User reviews

First off, "The Bunker" is not your normal monster/horror movie. The cover art on the box is great, it's a real attention getter but unfortunately misleads the viewer about the content of the film. The Bunker is about a group of Germans during WWII in an anti tank bunker connected to underground tunnels. The movie does not show any monsters or zombies. The soldiers go through a psychological breakdown as different events happen to them. The fears they face may be real, supernatural, or entirely in their own minds. It's up to the viewer to decide. If you're looking for a monster movie, I would not choose "The Bunker". It's more of a psychological thriller. What I really liked about the film was the whole sense of fear and the great eerie atmosphere within the bunker. The acting as well as the directing was very good. The characters and dialogue were done well. As always there will be some that don't like the fact that the Germans all had British accents. If it were an American film they would have American accents. You could say the same if it were Italian, French etc, big deal, so what! To be completely authentic they would have to speak German. Forget about the accents, it's' trivial. What ever you do if you watch this movie is pay attention. It's all in the details. You don't want to miss a moment. You could easily get lost and confused. I personally didn't care that much for the plot. Someone else may. That's all opinion. It sure was interesting though. It certainly is a film I don't think I'll forget.

In 1944, in the Belgian – German border, seven German soldiers survive an American attack in the front and lock themselves in a bunker to protect the position. Under siege by the enemy and with little ammunition, they decide to explore underground tunnels to seek supplies and find an escape route. While in the tunnel, weird things happen with the group.

I have recently seen the South Korean movie "R-Point" (2004), which efficiently explores the idea of "The Bunker" – scary and ambiguous journey to hell of the innermost fear of a group of soldiers, in an intelligent screenplay. Now I find that "The Bunker" is a 2001 movie, which has the originally of the concept, but unfortunately the confused screenplay does not work well. The acting is good, but the development of the plot could be better and better. For those viewers that also find that something is missing in the story, I strongly suggest seeing "R-Point" for comparison of what "The Bunker" could have been with some improvements. My vote is five.

Title (Brazil): "The Bunker – Em Guerra Contra o Medo" ("The Bunker – In War against the Fear")

This movie is one I'd recommend to anyone. Even though the character development is slow, the acting is wonderful. It is so seldom to see a movie which focusses on the "other side" such as Nazi Germany or Imperial Japan. We are so used to looking at them as the enemy, its somewhat refreshing to see the enemy footsoldier's P.O.V. Looking toward U.S. soldiers as the horrific enemy, showing how their troops feared American troops is interesting.

Granted this movie could have been shot better, I am satisfied with its quality. This is a British Independent Film, so I was not expecting brilliant acting or amazing special effects. I was however, surprised with the outcome.

While the movie fails to produce a real "scare factor" quality, it does provide an adequate thriller/mystery feel, and I enjoyed it.

We are on the German/Belgian border in 1944 and a group of German soldiers are holed up in a bunker trying to survive. But just as they find a tunnel system underneath the bunker, and the enemies outside are closing in, they suspect that something very sinister is down there with them......

One of the most frustrating British films I have watched in a very long time. You see there is a real great movie at its core, one that is desperately trying to get out, but instead of a top notch eerie thriller we get something that looks like a chopped together homage to John Carpenter. Definite shades of Carpenter's chiller, The Fog, and Russell Currie's great and creepy score sounding suspiciously like a reworking of Morricone's scoring for The Thing. The production is not helped by using an array of non German actors for this German soldier based picture. Much as i like Jason Flemying and Christopher Fairbank {my reasons for watching this film}, it's a bit of a stretch to accept them as German soldiers.

