The Lair

It is exactly what I expected. You know that a lot of the soldiers are fodder. And. That is okay. Good action sequences. Great creature effects. Not sure why there are so many negative reviews. It's a great time killer. And. As long as you know what your in for. You'll like it. Paced nicely. Good character development. If you like monster movies with practical effects. You'll enjoy this. Turn your brain off, to some extent. Has a few jump moments. Nothing major. The actors did a good job with the material they were given. Would love to see the material expanded upon. A sequel or prequel would be nice.

Unfortunately, the saddening downhill slope of Neil Marshall, author of such cool flicks as The Descent, Dog Soldiers and Centurion, continues, with the last three being lackluster Hellboy remake (5/10), disappointing historical horror The Reckoning (5/10) and now this, a flat, murky B creature feature with more cliché's than one can count.

. The set-up, story and conclusion, or pretty much everything, is by-the-numbers, run-down-the-mill B actioneer that also can't decide if it wants to be a horror movie or action comedy. We have an army base, a secret soviet (not nazi?!) bunker, cardboard soldiers throwing an overwhelming amount of weak one-liners, and a depthless, tired protagonist, and, of course, some monsters craving a fight with humans. About the only really decent factor of "The Lair" are the special effects, although used in abundance and leaving a taste for more. Acting wise I can only commend Hadi Khanjanpour, the Afghan prisoner on the road to being a badass, and having the only character with any sort of arc. Rest of the cast are having a lazy sunday stroll. There's a grain of an interesting horror movie idea in "The Lair", but it's all lost in a weak script and flat direction. "The Lair" gets dull and mindless already 10 minutes into it, and struggles to build any tension during the next 80, and whatever tension there might've been, is destroyed by frequent tiresome comedy.

. There really isn't much to say about this forgettable suBpar action horror film, the most fun you'll have is if you crack t least a couple beers and have some company, other than that, pass on this one, even if you love creature features. My rating: 4/10.

Soldiers fighting genetically engineered slimy creatures - it's a kind of mix between John Rambo's mission in Afghanistan with the second Alien movie. From the director of "Dog Soldiers" and "Doomsday", another monster flick which is decently entertaining. Funny enough, for Neil Marshall's previous "The Reckoning", I had high expectations and was a little disappointed. For "The Lair", exactly the opposite: I didn't expect much, but was actually pleased.

The movie is obviously influenced by the mercenary and sci-fi flicks of the 80s and 90s, and well constructed in three acts at 30 mins each. Act 1, the bunker is discovered. Will the army take heed of the warning of an unknown enemy? Act 2, battle at night with the creatures, then more information is gathered, from obduction of a creature's body to unexpected help from a local guy. Act 3, trying to stop the invasion from below. Because also Taliban forces attack, really an action-packed situation. The movie has a few weaknesses, some characters remain shallow as cardboard, some scenes are "we've seen it all before", but it was fun.

The trailer was really misleading b/c a lot of the scenes went by too quickly. But when you actually watch this film, you realize it is really a low budget film. And that is a shame because it could've been a great blockbuster.

The story is pretty average and predictable, but that's alright as these type of films we're looking for action and scare. The lack of budget made it look a bit cheese feel which really ruined it right from the start. However, again if they could do it well in the trailer, I still think much of this is through the camera work.

What am I talking about? In some scenes of the monster close up, you can tell they spent a lot of money on the CGI and effects to make it look real, these are in the trailer. However, many scenes of the monster from afar, which are mostly action scenes, you can totally tell it is some guy in a cheap rubber suit. Yeah... it's that bad.

A lot of the explosion effects were really good, which again makes me wonder perhaps they spent the money in the wrong area of the film. Overall a good one time watch with friends but treat it like any other cheesy low budget B movie and you'll get a night of fun with your friends. Keep your expectations low.

5/10.

But by his high standards, I think he would want to forget he directed this film. Having seen his The Descent(2005) and the rave reviews it got, I was excited to see this new offering. But Neil Marshall himself payed homage to movies like Alien, Aliens and Resident Evil in this one. The music is also derived from these. I was chuckling as I heard those familiar tunes from movies seen ages ago...

This movie is about a crash landed Royal Air Force pilot Lt. Kate Sinclair(Charlotte Kirk), who steps into an underground facility when she is ambushed by rebels defending the area. Inside the underground facility she discovers the terrifying truth about a secret government experiment gone wrong. Afterward when she is rescued by an American task force she warns them about what she had seen but by then it is too late... Watch the film to see what happens next.

Only fans of Neil Marshall movies should see this. Other than that there is nothing worth mentioning about this one. Charlotte Kirk produced this film as well so I'm mystified as to how much was invested into the special-effects department. Obviously nothing went right for Neil. On top of this some lousy acting to boot from all involved. I won't be surprised if this movie ends up in public domain, free for all to watch. It's that bad.

Thanks for taking the time to read this review.