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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
BELOW: A Film of Images Not of Fear, Jun 15 2003
It is not often that Hollywood combines horror with war since the result is often to confuse the audience into blanching at the horrors of war or the horrors of the supernatural. Each is horrible in its own right. But in BELOW, director David Twohy creates a tale based on incremental images of fear. During the second world war, an American submarine picks up three survivors of a U-boat sinking of a hospital ship. One of the three is a woman who acts as a catalyst for the crew to re-examine the events that led to the recent death of the submarine's captain. As the woman discovers the truth behind his death, so does the audience, and it is at this point that spooky things begin to occur. However, these spooky things are not all that spooky. One of them, at least is laughably derivative. Fans of I LOVE LUCY will remember the scene in which she dresses as Harpo Marx with the real Harpo staring at her as if from a mirror. Lucy mugs and bounces with Harpo trying to keep up, but always a milli movement off. In BELOW, there is a similar scene in which a crewman peers into a smoky mirror with his reflection taking on a life of its own. For a film that is clearly meant to be bordering on the paranormal, this mirror scene is as spooky as it gets. Yet, director Twohy manages to keep suspense flowing by virtue of the calamities that often beset submarines in war films. There is an abundance of noises, explosions, burst pipes, flooded compartments, and sailors cracking under pressure. The ghost-like elements in BELOW could easily have been eliminated without sacrificing any attendant suspense. What emerges at the end is a confused ending to a military mission that on film at least is not nearly as spooky as both cast and crew had so clearly striven for.
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
Intense!!!, Jun 11 2003
Not a whole lot in this world could out-do the terror of being trapped in a vessel 100s of feet below the ocean surface with depth-charges bouncing of your bow (unbelievably portrayed in this movie!!!)... but add in a supernatural force working against you and you are really in for the thril ride of your life!!! Good acting, cinemetography, sound, music, & special effects coupled with this previous revelation, and you get "Below", a truely entertaining and suspenseful thriller! Not cheesy and very realistic it will entertain me over and over again!!!!
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
Solid suspenseful offering from director David Twohy, May 26 2003
David Twohy is king of the b-movie thriller. He's directed a number of strong genre films on tight budgets that have been both visually innovative and startlingly powerful. The Arrival and Pitch Black are his two best known films and Below fits somewhere between the two of them. Visually, this haunted submarine story is about has sharp as they come. He's managed to inspire inspired performances from his under rated casts (everyone from Charlie Sheen and Vin Diesel have benefited from his solid direction).In this quick to video age, the art of B-movie making and low budget genre films had been lost until recently. The last director capable of creating anything worthwhile before Twohy was Sam Raimi. His Evil Dead films had a crackling energy and sense of humor most mainstream films would have benefited from in the 80's and 90's. Likewise, Twohy's films have all the visual splendor and energy missing from mainstream genre films over the last ten years. Minority Report and AI, for example, would have benefited from Twohy's action direction and lack of pretense. He tells a solid story and tells it well. It's a pity that Below was buried in the theaters before it got a chance to surface. The acting is top-notch and, while the script is certainly flawed, it's attempt at merging a variety of different genres is admirable. The DVD transfer is handsome and the extras extensive given the small audience the DVD was intended for. The sound is equally detailed and, while not presented in the DTS format, sounds great. I'd like to add that the technical information mentions the film is presented in standard format (i.e., a television aspect ratio)when, in fact, it's in a widescreen format. Below is definitely worth a rental and, if you like it, worth purchasing.
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