Below (2002)

Average rating

(59%)

Starring:	Bruce Greenwood \| Matthew Davis \| Olivia Williams \| Holt McCallany \| Scott Foley
Director:	David N. Twohy
Studio:	WALT DISNEY STUDIOS HOME ENTERTAINMENT
Run time:	101 mins
Genres:	Horror \| Thriller
Languages:	English
Released:	September 01, 2003
Also available on:

In 1943, the crew of the U.S.S. Tiger Shark, an American submarine in the Atlantic, rescues three survivors of a British hospital ship that came under German attack. One of the survivors, a nurse (Olivia Williams), raises tensions among the all-male crew from the moment she steps aboard. Commanding Officer Lieutenant Brice (Bruce Greenwood) does his best to keep the unruly crew in line, but after suffering damage from a barrage of Nazi depth charges (in a spectacular sequence) a series of increasingly spooky occurrences begin to rattle everybody aboard. A mysterious face that appears in the windows, a ghostly gramophone that plays a Benny Goodman record, and a corpse that seems to talk are just the beginning. Soon it is discovered that Captain Brice has not been entirely truthful regarding an accident that previously happened on the boat.
David Twohy's (PITCH BLACK) unique submarine thriller skillfully combines the conventions of the War and Haunted House genres, using a keen eye for detail to create a very believable and claustrophobic world. Based on a script by Darren Aronofsky and Lucas Sussman (rewritten by Twohy), BELOW doesn't rely on cheap scares. Its supernatural element is secondary to a forceful tale of danger at sea.

Highest rated reviews

7 out of 7 people found the following review helpful:

Good submarine ghost story

Andrew from London, 31st January, 2004

Enjoyable old-fashioned ghost story, on a submarine. Nice noir lighting, excellently detailed set, more accurate period details than U571. Sure, cast were b-list, but they did well.

The ghost/horror element is nice and subtle, with good atmosphere and a brilliantly understated mirror trick.

If you enjoyed U571, Red October, Crimson Tide, Das Boot, K19 or any other of the sub genre, this is worth watching, and I preferred it to Pitch Black.

[This copy of the disk undamaged, so maybe they swapped it out. ]

Read all highest rated reviews

Most recent reviews

1 out of 1 people found the following review helpful:

'Below' 3 stars

King1and from from South Gloucestershire, 30th July, 2008

Film about an American submarine during WW2 picking up 3 survivors of a what they think is a German warship attack. The atmosphere is just right, lots of noise of things bumping into the sub, creaking noises, the closeness of a subs crew and the working conditions all well done. Wish the story was upto the task of it, bit feeble, definately a film you would watch on week night on normal TV. What let it down for me apart from the above is the cast, Jason Fleyming, (Lock stock and two smoking barrels fame) playing an American, plus other character actors trying to be American. Dexter Fletcher well, being Dexter Fletcher. Just didn't sit right and I hope David Twohy has put this film behind him and get back to making amazing films of the, 'Point Black' calibre.

Read all recent reviews

Customer Review

A Customer from UK, 23rd June, 2008

As with the other reviews going into quite a bit of detail about the film I won't bore you except to say that this films realism, despite its extremely unreal plot, is absolutely amazing! Right from the start it has you on the edge of your seat, through to the very end, never once letting go! Make sure you don't need to pause in the middle because you won't want to! If you enjoy suspense combined with realistic action this is for you! Best Submarine film ever made in my opinion but don't let that put you off if you don't like 'war type submarine films', this is different! Very different!

Read all recent reviews