With a better director than Rob Green at the helm, Clive Dawson's story could have been fully realised as a serious and dramatic horror film. Instead the end product comes off as something that was too big a task to handle, and sadly the nicely tuned atmosphere is lost amongst the insipid and unimaginative cop out that the film invariably is. 3/10

A group of German soldiers find refuge into an isolated bunker during the final months of WWII. They are escaping the advancing US army, and they are sharing a terrible secret (that will be revealed to the spectators only in the final minutes of the movie). Inside the bunker and in the tunnels below it, they will find their worst fears and nightmares materializing, the ghosts of war coming to get them. Without any special effects, director Rob Green manages to make a scary movie, played almost totally on the inner fears of humans caught in something bigger than any of us, into the darkness of the human minds, capable to create such a war. So, if you are an horror fan, waiting for slimy creatures or tentacled nightmares to come out of the cave, beware of this movie. But if you are a real horror movie fan, searching for the atmosphere that a good horror movie can manage without the use of any particular effect, you are for a big surprise in this little, misguided gem of an independent movie. Two thumbs up!!

yes. part of me desperately wanted a monster to come flying out of the woodwork, all teeth and claws and shredding horror. but in the end, what i got was an intriguing psychological horror film about the madness of humanity and the splits that occur both in social groups and in the mental structure of individuals. the first 65 minutes are a fairly hard slug, i didnt think it would make it at first. there was just too much build up for them ever to be able to actually pull it off. but they did, and how did they do it? understatment, simplicity. some people here have stated they were confused. yes it is somewhat confusing, there are some plots points that are a little fuzzy which dont help, but for the most part, the confusion comes from the very fact that the characters themselves are confused. the audidence isnt allowed to sit comfortably on the sidelines and get away without thinking about what is going on. there is an awful lot left unsaid in the film which is implied. and in the end it all boils down into a destruction of the most horrifying and realistic type. most people wont care for it. most people wont get it. but for those who do, they will remember this film, for managing to get under their skins and do something original with a worn out plot.

The basic idea of this movie was good, but the end result is seriously flawed. The first, and most obvious, problem is that they chose to have german soldiers played by actors who mostly wouldn't even try to sound even vaguely german, and I never got past the point of wondering why all these english people were running around in german uniforms: this problem should have been obvious before they shot the movie and could easily have been worked around... why not make them english paratroopers stuck behind enemy lines, or something?

Beyond that, the script was confused, the ending where they finally revealed the hideous crime the soldiers were being punished for was a major letdown, and the characters were mostly so undeveloped and indistinguishable that I couldn't keep track of who was who: in a horror movie you're supposed to watch thinking "Oh no, don't let *them* get killed!", so it doesn't really work when you're thinking instead "Hang on, who was it who got killed just then? Oh, it was him, didn't he get killed ten minutes ago? No, can't have, so who was that who got killed back then? Oh, must have been that other bloke."

I'd still give it a 4 or 5 out of ten, but it's a shame they didn't spend the time fixing the script to produce a movie as good as the idea which inspired it. The biggest problem by far with British movies is that they forget that the script is the most important part of any movie, and rush off to shoot it before spending enough time getting it right. Why make a bad movie when for the sake of another month polishing the script you could make a good one?

I've started to watch this on a few different occasions, but for whatever reason I've never gotten the whole way through. Until tonight that is, and I wish I hadn't put it off so long! Though it moves at a very slow pace, it's worth it in the end. There are some very tense and creepy scenes, especially once the soldiers begin to lose their grip on sanity near the end of the film. I do have some gripes with the movie however. First off, I cant quite fathom why a battalion of German soldiers all has British accents. Sure, the actors were good and everything, but you think they would have at least tried to sound German, eh? That aside however, this is a surprisingly tense and atmospheric horror film. Any worries that I may have had about Rob Green directing the Dog Soldiers sequel are officially washed away.

7.5/10

An atmospheric thriller that works right up to when everything is revealed. When the film maintains its balance of "is it ghosts or is it paranoia?" the movie works. The claustrophic confines are used well, and the film is a fast mover. It's a slick thriller, with a terrific class, and I for one am I glad that a movie has stopped trying to convince us its actors, despite speaking all English, are "foreign" by using some fake foreign accent. Why does Harrison Ford, when he's speaking completely in English, using a "Russian" accent in "K19"? Beats me. It doesn't make sense, especially when we KNOW they're supposed to be speaking in their character's native tongue. We GET IT. There's no need to make your actors do dumb fakey accents.

I heard about THE BUNKER as soon as it came out ( Being a British movie it would have received far more publicity here than it did in America ) and it seemed to split the critics right down the middle . Some people thought it was a great and atmospheric horror movie while others thought it was a confused cross genre story . Some critics thought it was a good idea to let the cast talk in their native accents while others were puzzled why a bunch of British soldiers are wearing German uniforms fighting against the Americans !

