BELOW (2002)
Directed by David Twohy
Starring Matthew Davis and Olivia Williams
Twohy did a marvelous job with "Pitch Black" and "The Arrival." Too bad "Below" proved to be so far beneath him (no pun intended). The film was one of the most tired horror offerings of 2002, and it wasn't a big surprise to see Dimension Films hardly promote it. The film sinked at the box office, and not all the advertising money in the world could have kept the movie afloat.
Released the same year as "Ghost Ship," the movie tries to take the concept of a haunted sea vessel to a deeper level. This time, the haunting takes place on a World War II submarine. On its surface, this sounds like a pretty neat concept. Submarines are claustrophobic places. Ghosts are spooky. Slap the two genres together and you were sure to have a horror hit.
But "Below" doesn't work. Hauntings are only supposed to take place aboard places with a history. Submarines don't have histories. The ghost in this story is the sub's previous captain. The idea that a ship's captain would die, then suddenly start haunting his former crew is just plain silly. As it turns out, this captain has a vengeful reason for his activities. But … well, the idea isn't even strong enough for a "Tales From the Crypt"-style short, much less a full-length movie. Amazingly, the movie was co-written by Darren Aronofsky of "Pi" and "Requiem for a Dream" fame.
Adding to the film's weakness, Twohy throws in a female character who was picked up by the sub crew during a rescue. Good sub films ("Das Boot," "UB-571,"
etc.) work because of the testosterone tension among all-male casts. The presence of a lovely female medical professional makes "Below" feel watered down.
The best moments of "Below" hark back to "Pitch Black," with characters making night-time SCUBA missions in a sea populated by unearthly-looking stingrays. It makes one wonder how Twohy would have done making a submarine monster movie instead of a submarine ghost film. Unfortunately, this normally excellent director chose a concept that just doesn’t gel. Ghosts and submarines don't mix.
In the end, the scares don't add up, the characters are forgettable, and the presence of a female on board of a World War II sub seems forced. No wonder Dimension opted not to promote the film, and let it die at the box office. No amount of publicity could have saved this movie from drowning.
Pass.