In Below, the crew aboard the USS Tiger Shark submarine rescues three survivors of a torpedoed British hospital ship. One happens to be a woman (Olivia Williams), and her presence aboard the sub provokes an impromptu synonym contest. Everyone on board has a name for the pretty British nurse: Philly and Bleeder get one mention apiece but, curiously, no Bazonga. At least there’s an excuse for this kind of knee-jerk sexism: It’s 1940-something and the men aboard Tiger Shark are horny and taking out their frustrations against Germany.
Soon after the captain goes down without his ship, strange happenings aboard the sub lead the crew to believe that hoodoo is at work. Benny Goodman’s “Sing, Sing, Sing” is put to good use, but director David N. Twohy’s scary tricks lose their luster when Below turns out to be a water-logged version of every haunted house film you’ve ever seen. Twohy is an expert mood setter but he bum rushes some of the film’s better scenes with overeager sound cues.
When four crewmembers swim outside the submarine in order to repair a hole in its side, the scene starts promisingly enough with a surprise attack from a group of would-be sharks. Fans of Twohy’s Pitch Black will blush, though, when they see the divers jumping and jittering to Graeme Revell’s score. After a while, you may wonder what kind of movies were playing back in the ’40s given that the sub’s crew assesses their situation using Kevin Williamson’s pomo guide to the horror film, from one crewmember thinking that his mates are ghosts to another stupidly referencing the prior scene’s really “good twist.”
Image/Sound
This 1.85:1 anamorphic widescreen transfer is a resounding success, with incredible image detail and color reproduction giving the picture an impressive depth and clarity-only one scene (taking place outside the submarine’s interior) features any color bleeding. No film grain or print blemishes are present and flesh tones appear natural. The transfer’s only negative aspect is a regular amount of edge enhancement, with the film’s most darkly-lit scenes featuring constant ringing halos on image edges. The Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtrack is a thing to behold, with resounding bass and exciting directional effects contributing to the film’s claustrophobic atmosphere. Fidelity is solid and accurate, although given the bombast of the action-packed scenes, it would have been nice if the film’s dialogue-which, for the most part, is natural and clear-had occasionally been given more prominence in the mix.
Extras
The highlight of this Miramax release is an audio commentary with director Twohy and actors Bruce Greenwood, Matt Davis, Holt McCallany, Zach Galifianakis and Nick Chinlund. Although a bit overcrowded (it’s sometimes difficult to figure out who’s speaking), the participants do a nice job alternating between explaining the production’s technical aspects and recounting humorous anecdotes about filming. The commentary offers non-stop discussion for fans eager to learn more about how the film was put together, even if Twohy frequently seems uninterested in contributing anything substantive. A mildly informative featurette entitled The Process runs 12 minutes and features some decent interview footage with Twohy and behind-the-scenes video footage of the production. Three wisely deleted scenes with Twohy commentary, as well as the film’s theatrical trailer, round out the disc’s supplemental features.
Overall
Twohy has yet to make a great genre film so it’s likely that moviegoers will want to give Below das boot.
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