I don't have any problems with the British accents and idioms such as pronouncing the rank of Leutnant as " Left-ten-ant " but I do have a problem trying to identify with the characters . They're Germans from the mid 1940s , they're " the enemy " and even though they're doing a soldier's duty the audience can't think of them as anything but bad guys . It's the same with the very similar THE KEEP where the audience wonder who they're supposed to be rooting for . Perhaps if the characters were Volkstrum protecting Germany from the Red Army this aspect could have worked better but as it stands it's difficult to feel sorry for the characters . Incidentally aren't the surnames Franke and Engels of Jewish descent ?

Ironically enough while watching this I found myself often wishing that this was either a straightforward horror film or a straightforward war film . The early action scenes are very well directed by Rob Green while the scenes set in the dark catacombs are certainly atmospheric but it's the revelation at the end that you suddenly realise that THE BUNKER is neither a war film nor horror film but a ghost story mixed in with a redemption plot and its at this point you are allowed to decide if the film is successful or not and I'm afraid that it failed for me , an interesting failure but still a failure . Some people have complained it would have been better if the soldiers had faced zombies or something more horrific and I agree . Certainly it would have made for a more ridiculous less thoughtful film but would also have made for a more memorable and entertaining movie .

Extremely boring war movie that tries to establishes a link with terror/horror theme but fails miserably in all the points. So, the movie is a completely failures as a war movie and as a terror/horror flick. The 'Bunker' has a simple plot, in fact. A group of German soldiers enter a bunker to escape an attack of Allied soldiers. In the bunker, they find an old private and a young soldier. There's an atmosphere of mystery all around. The old man is a bit out of mind and very frightened and the young soldier is mesmerized by the tales and weird stories always repeated by the old man about strange facts concerning the bunker. But you'll never know what is the real problem. But you'll have many options: ghosts? zombies? witches? Although all the cards put on the table, the game never ended because here's no satisfactory and reasonable answer at the end. The cast is correct with Jason Flemyng - here the most recognizable actor in the bunch - and Eddie Marsan who did a good job as the old private.

I'd heard very good things about 'The Bunker', and the idea of combining war and horror is potentially very rich, so I was really looking forward to watching it. I kept an open mind as it began, but after about 25 minutes in this movie started to fall apart, and by the three quarter mark I was yawning... I didn't mind that the cast playing German soldiers all spoke in British accents, that wasn't a problem, but the characters were so sketchy I had difficulty telling them apart. Also if any kind of who's-gonna-die-next? story is to succeed you must CARE about the fate of the characters, and 'The Bunker' never managed to do that. I couldn't care less what happened to any of them. BIG PROBLEM. On top of that I didn't think there was any real suspense generated and the climax was a let down. Many people who seem to know their stuff love 'The Bunker', but in all honesty I can't agree. A very disappointing movie.

The Bunker more or less was the first film that combined the real-life drama of WWII with supernatural aspects of horror. From that point of view, it should be respected for its originality. Maybe I've seen too many similar movies already that were released after The Bunker. I saw `Deathwatch' and `Below' and to be entirely honest, I'm pretty tired of seeing movies in which `evil' is portrayed as something that is constantly present….but you can not see it. The plot of this film involves a group of German soldiers (although they're all speaking with deep British accents) who're stuck in a Bunker near the German-Belgian border. Through visions and dwelling forces, they're faced with horrors from the past. The more their situation becomes critical (American soldiers slowly surround their isolated location), the more the soldiers go insane. Director Green desperately tries to build up an unbearable tension and also the cast makes good efforts to bring madness and hopelessness to their character's faces. But it just isn't helping… As a viewer, you never really care about their merciless fade (maybe because they're German soldiers???). Who knows, maybe cast and crew try a little TOO hard to focus on the supernatural elements, while they should have thought about adding more action and relentless war-cruelty instead. Whatever way you look at it, The Bunker is a missed opportunity and a dreadfully tedious manner to waste an hour and a half of your precious lifetime.

