Review of In Hell

Van The Man is Back and he just delivers the goods in a different kind of way. I watched HELL (aka In Hell, aka The Savage) yesterday, and i feel much more relieved now. Van Damme had just reached his nadir with DERAILED, and I worried about his next movie efforts. This Ringo Lam vehicle is not bad at all, I mean: competent direction, realistic fights, a surprisingly dark, suffocating atmosphere lingering on, pretty decent acting by Van Damme (whose recent both private and artistic misadventures seem to have helped along a lot); yet the movie, just like any other J.-C. movie, seems to be cliché-bound, but who cares about it anyway? I don' like prison-movies at all, but I must admit that this one, far from being perfect, is pretty entertaining, even a little bit too... angst-ridden Mr. Van D, pleaz, give us just a little smile every now and then