Below

Sci-Fi escape drama that will have you on the edge of your seat and cracking your knuckles. When a WWII submarine picks up three survivors of an incident in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean in 1943, the crew suddenly experiences mysterious doings in the confined space. It appears this boat is doomed from the start. Typical problems for a submarine movie. Pretty good acting from a diverse cast that includes: Bruce Greenwood, Matt Davis, Olivia Williams, Scott Foley and Holt McCallany. Decent enough F/X and sometimes scary story line holds your interest.

I found BELOW to be an engaging if predictable haunted submarine thriller director by the Australian David Twohy, who was also responsible for the similarly good PITCH BLACK. Both films share stylistic similarities (a trapped cast at the mercy of an unknown killer enemy) but in the end PITCH BLACK has the edge, thanks to the originality and scope of the far-reaching plot. BELOW is more mundane, but not without merit, and it works best as a mood piece rather than a thriller.

The star of the show is Olivia Williams (MISS AUSTEN REGRETS), who along with Dexter Fletcher narrowly escapes the torpedoing of their hospital ship during WWII. They take refuge on a US submarine piloted by all manner of familiar and welcome faces (Bruce Greenwood, Nick Chinlund, Jason Flemyng, to name but a few). Pretty soon, weird things start happening (stuff turns on of its own accord and the crew are surrounded by weird apparitions and noises) and then people start dying. It's the kind of stuff we've seen a million times from Hollywood, but straight away the submarine setting had me hooked: I always enjoy the natural claustrophobia that's evoked in these kinds of settings, and it's no exception here. It would be hard to make a film that WASN'T atmospheric and suspenseful on board a submarine.

The quality of the script is pretty good, and for a change the acting matches the written dialogue. At least most characters are fleshed out, rather than being one dimensional stereotypes. The film is augmented by some effective CGI work and despite some plot inconsistencies I had a ball with it.

If you have seen your share of genre-movies, there will in this movie rarely be an idea that you have not seen, a cut that has not been there already or a character that is completely new - but it´s the mix that counts and this mix came out very right.

If you are on the edge of your seat, you know what is going to happen but nothing has been shown in the first half of the movie and the suspense just keeps on building, I for one know that I am going to enjoy it to the last second.

Oh, and another thing - although there is only 1 woman in the movie, she is neither token, nor does she fall in love or is killed in the classic shower scene, but she actually is given a role to play - bravo. The only little thorn I can think of is, that I could have done without the very few gory (or at least bloodyish) scenes - was not really necessary. A silouette and some shocked expressions do suffice. Go and watch - not a cheap thrill, a good one.

The relatively low 6-ish average rating might lead you believe this is a poor movie that's not worth your time, and that would be both doing the movie a disservice, and potentially cause you to miss out on something you would enjoy.

There is something of a limit to possible plots with submarine movies to be honest. The elements of anxiety and tension and some of the more obvious risks of being in a submarine at combat are well defined to anyone who has worked as, or with, a submariner or is well versed on those aspects of naval warfare pertaining to submarines. There ARE going to be some aspects of things you've seen in other submarine movies , it's unavoidable.

Nevertheless I feel that this movie, with it's undercurrent of something weird and disturbing going on introduces something to a submarine movie I've not seen before.

If you like movies that put you in tense, creepy situations with no obvious way to escape then this might be your movie.

Overall the acting and script were fine. I watched this again for the second time so I perhaps was left feeling that the tension would have benefitted from being ramped up even more, but I do remember being suitably chilled the first time I watched it.

This is a tense chiller, not really a horror, imo so it's important to set ones' expectations accordingly.

Definitely worth a watch if you like this style of movie. I would rate 7.5/10.

So, should you give up a couple of hours and watch this film. If you're one of those people that are happy to chat with everyone around you while watching films or laugh at parts that are meant to be touching or scary, then no. (Okay, don't get me started on that.) If not, you'll enjoy this film, you'll enjoy the acting and you'll enjoy the atmosphere and the tension. I think the 6.? score is to be honest down to people who'd rather watch a documentary on WW II. Yes the submarine seems a bit roomy at times but that doesn't spoil the drama for me. As for the plot, without giving anything away, the sin at the heart of the story grows larger and darker. I won't say any more, just that you'll see some good actors here that have popped up and become more famous 10 years after this film.