This is a horror film taking place in World War II Germany, in 1944 at a time when the German army is beginning to lose a lot of ground. At first glance, and for some other reason I cannot recall, I thought this was a movie about Nazis fighting zombies. Of course I wanted to see it! Nazis against zombies! I don't even need a plot or character development or depth of any kind with that kind of action. However, this is not really close to what the movie is about.

"The Bunker" focuses on, believe it or not, a military bunker. Several retreating German soldiers find their way to it and attempt to use it for a safe refuge from the advancing Yanks—you know, Americans. Inside the base the soldiers fight not zombies, but rampant paranoia and an evil presence influencing them. Now, this wasn't what I was expecting, but, it all worked out really well and was a pretty decent horror flick.

Here's the breakdown:

The Good:

--The atmosphere is thick and engrossing.

--Interesting supernatural story, fairly original.

--Feeling of paranoia runs rampant, and that's good for any horror film.

--Well acted.

--Good editing.

--Scenes that deal with the war itself are portrayed well.

--Excellent use of lighting, camera angles, fog, and cinematography.

Didn't Hurt It, Didn't Help:

--So… these are Nazis? We see only a single Nazi salute and very few swastikas. What gives?

--Possible misrepresentation on DVD package about what the film is actually about. (More a concern about the DVD than actual movie.)

--Music wasn't anything real special, but better than usual horror fare.

--Slowly paced, excellent build-up.

--Decent special effects… when we see 'em.

The Bad:

--Again, I thought this was a zombie movie, the cover and description on the DVD case were somewhat confusing.

--Cheesy cover art. I know this doesn't represent the movie, per say, but it's cheesiness could cause it to be easily overlooked by movie-goers.

The Ugly:

--German uniforms are pretty damn inaccurate. I watch the History Channel about 4500 times a month, I know.

Okay then, I've stated a problem with the uniforms and how they look, the lack of swastikas, etc. There is not a total lack of swastikas, there are a few here and there, but you often have to be looking for them and then, ahhh… that little black circle, there's a broken-armed cross in there… Now, I understand that there are some European laws, which I don't fully understand, that don't allow the use of Swastikas in things such as movies and video games. From what I understand, the movie or game has to be made with historical accuracy in mind and since this was a horror film, I can understand what the problem may be. Still, the movie loses some strength and credibility because the uniforms aren't very accurate at all, in fact, the giant swastika armbands that we're all so used to seeing appear nowhere in this film.

This is also kind of a genre-bender. Blending horror films, ghost stories, and war movies together in one unique mish-mash of paranoid entertainment. Slow-paced as the film is, it is never-the-less assembled quite well. This blend feels a little odd, even to those of us used to seeing horror combined with stuff like comedy, this is still a new oddity. And since these are Nazis we're seeing, it's difficult to know who to root for—the cast is entirely made up of them. But that's where the story comes in, and it's wrapped around the bunker-based horror action pretty well. As it turns out, the characters we're seeing have depth and a past to them, which adds to the film quite nicely. Honestly, while I was disappointed that this wasn't the Nazi-zombie romp I had hoped for, it still was quite a nice war-horror movie, if flawed.

Acting: 7/10 Story: 8/10 Atmosphere: 9/10 Cinematography: 8/10 Character Development: 7/10 Special Effects/Make-up: 7/10 Nudity/Sexuality: 0/10 Violence/Gore: 7/10 (Very minor gore, mostly gun violence) Music: 7/10 Direction: 8/10

Cheesiness: 2/10 (WWII Nazis with British accents, come on!) Crappiness: 1/10

Overall: 7/10

This is recommended to horror buffs, especially those who enjoy war movies. War aficionados may be deeply annoyed by the lack of historical accuracy on the German uniforms, however. Not for everyone--casual movie-goers may not find anything here to enjoy.

( www.ResidentHazard.com ) ( http://bartboard.proboards3.com/index.cgi )

THE BUNKER

Aspect ratio: 1.85:1

Sound format: Dolby Digital Surround EX

1944: A group of German soldiers take refuge from advancing Allied forces inside a bunker on the German-Belgian border, where they're haunted by what appear to be the restless spirits of a Medieval massacre...

