Trackman (2007)

Thieves remove money and three hostages from a Russian bank, take it to a labyrinthine underground subway system of tunnels where their mastermind is supposed to be waiting since he understands where the exit is. What the three bank robbers don't expect is a psycho wielding a pickax with a penchant for removing eyeballs as keepsakes! The film highlights Grom(Dmitri Orlov)as the most level-headed humane figure among the thieves who soon becomes leader of their motley frightened group hoping to set some sort of trap for the killer, but his problem is that only the "trackman" understands his way around the underground maze. Kostya(Tomas Motskus)and his partner were responsible for this seemingly perfect plan of snatch-grab-hide-and-escape not knowing that there would be a major set-back awaiting them in the tunnels. Kostya and his pal had planned on keeping the loot for themselves which, in a wicked twist of fate, is spoiled thanks to their choice of location.The killer wears an eerie pair of goggles over a ski-mask, heavy overcoat and pants, carrying not only his trusty pick-ax but an eye-removing device as well(..one of those nasty kind of creations obviously designed and made by his own mind and hands). Director Igor Shavlak often shoots the trackman in ominous ways and really exploits the dread of our characters' situation thanks in part to the choice of location. The ancient abandoned underground subway tunnels make an ideal choice for an atmospheric hunting ground for a killer, and the perilous situation our characters find themselves in works in the film's favor. The idea that the killer knows the method of travel and escape in the tunnels as the others attempt various ways to escape heightens the suspense even though slasher fans have seen this all before. Director Shavlak mostly pulls his punches, not really elaborating on the attacks with great detail, disguising the pick-ax violence(..and eyeball extracting)through cunning camera-movements and editing. What is a constant, a certain success, is that the location, claustrophobic and unsettling, where light is privilege the characters often lack and their cold breath is always visible, works it's hold over you..you would certainly not want to be caught in this environment with a killer who knows where every nook and cranny is of the place. Unlike a great number of films in the slasher genre, the identity of the killer is of no great importance to the plot as a whole. He's a warped and dangerous psychopath who constantly threatens those he pursues. Guns are used in ways which shape the outcome of certain characters' lives thanks to a killer who hides and moves well in the dark patches of the place with fear often separating them. One robber, who decides that there's no way in hell the killer would get his trophy, slashes his own eyes with a blade. We do witness an eyeball being pried away from the socket, but it's rather brief. I think the novelty of this being a Russian slasher might catch on with fans of the genre, while others will find it just another average entry in the ever-growing cycle of films regarding a serial killer chasing his prey.

A splendid movie, in which a couple of Russians end up in a abandoned subway system beneath the streets of Moscow. Before you know it, a freak (mentally and physically challenged one) is poking their eyeballs out with an eyeball.... poking....thingy... Even though they're all armed to the teeth, almost all of them, somehow managed to die. In the end Grom(some Russian fellow) and Katja(Some Russian bimbo) Surprisingly managed to kill the mentally and physically challenged freak and escape on a motor bike. A THRILLING conclusion to a great, twisted, filled with metaphor and eyeballs masterpiece of a movie. A MUST SEE!(if you happen to have an unpoked set of eyes) P.S. I think it would have been a tiny bit better if the guy shoved the eyeballs in his rectum while making the following sound: "Hargh!" Thank you and good night. Sincerely,The eyeball

Well, our robbers had a fine plan escaping the bank except for the killer being in the abandoned metro system. Now they have to survive, managing 2 hostages, 1 cop and maybe treachery inside the team.It was not as bad as I thought. Clearly, Igor Shavlak has a good team to work with and the movie has a peculiar feeling (image and sound speaking). It's a technical demo explaining that Russian directors can do as well as American ones.Too bad they forgot something to make the story interesting. Despite its short playtime (1 h 20 min), there is no really anything going on. The killer is not inventive and not manipulative (though the place suggested a nice "cat & mice" game) enough. The movie has a really good scene at the end when the last two survivors are followed by the killer and finally interact. It should have been this all along the movie to be really enjoyable.If "old nightmares have a new face" as it is written on the poster, it sure reminds other movies: Silent Hill, Jeepers Creepers, Descent. Not a bad basis to work on but as I said before it lacks the originality.With a good plot though, I'm sure that Scavlak and his team can make a fine movie to watch.

Trackman could as well be an American movie if you replace the Russian cliché actors with their Hollywood clichés. The whole thing is pretty much ripped from other movies and stretched to the limit. It starts in a pretty modern way where 2 bank robbers make their plan in a McDonalds, time switching to the later bank robbery and back. Although I liked the beginning of the movie it seemed a unnatural and like the director begging to be different. Anyway, we've seen this... although not in a horror movie. So what next... After the robbery fails they take hostages and hide... oh yeah .... in an old abandoned metro tunnel system under a junkyard. You can guess whats coming from that point. Now you got 4 gangsters and 3 hostages to go for a killer who lives down there and has a strange interest in his victims eyes. The whole thing makes absolutely no sense... so the typical comment of one gangster "Did you hear the tale of a mutated maniac living down here" is totally nullified with the ending which is trying to give an endless 80 slasher-minutes some meaning and fails miserably because it makes absolutely no sense with a killer having his eyeball-collection office installed down there. If the movie sticked to its slasher basics maybe it could have succeeded with the eerie atmosphere in the tunnels but still most of the time nothing is happening and the eeriness wears off after seeing dark empty tunnels with something moving far away for the 100th time. The kills are boring, the acting not too convincing and the back story seems too constructed trying to get out of its genre barriers but stumbling across its many plot holes. If you like dark empty tunnels and pickaxe-murders with wielding goggles mixed in with some real annoying modern editing and action-elements thrown in... go ahead. I guess the ending will ruin it even for you... the escape sequence on the motorcycle is beyond laughable.