Jonathan Merrick (Wes Bentley, who spent his time videotaping plastic bags blowing in the wind in American Beauty) is a professor at Tremaine University. He is engaged to beautiful opera singer Rowena (Kaitlin Doubleday), whose father George (Michael Madsen) is just as interested in Jonathan's inherited money as in Rowena's happiness. Jonathan seems to have an idyllic life, until he notices a young woman, dressed in black, who seems to be attending all of his classes. Chancellor Burris (veteran actor Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa) tells him that she is a grad student named Ligeia (Sofya Skya). The Chancellor and Ligeia had a previous, adulterous affair, and she uses this to keep from getting expelled due to her unorthodox experiments on the transmigration of souls.

Jonathan is soon sucked in to the whirlwind which is Ligeia's life, casts off his inconvenient fiancée, and marries the exotic foreigner instead. He buys Ligeia's former home in the Ukraine , a sprawling estate which her family lost while she was still a girl. The couple moves to the estate, and Jonathan slowly begins to regret leaving Rowena. Meanwhile, the caretaker Vaslov (Eric Roberts) and his daughter Lorelei (Mackenzie Rosman) begin to suspect that Ligeia is up to no good. When Jonathan finally tells Ligeia that they can no longer be together, she throws herself from a tower and dies. This leaves Jonathan free to get back together with Rowena, who for some reason consents to marry the guy who left her without a thought. But Ligeia is by no means out of the picture entirely. Various supernatural shenanigans ensue.

The big problem with The Tomb is the vast amounts of narrative that it tries to fit into a ninety minute movie. Because of this, important details, such as why exactly Jonathan feels compelled to leave the woman he obviously loves and run away with a woman he barely knows, are merely glossed over. Sure, Ligeia's a nefarious sorceress with sinister powers, but the audience never gets a sense of any struggle on Jonathan's part, or an implacable urge or the ineluctable power of fate or whatever. Like many other plot points, this is rushed over to get on with the story.

There are some good things about the film. A lot of the main cast are veteran actors who know what they're doing and make the best of what they're handed. Madsen and Roberts have relatively small parts, but don't shirk their duties, and Tagawa brings his normal gravitas. The other performers all do a yeoman's job as well. There are times when the film is inventively shot, and the effects, particularly the ghostly souls that Ligeia extracts from her victims, are eerily effective. But the story is too rushed for the viewer to ever invest in the human aspects. Jonathan comes off as a jerk, not a victim, snared by a witch. So why care what happens to him? There's a lack of real connection between the characters, and this detracts significantly from the impact of the film.

The Tomb has a good cast, some neat effects and a potentially interesting story to tell, but ultimately it doesn't click. This one's worth a casual rental, no more.

The DVD

Video:
The image is presented in 1.78:1 widescreen, and has some issues. Aliasing is occasionally visible, and the colors are off at times. Also, the image will occasionally go into slow motion for no apparent reason, though this may be a measure to discourage piracy, as this review is based on a check disc. Since this review is based on a check disc, no comment can be made on the quality of the final product.

Sound:
The sound is in Dolby digital 2 channel, and has no big issues. Dialogue is always clearly audible, and no hiss or other problem can be heard. No subtitles are included (except for during foreign language exchanges), and no alternate language tracks are available. However, this review is based on a check disc, so no comment can be made on the quality of the final product.

Extras:
No extras are included on the disc. However, this review is based on a check disc, so no comment can be made on the quality or quantity of extras on the final product.

Final Thoughts:
The Tomb has a lot of the ingredients necessary for a great gothic horror film: talented actors, a dark and moody look, cool effects, a story cribbed from a master of the macabre. But the human elements don't quite work, and this causes the film to stumble. Events feel rushed, and the viewer is never able to establish empathy with the characters. In the end, The Tomb is a bit disappointing.