movies - nothing else to do on a Saturday morning ;) I went in to it expecting another flashy slasher pic set in a dark place so was pleasantly surprised to see a different take on a normally standard horror film scenario.

Yes it is another cabin in the woods with another bunch of young beautiful holiday makers on a drug and drink fueled break in the middle of nowhere. Cripes, where's the originality nowadays! Yet, it does work a little bit better than others, it just needed to have a more solid storyline in terms of the cycle.

As the second half kicked in, most people would begin to realize that the things you've seen are things that are about to happen. It reminded me of the absolutely superb 'TRIANGLE' with Melissa George. Sadly, 'Mine Games' is an inferior wannabe.

Inferior only in terms of the storyline and the capability to provide everything 'in the past' to make sense in the present. It's tight but not tight enough to make me say wow; It is however well worked out and everything has its place.

And then I saw the budget - $1.5m - you can hardly make a TV episode on that nowadays so the overall finished product is very good. The directing is pretty good, the acting is as you would expect. The standouts for me were the lighting within the mines themselves and the music is above average for this type of movie.

One thing that really annoyed me though was the character of Rose, I couldn't really put a finger on it save to say that she made no sense whatsoever! I don't understand why she needed to be in the film and the reason for her visions apart from being on drugs is never explained.

I revert back to 'Triangle' again where the ending of the film is a perfect nod to the start of the next sequence but the ending of 'Mine Games' is pretty terrible and in terms of the cycle make no sense. Unless the cycle has been broken but then it wouldn't be a cycle in the first place and how could two people from two different timelines co-exist in the same place? I like films to ask questions and I like to see something different from the usual clobber we get. 'Mine Games' doesn't really stand out and there are far superior films of this niche out there.

However for the budget and the production quality, the filmmakers have done a good job and for a Saturday morning when it's a choice between this and 'Muppets from Space', I'd go for this.

And it isn't the first time I said that... Oh!

This has a group seeing pieces of the future, and so, by it's nature, leaves the story untold, as the present turns into the future. Because of this, the story is a bit difficult to follow, but not much more than any mystery, with clues as you go.

The movie otherwise is fine. It's put together with serious effort, with good direction and acting. It moves along at a good pace, and keeps you interested. It's nice to say it has few of those 'dumb blond' moves typically seen in horror films.

The low IMDb rating of 4.7 is probably because it's a weird approach to the 'cabin in the woods' story line. Since there is no specific antagonist (just a hinted at evil), there's nothing specific for the cast to fight against, and so it's hard to root for them..to do what?

Then again, it may be because of the dumb ending. You decide..

Still, I'll rate it at 6.2 until the end, then it gets a 5.9.

Why didn't one of the "teens" simply write MIKE IS THE KILLER as a message for the future group - instead of BREAK THE CYCLE which of course is too cryptic and won't mean anything to the uninitiated. The average millennial teen can barely add 2 and 2, so what chance have they got with far-fetched, impossible puzzles!

But perhaps MG was trying to tell us how thick millennials are. "Break the Cycle" is a very dumb choice indeed.

MG has basically the same premise as "Triangle", "In the Tall Grass" and "Reeds" hence not nearly as interesting to me than it might be to someone who never came across a time loop plot.

The "teens" are uninteresting, the plot muddled, we've had this shtick done far better already.

It's not the best in the mind bender category. I rated it an eight to offset the low IMDb rating. I'd give it more like a 7, if I were to be honest.

The acting was okay. Nothing really cringe worthy. I happen to love this type of premise, which is somewhat mind bending and converges alternate realities.

If you liked Triangle or Coherence, you would like this. I think it's right on par with Triangle, but not as good as Coherence, but that is my opinion.

If you are a time traveling or alternate reality mind bender junkie, you will absolutely enjoy this ride. Understand, it's not the best in that category, but it's well worth the watch.

