DVD review (region 2)
Directed by Álvaro de Armiñán
Starring Eliza Dushku, Mike Vogel, Ethan Rains
Release date 15 February 2010

While on holiday in Spain, with a swimsuit photographer and a selection of models, a young American is given a legendary old board game called Mamba. The catch, however, is that anyone who dies in the game will soon find themselves slaughtered in real life too…

You have to give some props to any movie that re-stages the famous ‘tarantula’ scene from Lucio Fulci’s cult classic The Beyond (in which some patently phoney spiders chow down on someone’s face) but with crabs replacing arachnids…

This, however, is about as interesting as the Sy-Fy Channel produced Open Graves gets. Certainly, an ending cribbed straight from the less-than-spectacular Wishmaster should indicate the level of inspiration behind this consistently confusing creeper. Moreover, once again, horror viewers are faced with a number of thoroughly idiotic and dislikeable characters: each one perpetually obsessed with boobs and beer.

Eliza Dushku fans should also be warned: the Dollhouse dame is given virtually nothing to do. Indeed, her entire role in this one equates to wearing a low cut blouse and offering some voice work for one of the crummiest pieces of CGI seen since The Scorpion King inhabited The Mummy Returns.

With plenty of animated snakes, a smattering of busty bimbos and dialogue of the “Stop talking, go get some ass!” kind this is charmless and childish: two reasons to avoid. Calum Waddell

VERDICT: 3/10
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