The Lair

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.

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.

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.

The motion picture displays frantic action, suspense , terror with claustrophobic touches and is pretty entertaining . This is a gripping , exciting , high-octane nightmare of the worse scenario with terrible monsters stalking a soldiers team . Nail-bitIng science fiction/thriller picture that packs action-packed from start to finish . It deals with a Royal Air Force pilot Lt. Kate Sinclair (Charlotte Kirk) who's shot down over Afghanistan, she finds refuge in an abandoned underground bunker where deadly man-made biological weapons - half human, half alien - are awakened. Later on , she meets a group of isolated soldiers : Major Roy Finch (Jamie Bamber) , Sgt. Tom Hook (Jonathan Howard) , Sgt. Oswald Jones (Leon Ockenden) , Corp. Kip Wilks (Mark Strepan) , Trooper Vince Hughes (Harry Taurasi) , among others. Unlocked !. Unleashed !. When They Rise We Will Fall !.

Moving and extremely violent movie with plenty of chills , thrills , amazing makeup work , and resulting to be entertaining enough . Action movie told in terms of Afghan warfare in which a misfit and motley bunch formed by peculiar roles battle malicious and ominious supernatural forces . The plot is plain and simple, as an expert squadron has to confront extraterrestrial/human enemies and things go wrong , of course . As the screenwriter provided a well-knit plot with mystery and horror, giving full rein to Neil Marshall natural talent for the terror and action genre . The theme of people being stranded in a hostile, perilous environment with weird attackers creatures is justly reminiscent of former films , such as " Predator" by John McTiernan and "Dog Soldiers" by Neil Marshall himself . The film displays an acceptable and passable story, but it is neither notable nor extraordinary, just decent . We have already seen the story several times before and better told, it is full of cliches and already known as well as predictable situations . The ending part is particularly exciting and suspenseful , though it makes not great sense . The result is throughly violent but undenieably thrilling action movie with a decent cast headed by Charlotte Kirk (who produced and wrote as well) as the relentless , tough heroine . And Jamie Bamber as the official one-eyed, along with a remaining cast of not very well-known actors, such as : Jonathan Howard , Leon Ockenden , Harry Taurasi , Mark Strepan , Adam Bond , Alex Morgan , among others.

Containing a musical score fitting to action by composer Christopher Drake and appropriate cinematography by cameraman Luke Bryant . The motion picture was professionally written/directed by Neil Marshall with splendid visual style but with no originally because he has copied former films . Director Marshall fuses the fabulous imagination by means of several monsters and the irreverent wit and comic-book action. Neal Marshall is an expert on action , Sci-fi and terrror genre , such as : ¨Descent" , "Dog soldiers" , "Centurion" , "Doomsday", "Tales of Halloween¨, and ¨The reckoning¨ who also starred/produced Charlotte Kirk . And he has directed episodes of notorious TV series as ¨Constantine" , "Game of thrones", "Timeless", "Hannibal" , "Westworld", "Lost in space¨. Rating 5.5/10 . Passable and acceptable recounting.

The movie opens with RAF pilot Kate Sinclair and her nameless WSO being shot down over Afghanistan somewhere. They are attacked by the Taliban (maybe). Her WSO is killed and she is forced to take refuge in a Soviet bunker that looks a lot like a buried cargo container. Once inside, she finds the plot of the movie.

This is a solidly middle of the road action horror movie. The creature costumes are pretty good for a low budget movie but the CGI blood is pretty bad. I will have to say that Jaimie Barber did a good job since I didn't even recognize him until about an hour into the movie. The rest is the cast is mostly pretty decent. The main exception is the female lead. She's very pretty but not much of an actor. I didn't believe for a second that she was an RAF pilot or even British for that matter. The action scenes are pretty well done and entertaining. The plot is mostly a pile of various tropes cliches but it's serviceable.

If you want an action horror movie where the characters fight monsters, this one is perfectly okay. It's not great but I have seen far worse.