Debut director Rob Green aims for something less exploitative than your average low budget shocker, but he's rather handicapped by Clive Dawson's feeble script, which mistakes 'creeping dread' for 'narrative drive', and the resolution is both confusing and unsatisfactory. The funereal pace and lack of action is further amplified by Russell Currie's dissonant music score, which fails to bolster the visuals in a constructive manner. Still, some viewers will get a kick out of the creepy setting and sudden flashes of violence, and there's an excellent cast, toplined by Jack Davenport (THE TALENTED MR. RIPLEY), Jason Flemyng (LOCK, STOCK AND TWO SMOKING BARRELS) and Andrew Tiernan (EDWARD II). See also DEATHWATCH (2002), a marginally superior reworking of the same basic storyline.

In the beginning of this movie it´s rather hard to imagine what the director will make out of this movie. The setting and some spooky details does not promise that good. And the german soldiers speak English, usually a bad quality sign for a war movie. As the plot evolves, however, rather interesting questions is put forth and many scenes keep you both thrilled and committed. Overall an interesting realization of a good idea with some good acting, shooting, atmosphere and a final moral. A well worth see, but maybe not for those who think that a good war or horror movie needs a large budget.

It's not big budget. It's not post-modern. It's not a bunch of buff teens out in the woods. It's a careful, low-key period piece, which by no coincidence whatsoever is one of the best British scary movies of the last ten years. This is what happens when you set a good cast loose on a good story, with capable direction and a determination to avoid cheap and cheesy thrills. Go seek it out!

Although working with a somewhat tried premise Rob Greens directorial debut THE BUNKER was one of the most competently made psychological horror pictures I've seen in quiet some time. The key word here is psychological. It's not your typical one dimensional zombie flick that the US distributors wanted us to believe (just look at the cover) and this to me explains why some posters seem to dislike the flick. They've hired under false pretenses/advertisement and didn't get what they wanted which automatically pisses people off. Brilliantly acted and shot with a real undercurrent of impending doom, I recommend this film to anyone who enjoys films like The Sixth Sense and prefers the drama of horror rather than an over saturation of cheap thrills. Good to see director's next film is Dog Soldiers 2. Let's hope he's just as talented a writer as director. Enjoy.

As the Second World War moves towards a conclusion,a platoon of retreating German troops hide out in a bunker on the Siegfried Line.Trapped by the advancing Allied forces,the soldiers discover a huge complex of tunnels beneath the bunker and start to explore.Unfortunately as they venture further in,they are subjected to physical and mental torture from some unseen force."The Bunker" is a pretty good British horror film that offers plenty of atmosphere of rising paranoia.The acting is excellent and there are some solid scares.The second half is slightly disappointing,but it has several creepy surprises.Still "The Bunker" is definitely worth a look for those searching for more subtle terrors.7 out of 10.

this is the third movie i have sen which attempts to combine war with the genre of horror.the first two,Deathwatch and Below,both released in 2002,succeeded in the attempt.this one,not so much.it tries,i'll give it that,and at times there's a glimmer of something better.but mostly it's just the vague,ultimately unfulfilled promise.it really takes a long time for this thing to get going.actually,i'm still waiting on that score.there's little to be had in the way of suspense or even tension.and i also thought there were a few scenes which were disturbing to the point of distaste.the fact the the German soldiers which the movie centres on,mostly spoke English with British accents,didn't bother me too much,but it was hard to take them seriously when they talked about the Americans as enemies,since in reality,the British and Americans were allies.the main characters were all pretty much morally wretched,which is the one good thing about this movie.you might not thing that would be a good thing,but they all deserved their fates,and in a way that occurs,was too me at least, deliciously ironic.otherwise,i found myself becoming increasingly distracted by anything else more interesting and had to force myself to try and stay focused on the movie.watchable,if only for the for the strong irony.i don't see myself watching his movie again,at least until enough time has passed that i forget how ungood it was.for me,the bunker is a 5/10,and a weak 5 at that,only because generally i consider anything 4 and under as bad or worse,and this wasn't quite bad,it was just ungood.that's my long winded observation.