Matrixston Wow! Such a good movie.

Cubussoli Very very predictable, including the post credit scene !!!

Listonixio Fresh and Exciting

Tobias Burrows It's easily one of the freshest, sharpest and most enjoyable films of this year.

merklekranz I'll give "The Strangeness" credit. For an ultra low budget, almost student film, at times it captures the total darkness cave experience pretty well. Sure it's dark, and at times headlamps moving in the blackness is all you see, but I would rather have that than some bogus source of light. The acting is not good. The dialog is not good. The first hour is boring and not good. Character development is not good, but at least you can tell the characters apart. Finally, the ending is a complete sell out, where believability flies out the window. So what is there to like about this film? For one thing, Terri Berland wearing a skin tight tank top and button busting jeans will hold your attention, and the stop motion, rarely seen monster, is so bizarre you will be anxiously awaiting your next brief glimpse. - MERK

lovecraft231 Ah, Code Red, you have a tendency to release rarities to DVD that range from lost classics ("Soul Survivor" and the upcoming Messiah of Evil" SE) to terrible ("Don't Go In The Woods...Alone!") to watchable but mediocre ("The Unseen" and "The Dead Pit") and the truly mind boggling ("Boardinghouse") Well, "The Strangeness" falls into the third category. I've been wanting to see it since I read the entry on it in Stephen Thrower's essential 70's/80's Horror Tome "Nightmare USA," and lo and behold, Code Red gives it a DVD release.The plot is nothing special: A group of people people surveying a abandoned mine end up trapped in a cave, and what do ya know, a slimy tentacled monster. So yeah, nothing new, and nothing spectacular. On the plus side, the creature itself is a pretty nifty creation-done using Stop-Motion animation, and looking like a mix of H.R Giger (it's pretty much looks like a combination of a phallus and a vagina) and Lovecraft. Also, the direction is competent, the low budget sets are convincing and the John Carpenter like score is a lot of fun.On the other hand, the acting is terrible (it's pretty much amateur hour here) and this was done with a PG rating, so those expecting plenty of gore will be let down considerably, as the majority of the deaths occur off screen. Plus, the Stop-Motion creature certainly has it's charms, though the animation itself is a bit jerky.So, is it worth it? Well, it's certainly no "The Descent" that's for sure. On the other hand, if you have fond memories for not yet on DVD cave creature flicks like "What Waits Below" and "The Boogens", then this might be worth it. It's no classic, but there's worse ways to spend your time.

Coventry Some movies are just … unlucky. These are the films that obviously thrived on a lot of goodwill and a handful of potentially great ideas, but simply didn't have the budgetary means and/or professional cast and crew members at their disposal to make it happen. "The Strangeness" definitely belongs in this category. You really want to like it, but even the most tolerant and undemanding 80's horror fanatics will have to admit the film barely reaches the level of mediocrity due to its atmosphere of cheapness, clumsy stop-motion effects and impenetrably dark cinematography. "The Strangeness" has a fairly original plot and setting (okay, it's similar to "The Boogens" but I sincerely doubt that director David Michael Hillman intentionally ripped off a fellow insignificant 80's B-movie) and the players deliver enthusiast performances even though they're all miscast. An assembly of amateur speleologists go on an expedition to explore the infamous Gold Spike mine. Many years ago, several miners mysteriously died there and the place has abandoned ever since, but there's supposed to be too much gold hidden there to remain closed forever. Shortly after they descended into the mine, the group members one by one encounter the slimy ruler of the Gold Spike mine; a Lovecraftian monster with tentacles and an incredibly cheesy way of moving forward. Throughout most of its running time, "The Strangeness" is a boring and incompetent mess that is difficult to follow due to the complete lack of lighting. The characters are uninteresting and the mine remains a mystery because the only lighting effects come from the helmets of the speleologists. There's very little action or horror to experience in the first hour, but director Hillman cleverly grasps the viewers' attention by showing bits and pieces of the monster at regular intervals. As soon as you catch the first glimpse of the monster's tentacle, you're doomed to keep watching till the very end. The creature is realized with stop-motion effects, which I usually adore and worship, but here in this case they look extremely weak and pitiable. The person responsible for the special effects should have paid more attention to the work of Ray Harryhousen. The death sequences largely occur off-screen and there's very little suspense throughout the whole movie. A horror flick with a setting like this should benefice from claustrophobic atmosphere and unidentifiable sound effects, but "The Strangeness" lacks all this. The biggest trump of the film is unquestionably the beautiful appearance of blond actress Terri Berland. She resembles a speleologist as much as I resemble Mother Theresa, but she surely looks good in her tight white top and beige pants.

willywants A group of explorers surveying an abandoned goldmine are trapped in a cave in, and find themselves at the mercy of a slimy, tentacle-flinnging stop-motion monster. Despite the silly-sounding title, "The strangeness" was one of the better horror films that crawled out in 1985 (well, at least better than Larry Cohen's god awful "The stuff").The monster is pretty interesting-looking beastie, and the clay mation used to bring it to life is excellent. Some of the actors are bad and the film is poorly-light, but it's a very amusing horror film otherwise that when compared to most shoe-string budget horror film succeeds quite well. Recommended!