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Cast: Tom Cameron, Sophie McBride, Oliver Driver, Sam Neill, Matthew Chamberlain, Leon Wadham, Chelsea McEwan-Miller, Michaela Rooney, Gareth Reeves, Madeleine Sami
Teenage twins Rachel (Sophie McBride) and Theo (Tom Cameron) discover the Wilberforces, ancient shape-shifting fiends that live under a ring of extinct volcanoes in Auckland, New Zealand. Now the siblings must revive their special shared powers to destroy the evil creatures. Mysterious Mr. Jones (Sam Neill) and the twins' older cousin Ricky (Leon Wadham) help out.
Under The Mountain is for the most part a family-friendly fantasy film but it can be a bit scary for younger kids so be warned of that. Sam Neill does a terrific job here as an aging wizard-like Fagan. Only he has the ability and know how to help save the world from the evil Gargantua. But it's up to teenage twins Theo and Rachel to use their hidden powers in order the save the world. Newcomers, Tom Cameron and Sophie McBride steal the movie here, they give great performances and have good chemistry together, I have a good feeling we will be hearing a lot more from both of them in the near future. The film deals with the good vs. evil, save the world themes well but it also shows the relationship between the twins which I thought was a nice touch since this is more family-friendly than a lot of other films like it. For an independent film the production values are high, the special effects may not be spectacular but they are impressive and they do a good job enhancing the story that is already in place. Also the scenery of around Auckland, New Zealand is just breath-taking, if it doesn't want you to visit nothing else will. The scenery itself is like a character all it's own. The film's soundtrack is very good and it fits the film very well. A very wholesome family-friendly film with some good suspense and action make this one film everyone is sure to enjoy.
Under The Mountain shows you don't need the big, expensive budgets to make a film that is entertaining. If you like this sort of fantasy/adventure film than I highly recommend picking this one up, I am sure you will have as good a time watching it as I did. The DVD contains special features that include:
Audio Commentary
Making-Of Featurette.
Released by Lions Gate Entertainment/Lightning Entertainment
*** 1/2 Out Of *****