The chick that played Lyla was awful. Such a bad actress. The guy that played Micheal looks like the RC cola version of Shawn Ashmore, clearly the Rose chick is the knock of Shannon Elizabeth or what they were going for, huge chest and tiny arms that runs around screaming. Now, to the people responsible for this film, just because she had a decent scream, don't have her scream repeatedly, for no reason. So many low budget films do this, they rely over and over on one professional grade snippet in the movie and do it to death. They think a little is good, more is better. No, no it's not.

"Mine Games" creates a strong story that manages to be chilling and intense. There is no lag in the time span from when the film starts to when the action begins. The film isn't an all out high production thrill ride but it maintains a steady, entertaining pace filled with creepiness, and excitement. The style is pretty standard as far as horror direction and character definition but the unique blended nature, adding time/space situation on top of mythology, keeps the "cabin in the woods" set-up from being cliché or boring. "Mine Games" offers a more cerebral nightmare that never looses total cohesion.

The cast deliver pretty believable characters, they are stereotypes scene in horror, however Gray and the writers give enough material to allow the characters feel authentic, convincing, and relatable. The acting never becomes stale or over-drawn. A lot of horror films either play up the clichés until they look clownish or create characters that not even fiction could make believable as friends. "Mine Games" keeps the relationships and social dynamics even keeled enough to make, both the group, as college friends, and the individual interactions seem plausible.

The special effects utilized in "Mine Games" are tight. There isn't an exploitative nature to the gore or deaths, but what is scene on film comes across realistic looking. The shadowy nature and fact that almost all of the scenes are in nearly dark areas, or at night, gives the film most of it's spooky quality. The cinematography hearkens back to more traditional methods of straight cam shots, light inflections and natural third person views. With all the gimmicky, modern methods of handhelds, shaky cam shots, or first person view points, it is nice to see some aspects of classic horror story telling style still used. Not that I have a problem with fresh, innovative filming techniques like first person POV or found-footage.

Overall "Mine Games" gives us a great nightmare scenario that is well executed. The story is creepy, creative and cerebral. It will not appeal to all horror fans, and there is plenty to get the intellectuals stirred up, with the whole time/space-Ouroboros aspects of the story. Personally I spent a lot of the film wondering what exactly was the real deal happening- was it a "Soul Survivors" situation or was it a take similar to "Triangle". Once I caught up with the true nature of the hell these guys were dealing with I was still compelled to the story. It does weaken a bit toward the end after the big reveal. Not much though, and the time until the ending-when it all becomes clear- isn't all that long, so "Mine Games" works pretty much from start to finish.

Engaging psychological horror thriller mystery about a group of young people who get caught in a "loop of time" in a remote area in the woods. What makes this interesting is that they actually meet their selves in the loop which is an intersection of the present and future or present and past, depending on perspective. So they meet the future condition of themselves in a nearby mine but don't understand it; don't realize they are in a loop ahead of, and behind themselves in time. The loop begins (and ends) with an accident as they near their vacation destination: an elaborate cabin in the woods.

Possibly this looping of time could have been a harmless anomaly and meeting yourself of the future or the past (again, depending on perspective) might have been a weirdly pleasant and innocuous experience except that one of the members of the group (4 guys, 3 women) has mental problems and is taking medication for it. Schizophrenia, I believe. I will say no more (Did I hear a sigh of relief?). Love, Boloxxxi.

This is the a better funded version of Triangle, which is the only reason it got 6 stars. If one could look pass the horrid clichés, basic acting, and boobs, this movie would be quite enjoyable. Micheal is the saving grace of this film, though the stupidity of the other characters is sure to annoy throughout. Seriously who the hell goes into an abandoned mine at night? More importantly, who the hell, after seeing what the charters saw, goes back into said mine repeatedly.....still at night?!

MINE GAMES has something going for it, I'll admit that: it's a film that at least tries to do something different from the usual low budget American B-movie horror flick. Instead this has much in common with the likes of TRIANGLE and the (excellent) Spanish film TIMECRIMES in that it deals with characters who find themselves trapped in a time loop, forced to repeat the same actions over and over again.

Unfortunately it's much worse than either of those films mentioned, thanks in part to a muddled story which doesn't make a whole lot of sense when you think about it closely. A group of unappealing characters head off into the wilderness for a break, only to visit a creepy abandoned mine which messes with their heads. One bizarre event after another makes them realise that something REALLY odd is going on.

