Open Graves   Starring: Eliza Dushku and Mike Vogel Icon Home Entertainment RRP: £15.99 ICON10193 Certificate: 15 Available 15 February 2010

Jason, an American student working in Northern Spain, is wandering through a market when he happens across a little shop of macabre curiosities. Supposedly in apology for his rudeness, the owner offers him, free of charge, a small chest containing a game called Mamba, which is said to have been constructed using the skin, bones and blood of a witch executed during the Spanish Inquisition. Skeptical, but curious, Jason brings out the game during a rained-off party. Inviting Erica, an American girl he has just met, and a bunch of Spanish friends, they sit down and begin the board game. There are many death cards, which cryptically describe the manner of your passing, but the winner gets his or her heart's desire. The first person out of the game drives off for more beer, and the next thing the players know the police are at the door breaking the new of his death. They stop the game, unfinished, but others have received death cards, and Jason is compelled to play the game again in an attempt to reverse events...

If you imagine the Jumanji concept of a living game and cross it with the Final Destination idea of death catching up with you, you won't be a million miles away from the plot.

The main attraction here is Eliza Dushku of Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Dollhouse fame. She has definite screen presence, but her character isn't really directed to do that much, aside from in the dramatic final scene. It's an enjoyable viewing experience though, and well-crafted for what amounts to a modest little flick.

I particularly liked the game itself, with its seemingly ancient pieces and cards depicting the manner of death, along with Wings of Heaven 'safe' spaces. However, anyone who is used to the horror genre will have guessed the ending the moment the rules of the game are made clear. Without giving it away, let me just say that countless films in the past should have taught us to be very careful with our wishes.

Also, the enigma of the two guardians, one which tells the truth and the other which lies, has been utilised several times - most notably perhaps in Pyramids of Mars, the 1970s Doctor Who story starring Tom Baker. But it's logical to assume that a new and younger audience might not have seen these situations, so it's only fair to give them a little more mileage. Enjoy.

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Ty Power