The movie starts with the setup we've all seen a billion times before: Some guys. Are annoying. Horny. Some girls. Are annoying. Horny. Have party. Drink. Try to sex. Good times. Then suddenly... an earthquake!

The tone shifts drastically and the world around them goes to hell in a hand-basket real quick. Decimated architecture, riots in the streets, prisoners escaping, warnings of an incoming tsunami, every man for himself, and no one is safe. Anyone can meet their untimely end when you least expect it, just like a real life disaster.

This may sound like an intense and nihilistic experience, but beneath the surface, the film sticks to the usual horror movie rules and holds back too much to be a truly effective shocker. In other words, it feels too "Hollywoodized". There's also a dumb twist towards the end. Even still, there's just enough carnage here to satisfy undemanding lovers of cinematic slime. A natural disaster movie that puts most of it's focus on animalistic human behavior rather than the flashy special effects could, and should, have been a lot better.

This film had a 10mil budget? Then why are they just shaking the camera back and fourth to create the shake? - OK maybe that's not what they're doing but the quake was really poorly done. The characters are total A-Holes so best just to watch from when they're all put in grave danger, makes the characters more sympathetic...doesn't improve the acting though. Surprisingly it got better as it went on, with more gore, characters dying off in tragic ways, then the end - I'm fine with that - hahahhaha I'm free - wahhh oh my sister and friends are dead - Here's a tsunami to cheer you up so you can join them...excuse me while I try to run away from the tsunami with a messed up ankle. *Screen fades to black* AFTERSHOCK!!!

A bunch of tourists are in Chile to party, but when an earthquake hits the city, they need to fight for survival, not only against the natural disaster, but also against criminals who seized the opportunity to escape from prison.

I would have rated 'Aftershock' higher than 6 of 10 if it wasn't for the boring first 30 minutes. We get introduced to characters who are so dumb that we really wouldn't care if they all get buried by the earthquake. This lengthy introduction turns out to be a waste of time, anyway, because some of them are killed off early, while other characters who are more important for the movie get 3 seconds of back story ('Trust me, I'm a firefighter').

However, after the quake it gets thrilling, violent, suspenseful with a lot of action, which made the movie worth watching after all. I was not surprised to learn in the making of (watched on DVD) that several of the makers of 'Aftershock' have previous experience in comedy rather than horror, it's the timing of some scenes that tells it. For example the lady who shows the tunnel and then makes the mistake to stick her head first - that's the 'oops' timing of a comedy, not a horror movie. But it works and makes the movie more original. Also the background with a catastrophe that destroys the usual human behaviour so quickly is believable. Not too bad after all, but I recommend to press fast forward at the beginning.