Film Review: BENEATH (2013)

Inspired by a true story (although this is highly debatable) Beneath (2013) is the story of a group of miners who are trapped in a cave after a horrible accident.  Just when they think they will be safe in a survivor’s habitat until the rescue party gets to them, strange things start to happen to. 

Jeff Fahey is George Marsh who has one final day working in the mines before he retires and his daughter Samantha (Kelly Noonan) decides that she would like to know where her father has spent his entire life.  When the miners drill into an open air pocket the cave collapses causing all the miners to be trapped.  They decide to hold tight until a rescue party can reach them in three days but something is down there in the caves with them and Samantha is the first one to notice that something strange is definitely going on.  It’s not long before the tight spaces causes her to experience claustrophobia but she has to pull herself together because someone or something is trying to kill them all and she has to discover the truth before it’s too late.

The film is written by Patrick Doody and Chris Valenziano and directed by Ben Ketai.  This style of film that relies on an unreliable character can get a little bit much but Doody and Valenziano manage to balance this by knowing when to reveal some details and when to hold back.  It also helps that the cast works extremely well together and that Ketai knows how to build tension and suspense throughout the film.  Cinematographer Timothy A. Burton plays a huge part in helping create suspense and atmosphere in this claustrophobic film.  

It’s actually quite a well done film that will probably get overlooked due to the fact that there are probably a dozen films out there with this title.  It’s not very distinctive or original and in general may be mistaken for one of the other films with the same title but if you do discover this film then you won’t be disappointed.

Film Review: TERROR TRAP (2010)

It is no secret that the horror industry relies on the popularity of its cult actors to help promote and guide the production of low budget horror films.  Actors such as Michael Madsen – starring in Piranhaconda (2012), Highway to Hell (2012), The Tomb (2009) and The Bleeding (2009), to name a few, and Jeff Fahey – starring in Tornado Warning (2012), Locusts: The 8^th Plague (2005), The Sacred (2012), and Sushi Girl (2012), to name a few, have been the only reason why some films have ever been made much less watched by an audience.  Madsen and Fahey are just two of these cult icons which also includes the names of Lance Henricksen, Tony Todd, C. Thomas Howell, William Forsythe, Vinnie Jones, Marc Singer, and Danny Trejo, to name a few.  In Terror Trap (2010) we get two cult icons for the price of one with Madsen and Fahey chewing up scenery.

Dan (David James Elliott) and his wife Nancy (Heather Marie Marsden) are having relationship problems and driving home through the country side when they are forced off the road by another car.  Stranded, Dan and Nancy call for help which arrives in the form of country police office Cleveland (Fahey) who takes the couple to a nearby motel until their car can be towed the next morning.  Unbeknownst to Dan and Nancy they are about to become part of an elaborate stalk and kill game in which they will be hunted by a gang of masked assailants for the pleasure of a watching audience.

If you’ve seen the film Vacancy (2007) then there is nothing new here that you haven’t already seen before because this is a low budget version of that film but with unlikeable characters and horrible acting and characters doing dumb things because they are dumb characters that have nothing else to do.  Fahey chews scenery like no one else and seems to be having a good time at it but Madsen is his usual stoic self and adds nothing to the film.  If you enjoy these two actors then this film will at least be a curiosity but other than that this is a film not worth even checking out.  Just watch Vacancy again.