The idea of Russian slasher movies sounds superb; they do creepy very well and Hollywood always paints them as the bad guys so we were kind of expecting something awesome. But what they have presented us with is something that is just… diabolical.

The film follows a motley crew of criminals who rob a bank and escape into the tunnels with some hostages. Upon entering one of the bank robbers tells a ghost story about survivors of the Chernobyl disaster. They were experimented on and only one survived; he killed all his doctors and escaped into the tunnels. He now roams around looking for victims. They find out the guy they were meant to be meeting is now one of Trackman’s victim and none of them know how to get out (what stupid planning! They should have one other person know the route, at very least). This pathetic lack of foresight culminates in the characters getting picked off one by one by this “trackman” fellow and their eyes are gouged out.

This was very promising before it was watched. The poster is suitably slasher-esque, the trailer looks petrifying and the villain is quite good; if only it was executed well. There is no attempt at character development at all in the entire film. None. We have our three criminals and our three hostages; none seem to have any backstory, they are just thrust into this absurd situation and we’re meant to care? Doesn’t work like that, mate.

The women just sob incessantly the whole way through. Every time you think you’re going to get a break they just start up again; please shut up, you are not helping! The result of this is that when Trackman is hot on their tails instead of a twang of empathy or sadness there’s a feeling of elation because we may no longer have to listen to that stupid woman cry all the time.

So with a very tenuous grip on a plot and no character development what are we meant to look for in a slasher? That’s right, gore. Show us the gore… No?! Why the hell not?! There are gory scenes, don’t get me wrong (a guy with his eyes gouged out and blood streaming from his mouth as he speaks is one instance that sticks out in my mind) but it is all dead bodies and the like; there are no action sequences. Every time you think there’s one coming it goes dark, well I guess they are in a tunnel but it is also a slasher therefore you must include something!

Saying all that we must give kudos where kudos are due; Trackman looks cool. His costume is fantastic and he perfectly straddles the line of supernatural and human. He is a good villain. But, alas, that alone is not enough to make this film bearable. Do yourself a favour and skip it.