|
|
Below
Posted On 03/30/2007 17:39:14 by DrBlood
|
From Amazon: "In the dark silence of the sea during World War II, the
submarine U.S.S. Tiger Shark prowls on what should be a routine rescue
mission. But for the shell-shocked crew, trapped together in the sub's
narrow corridors and constricted spaces, this is about to become a
journey into the sensory delusions, mental deceptions and runaway fear
that lurk just below the surface of the ocean and deep inside the human
psyche."
Ignore that hyperbole, "Below" is just a predictable ghost story set on a WW2 submarine.
I
enjoyed it in places because it reminded me of the true ghost story
(that scared me when I first read it in the 1974 Lion annual) about the
German u-boat ub-65. You can read the story here.
But,
it wasn't really as scary as that story and relied a bit too heavily on
CGI for my liking. Even the submarine itself was just CGI. It was well
done but you can always tell. Experts have noted that the submarine
itself is too big for the time period. I have no idea about such things
myself and don't think it matters all that much.
A
submarine full of men doesn't really do a lot for me anyway. I didn't
really fancy Olivia Williams as "Claire" the doctor (though in real
life I think I might) and I hate the sight of Dexter Fletcher in
anything. At least he did his own accent this time and didn't try to do
a fake American one again like so many of the rest of the cast. They
are all established actors in film so, for once, I don't have to worry
about mentioning their acting ability. Oh, go on then, I will... They
were about as average as could be expected with the subject matter but
were no worse than a typical episode of "Eastenders". The whole thing
reeks of expensive "made for tv movie" though.
The story was
quite entertaining, the camerawork and sound were really good, but I
started to get bored with it towards the end. The film just didn't
sustain tension or excitement long enough to be described as "tense" or
"exciting" although there were one or two good moments. It wasn't
particularly gory either apart from some gruesome aftermath scenes.
I'll
give it 4 out of 10 for being a little bit different to the usual
ghostie films I watch but it just wasn't scary enough to make it into
the Video Vault.
|
|
|
|
