I guess I'm the lone dissenter here because I really enjoyed this film. Perhaps my enjoyment of it has something to do with having just seen, a few days before, Kate Bush perform live and turn into a bird at the end of the concert. Nevertheless, I truly enjoyed this film which really came off as more of a retelling of a legend, fairy tale, or bit of folklore than what I presume others expected coming from the director of TOURIST TRAP (another favorite.) Have to say that this might be a case where, having only seen one other work by the director of this film, I really had no expectations of this piece; and, I feel I was able to watch it unencumbered.I watch a lot of horror films from all decades--or, I should say, I'm catching up on a lot of them--while working; but, this one actually made me pause in my work and watch it because I was enjoying it and wanted to be engaged with it.What didn't I like? Well, I wish Anjanette Comer had more screen time. Fell in love with her in THE LOVED ONE and adored her in THE BABY, so I wanted more Comer on screen (And didn't her character in NETHERWORLD say, at one point, "I want to save my son?" or something like that, regarding Corey?) Also, I wanted to know more of the background story of, for lack of a better term, the Bird People. Same is true of the flying Hand with one finger having a viper's head and the palm marked with an eye drawn after those found on representations of the human head from ancient Egypt.But, have to say, it's the fact that I didn't have a back story on the Bird People that added to the mystery of this film. I like movies that make me pause and wonder; and, this one made me pause and wonder quite a bit. I'll end by saying that I would recommend this film; and, though no masterpiece, it flew above and beyond my expectations.

I have seen this DVD so many times and last I've seen it cheap so I thought, looks nice. And I remember it being analyzed in an old Fangoria which looks nice. But did I regret it that I bought it. Nothing really happens at all, except a lot of birds you see and I mean real birds. Denise Gentile, playing the main lead is a nice and beautiful girl to watch and I guess that was the main attraction. There is a hand flying around, reminded me of Phantasm. But take a look when it was made. 1992, really a period when horror was not done and on his lowest as it can get. This shows why. There is maybe just 5 minutes of horror in it, the rest is blah blah and seducing each other. Okay, there is a bit of nudity in it but it is all too late. And then there is the score coming right out a cheap porn flick, just even look at the guys playing at a bayou club. One song is played entirely while both main characters are trying to make love. Let's hope that the real netherworld does deliver...I should have known it being a Full Moon (Charles Band!) release.

NETHERWORLD, a Full Moon picture set in the Louisiana swamps, successfully delivers a Gothic atmosphere filled with lush vegetation, isolated manor homes, and brothels operated by voodoo sorceresses. However, thanks to a hopelessly cheesy script, the film never transcends its early-90s low-budget roots.The plot concerns a Corey Thornton, a dashing young man who has just inherited a vast estate from the father he never knew in life. While combing through the deceased's papers, he discovers that his father's last wish was to be brought back from the dead. Corey becomes obsessed with this task and seeks help from those around him: Bijou (the slobbering neighborhood idiot-savant), Diane (Southern-fried "jailbait" who actually looks to be about 25 years old), his father's lawyer (who has mysteriously deformed hands), and of course Delores (a prostitute with big hair and mystical powers).The action alternates between Corey's manor house and Tonk's, the brothel-next-door, where all the girls are named after dead celebrities...or have Marilyn Monroe and Mary Magdalene really been resurrected?! The band plays smooth jazz as passions rise and Delores casts sultry glances at everyone. Then things get weird. A hand flies out of the wall and starts killing people, whose souls become trapped inside the bodies of birds. A bird which is clearly a hand puppet screams "NEVERRRRRR!" We finally descend to the Netherworld, where the forces of evil fight for control of Corey's mind in a scene that will leave you wondering, "Oh...that was the climax?" All in all, Netherworld is a good bit of entertainment which never gets boring; however, one can't shake the feeling that if slightly more money and effort had been put into it, it could have been good instead of just adequate.

Other reviewers were right on the mark - it had promise and atmosphere, but really went nowhere. I recall one genre reviewer dismissing one Full Moon release as "another talkfest" and I have to agree - their scripts and sometimes the direction just weren't well paced and seem padded out. However, you have to at least watch the end credits for an in-joke that you'll get if you didn't fall asleep. It was the best laugh I had that day.