Below--Horror Beneath the Waves

Directed by David Twohy

Written by Lucas Sussman Darren Aronofsky

Cast Chuck Ellsworth Crispin Layfield Holt McCallany Bruce Greenwood Matt Davis Jonathan Hartman Dexter Fletcher Olivia Williams Scott Foley Nick Chinlund

R 98 Min

www.belowthemovie.com

They called it The Greatest Generation.

The motley collection of men from all branches of society--farm boys from Dubuque mingling in with street kids and petty criminals from the Five Boroughs--that brought liberty to a world on the brink of tyranny.

Agree or disagree with the war itself, we know that the boys Over There faced horrors unlike anything most have ever known. And when Hollywood intermingles in the history, the horrors can be amplified beyond the pale.

Below is one example of this augmentation.

Below, from Dimension Films, is the story of the USS Tiger Shark, a submarine patrolling the Pacific Ocean in 1943, probably not too long after Pearl Harbor. They receive orders to rescue some survivors of an attacked hospital ship in the midst of the Pacific. While effecting the rescue, the Tiger Shark is intercepted by a warship.

All is not well for the Tiger Shark...from the moment they rescue the survivors, the remainder of their cruise takes on a sinister turn as Murphy enforces his Law; everything that can go wrong does. From record players playing at inopportune times seemingly of their own volition, to ghostly warnings sounded in the middle of the night, spoken by corpses in voices that don't match the ones they died with, the Tiger Shark looks more and more like a jinxed cruise.

The Tiger Shark's cruise grows increasingly more frightening as the ghosts of the Tiger Shark's checkered past come back to haunt its current crew. Crewmen die by the life boat-full, and we discover steadily more about what just what had been going on on board the Tiger Shark.

The ending is also surprising--an excellent wrap-up of the events and a thrilling conclusion with a battle on the narrow deck of a submarine above water in heavy storms. Look also for a surprise twist in the last thirty seconds that should really impress.

I was impressed. By the ending, and by the film at large.

Below is packed with impressive visuals and a quality plotline. While I'm generally impressed with World War Two pictures on general principles, and that I haven't found a bad one yet, Below manages to kick it up a notch by introducing some horrific elements and really adding something to the genre. There are some truly excellent effects in Below--both visual and audio effects--that really augment the unsettling environment. And of course, the environment is unsettling enough as it is. A submarine is the one of the potentially most frightening settings there is. It's enclosed, it's cramped...

Go To Page: 1 2