I have to be honest, when a movie that's 'based on' or 'a prequel to' any video game crosses my desk, I cringe a little inside. Because nearly all video game movies are just sad afterthoughts to the game they're based on. Well, after the first 5 minutes of the new Anchor Bay movie, Dante's Inferno, I was glad that I finally put the DVD into the player!

The story here is about Dante, a knight returning from the Crusades. Dante returns to find his beloved, Beatrice, has been slaughtered and, when he finds her near lifeless body, Lucifer appears to collect her soul in payment for a bargain that was struck. Well, being a good knight, Dante can't allow this and pursues Lucifer into Hell itself to save Beatrice.

Each short piece of Dante's Inferno is about a different ring of Hell...there are eight levels of Hell (according to the original Dante) and our hero must fight through each one to get to his beloved and, in the journey, must confront his own sins...sins that have brought him here in the first place. At it's core, Dante's Inferno is a tale of redemption, and, as a movie, I enjoyed it immensely! Not so much that I'd run out to try out the video game, but, if I was a gamer, it wouldn't take me long to grab a copy of the game after seeing this amazing animated movie! I'm giving Dante's Inferno 3 out of 4 cigars, it's not perfect and it's clearly based on a video game, but it's a good story told in a good way and it kept me in my seat right until the end...and, yes, there's a set up for a sequel that will have me interested too! You can find your own layer of Hell by visiting the Anchor Bay Entertainment web page.