I must have recommended this movie to a good half-dozen people without ever having actually seen it. I guess I was just trying to promote it based on the information I had about the movie getting made. The filmmakers funded this project using one of those websites where you ask people for money, and they can choose to give it to you. These guys asked for money, and got the money, so they made the movie they said they were going to make. I’m sure you’re wondering how that makes it different from practically every other movie ever, which lies in the way this movie was released. Once it was completed, it was released on DVD, and on the same exact day, the filmmakers released a torrent of the movie for free download. It was their way of saying thank you to everyone who donated money, which I think is pretty cool, considering they mostly just wanted this movie to get made, rather than make it just for profit. I waited until someone else watched it, and said he enjoyed it, before wasting my precious bandwidth to download it.

Although I did appreciate knowing that some of the characters did survive the ordeal through seeing these interviews, why did this bitch have to survive?

I couldn’t quite remember how the movie started, and when trying to look up what exactly was going on for the first thirty minutes, every goddamned website had the same exact description. What I remember is that there was something about there being a water shortage in Sydney, and then something about homeless people living in abandoned train tunnels underneath the city. I think the issue was that the government was refusing to admit people lived in those tunnels, and maybe they would die because of the shortage? Anyway, a reporter and small camera crew go to investigate the tunnels, and watching their footage, combined with interviews with these people, we learn about what happened in the tunnels. Through investigating and sometimes getting lost, one of the members of the crew disappears into the darkness.  It’s quite apparent after trying to find him that the crew isn’t alone down there, but we don’t know who, or what, is stalking them. We do eventually catch a glimpse of what can be best described as a “creature” attack a worker in the tunnel, and also learn that the bright light from their cameras discourage this creature. Through the labyrinthine tunnels and darkness, the three remaining individuals try to escape, and they do, but not until after one individual had been attacked one last time. Through the interviews with the survivors, we learn that the victim of the attack could have survived had he received medical attention, but the two survivors were in such shock from escaping, they had just assumed he was dead. The government and local police forces abandoned the investigation of the tunnels based on “contradictory evidence”, and we never really find out who or what was down in the tunnels.

Well maybe if you had Verizon, your friend wouldn’t have died in a bloody mess right in front of you.

Talking about independently made horror movies is difficult, because just by labeling the movie as independent, you seem to be cutting it a little too much slack. After all, there certainly is a difference between saying something was a “good horror movie” versus a “good independent horror movie”. It almost seems as though you’re apologizing for it not being that good and that you just kind of pity it. This movie was good. Not good because it was independent, but good because I was definitely entertained. Maybe it wasn’t the best movie, and it definitely had its flaws, but I was creeped out a few times. It was another one of those movies that I felt was influenced by things I like, yet couldn’t quite cite specific examples. Obviously the documentary/P.O.V. style camerawork is getting more and more popular, but that’s because it’s effective. Being able to see and experience turning the corners, not knowing what’s on the other side in the same way the characters experience it is highly entertaining. And for an independent horror, they seemed to have gotten access to some pretty cool and desolate underground locations. I also enjoyed the concept behind it, as well as the somewhat ambiguous ending, but the beginning of the movie took a little too long to get to the good stuff. As I mentioned, the idea behind it was interesting, but for a movie called “The Tunnel“, I didn’t expect it to take so long to actually get into the tunnel. I think that Rampaige would have liked this movie had she not gotten so bored during the introductory section, but I agree, it was kind of dull. Other than those issues, I enjoyed myself, and look forward to what is coming from this creative team in the future. Also, if anyone wants to give ME money to make a movie, let me know, because I’ll do it.

Wolfman Moon Scale