The execution of this film is very poor, particularly in terms of the cinematography. Much of it is too dark so you end up squinting at the screen trying to figure out what's going on. The cast is poor, with below averages performances from Briana Evigan (SORORITY ROW) and Gregory Peck's grandson, if you can believe that. The director is too obsessed with shooting this like a slasher film - bumping off his cast members one at a time - when instead he should be focusing on the novel stuff, not the predictable.

A-Z Horror Movie of the Day..."Mine Games" (NR - 2012 - US)

Sub-Genre: Paranormal/Psycho

My Score: 5.8

Cast=6 Acting=5 Plot=4 Ending=7 Story=6 Scare=6 Jump=5 F/X=5 Creep=7 Psycho=7

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.

The deeper you go, the darker it gets reads the tagline for a movie that tries to be two separate stories. You start with the whole cabin in the woods concept...but then you get an almost sci-fi element with the mine and the visuals within. This is a horror movie fan's idea of 'fast food'...yeah normally you want a steak, but sometimes you just grab a cheeseburger and chow down. Well this is that cheeseburger...it should get your horror fix satisfied while you wait for the next ribeye to reach your plate!!

After reading the movies summary,I thought it had a potentially good chance at being a good flick.Even considering it wasn't a title I'd heard of before,I did consider this to be(& I still do,After watching it),more of the "B- Movie",but noticed it had a decent amount for the budget,which I figured given the genres(Horror,Sci- Fi,Thriller)might make for a decently made movie even w/havin actors I'd really not heard of.

When it came to after watching the actual movie,is another story.It wasn't necessarily bad,I would rate it more between 6to7 Stars,to be fair yet alil generous.I say this because at times,even when I watch a movie,depending on my mood(kinda like taste buds/cravings)it can influence how well I liked it,&what I did or didn't like about it,overall.I know that there's only so much that's already expected when you do movies that are horror in some way,that most people can expect the movie will have happen.Not to give spoilers away,but I will say that ya,like in the summary,strange if not creep you out &/or scary things happened.Some of it is"repetitive"I guess is the closest word that I can think of,but does lead you to more of what happens,all through the film to the ending.I will say that given the roughly $1.5M budget,I feel like it was money they could've done more to have made the movie better with all of the resources they might've taken advantage of.That is IMHO,anyways.

Otherwise w/all that said,I hope you give this movie a try(I know as of current,&noticed for awhile too,this is also avail. on Netflix if ya have it...),everyone's opinions and tastes are different!!

A group of friends stumble across an abandoned mine, while on vacation. There's something eerily peculiar about said mine though and it wastes no time getting the group all discombobulated with it's timey-wimey shenanigans

Highly reminiscent of "Triangle", but not as nearly accomplished as that film. The insipid number has a group of unlikable characters and a script struggling too hard to be clever that it falls over it's own feet several times. Shame as it had potential, only to flounder it all away.

Eye Candy: Lindsay Lamb as Sarah gets topless

Richard Gray is director, co-writer and co-producer of this cabin in the woods film. A group of friends set out on a little trip to a mutual friend's cabin in the woods. While stopping to gas up the van, they see a newspaper announcing "a missing unidentified girl is found dead in the woods". Oops, great way to get people thinking. A little later, Michael(Joseph Cross)has to swerve off the road to avoid hitting a waving figure(that can't be found). Now lost in the dark, Lyla, Claire, Lex, Rose, TJ and Guy on foot reaches their destination...a nicely furnished cabin deep in the woods. Morning comes and exploring the grounds an old abandon mine is found. And what is found turns this movie a little creepy, well...a lot creepy. Now comes paranoia and psychotic reactions to some time travel.

What started out as ho-hum turns into entertaining. Filmed in Seattle, Washington with minor special effects and acting. Also in the cast: Briana Evigan, Julianna Guill, Rafi Garvon, Lindsay Lamb, Alex Meraz, Ethan Peck and Rebecca Da Costa.