t's August 1943, and far beneath the waves of the Atlantic Ocean the officers of the U.S.S. Tiger Shark hide a deadly secret. As the submarine and its exhausted crew head back to American waters, they are ordered to take on the few survivors of a British hospital ship destroyed by a German U-boat. Suddenly, the delicate balance of life aboard the submarine is interrupted by the presence of these three refugees, one of them a female nurse (Williams).
Complicating their mission further, another German ship seems to be relentlessly hunting them and cripples several vital systems on board the boat before they manage to evade it. This isn't the worst of the crew's problems, however. Shortly after taking the new passengers on board, strange occurrences begin happening with increasing frequency. A record player suddenly blasts big band music, seemingly out of nowhere. Strange whispers and eerie, unnatural sounds are heard in uncomfortable silences. Crewmen disappear.
Many of the sailors blame an age-old superstition that a woman on board a ship brings bad luck. Others, like the ship's temporary commander, Lt. Brice (Greenwood), insist that nothing out of the ordinary is going on. As Nurse Paige becomes more curious about the nature of the unexplained events, she begins investigating the circumstances surrounding the recent death of the boat's former captain.
Tensions run high among the passengers as the truth about what really happened to Capt. Winter begins to unravel. Simultaneously, the unexplained phenomena on the boat become more serious and deadly. Lying blind and deaf at the bottom of the sea, will the sub's remaining crew discover who or what is behind the disturbances and how to stop them, before it's too late?
A sub noir film that's far from sub-par
Director David Twohy, whose last project, Pitch Black, helped launch the career of Vin
Diesel, once again melds several genres in his latest film, with an interesting result. Part ghost story, part film noir, part World War II action-adventure, Below transcends classification by simply telling a good tale. The concept is so simple that it's hard to believe a haunted-submarine film hasn't been made until now. But simple doesn't necessarily mean easy.
Fortunately, along with Twohy, screenwriter Darren Aronofsky (of Pi and Requiem for a Dream notoriety) and his writing partner Lucas Sussman have developed an intriguing mystery behind the so-called "malediction." This only serves to heighten the already tense relationship between the newcomers and the established crew of the boat. The thin line between natural and supernatural is not always clear, as the more rational officers continually search for alternate explanations and refuse to acknowledge any otherworldly cause.
Where the film does bog down is in the scenes with the omnipresent German ship. In these moments, it seems that the film can wear only one genre at a time, slipping in and out of ghost story and submarine story, rather than doing both at once. The pace is uneven throughout, picking up and slowing down in unexpected places. Twohy avoids gimmicky horror cliches for the most part, although it's nearly impossible to do a scary movie these days without invoking at least some of the conventions.
Finally, it would be a disservice to discuss this film without mentioning the well-crafted sound design. Myriad sound effects, from whale calls to depth charges, infuse the underwater scenes with an atmospheric creepiness that is only heightened by the percussive score by Graeme Revell. Horror at its best works on a psychological as well as a physical level, and Below does a respectable job on both counts.
