Friday, February 8, 2013

The Tunnel (2011)

In Sydney, Australia the government decides to use the cities underground tunnels to recycle water, but there is conflict as the tunnels are a refuge for the homeless.  The government aren't concerned with that issue, but then all of a sudden the plan is abandoned.

Journalist Natasha Wagner wonders why the story was dropped by the politicians, but no one will talk about it.  She finds video on YouTube of teenagers in the tunnels who discover there is something down there.  Also there are lots of stories about the disappearance of homeless people living in the tunnels.  The government won't acknowledge this mystery either.

Natasha decides she wants to get to shoot some footage in the tunnels, but no one will grant her permission to film or provide any access.  So she and her film crew consisting of cameraman Steve, sound man Tangles and supervisor Pete find a way in through a loosely padlocked access tunnel.

They wander deeper and deeper into the maze of tunnels, and even go down levels underground.  When shooting the last segment, Tangles goes into a different room since the sound where they're filming is too loud.  While they're doing the segment, there is a scream and Tangles disappears.

The group searches for Tangles and is divided on whether to leave to get help or keep searching because they don't want to leave Tangles alone in the tunnels.  Then they discover that something is definitely down there with them.

I am always up for POV/found footage movies, even though I think 95% of them are horrible, what  with their shaky cameras and scripts that appear to be improvised by actors who are incapable of improvising any interesting dialogue. The characters did not make me hate them, which is unusual for POV movies.

Although there were a few times when Natasha's screaming was annoying.  For example, if you manage to get away from some thing that is chasing you, don't scream at the top of your lungs in panic.   I get that it is a natural reaction to being trapped, but it is god damn annoying to have to sit through this while watching a movie.  So though repeated screaming in fear is realistic, it drives me freakin' nuts.

Also another movie where you want to scream, "don't give the hysterical lady the phone!" She can't even tell the operator where they are.

While I thought oh good god no when the movie started, it was actually one of the better POV movies.  It's almost more a of a pseudo documentary since it's made up of POV footage, surveillance footage, YouTube style videos, and interviews with survivors.  And since they're supposed to be a film crew, there's not as much horrible handheld nausea inducing camera work as these films often have.

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