The Bunker

I'd heard very good things about 'The Bunker', and the idea of combining war and horror is potentially very rich, so I was really looking forward to watching it. I kept an open mind as it began, but after about 25 minutes in this movie started to fall apart, and by the three quarter mark I was yawning... I didn't mind that the cast playing German soldiers all spoke in British accents, that wasn't a problem, but the characters were so sketchy I had difficulty telling them apart. Also if any kind of who's-gonna-die-next? story is to succeed you must CARE about the fate of the characters, and 'The Bunker' never managed to do that. I couldn't care less what happened to any of them. BIG PROBLEM. On top of that I didn't think there was any real suspense generated and the climax was a let down. Many people who seem to know their stuff love 'The Bunker', but in all honesty I can't agree. A very disappointing movie.

In 1944, in the Belgian – German border, seven German soldiers survive an American attack in the front and lock themselves in a bunker to protect the position. Under siege by the enemy and with little ammunition, they decide to explore underground tunnels to seek supplies and find an escape route. While in the tunnel, weird things happen with the group.

I have recently seen the South Korean movie "R-Point" (2004), which efficiently explores the idea of "The Bunker" – scary and ambiguous journey to hell of the innermost fear of a group of soldiers, in an intelligent screenplay. Now I find that "The Bunker" is a 2001 movie, which has the originally of the concept, but unfortunately the confused screenplay does not work well. The acting is good, but the development of the plot could be better and better. For those viewers that also find that something is missing in the story, I strongly suggest seeing "R-Point" for comparison of what "The Bunker" could have been with some improvements. My vote is five.

Title (Brazil): "The Bunker – Em Guerra Contra o Medo" ("The Bunker – In War against the Fear")

I heard about THE BUNKER as soon as it came out ( Being a British movie it would have received far more publicity here than it did in America ) and it seemed to split the critics right down the middle . Some people thought it was a great and atmospheric horror movie while others thought it was a confused cross genre story . Some critics thought it was a good idea to let the cast talk in their native accents while others were puzzled why a bunch of British soldiers are wearing German uniforms fighting against the Americans !

I don't have any problems with the British accents and idioms such as pronouncing the rank of Leutnant as " Left-ten-ant " but I do have a problem trying to identify with the characters . They're Germans from the mid 1940s , they're " the enemy " and even though they're doing a soldier's duty the audience can't think of them as anything but bad guys . It's the same with the very similar THE KEEP where the audience wonder who they're supposed to be rooting for . Perhaps if the characters were Volkstrum protecting Germany from the Red Army this aspect could have worked better but as it stands it's difficult to feel sorry for the characters . Incidentally aren't the surnames Franke and Engels of Jewish descent ?

Ironically enough while watching this I found myself often wishing that this was either a straightforward horror film or a straightforward war film . The early action scenes are very well directed by Rob Green while the scenes set in the dark catacombs are certainly atmospheric but it's the revelation at the end that you suddenly realise that THE BUNKER is neither a war film nor horror film but a ghost story mixed in with a redemption plot and its at this point you are allowed to decide if the film is successful or not and I'm afraid that it failed for me , an interesting failure but still a failure . Some people have complained it would have been better if the soldiers had faced zombies or something more horrific and I agree . Certainly it would have made for a more ridiculous less thoughtful film but would also have made for a more memorable and entertaining movie .

First off, "The Bunker" is not your normal monster/horror movie. The cover art on the box is great, it's a real attention getter but unfortunately misleads the viewer about the content of the film. The Bunker is about a group of Germans during WWII in an anti tank bunker connected to underground tunnels. The movie does not show any monsters or zombies. The soldiers go through a psychological breakdown as different events happen to them. The fears they face may be real, supernatural, or entirely in their own minds. It's up to the viewer to decide. If you're looking for a monster movie, I would not choose "The Bunker". It's more of a psychological thriller. What I really liked about the film was the whole sense of fear and the great eerie atmosphere within the bunker. The acting as well as the directing was very good. The characters and dialogue were done well. As always there will be some that don't like the fact that the Germans all had British accents. If it were an American film they would have American accents. You could say the same if it were Italian, French etc, big deal, so what! To be completely authentic they would have to speak German. Forget about the accents, it's' trivial. What ever you do if you watch this movie is pay attention. It's all in the details. You don't want to miss a moment. You could easily get lost and confused. I personally didn't care that much for the plot. Someone else may. That's all opinion. It sure was interesting though. It certainly is a film I don't think I'll forget.

After watching the disappointing Deathwatch, another British-made horror film set during war-time (this time the WWI trenches), I was hoping that The Bunker would prove a better option. Unfortunately, The Bunker falls into the same trap as Deathwatch, in that they're both over-long, characterless and (most heinous crime for a movie) boring.

There is an effectively creepy atmosphere built up during the first half-hour, but this evaporates into the standard horror cliché - creeping up and down poorly-lit corridors - and with such poorly sketched characters, that it generates very little tension.

Towards the end there is an effectively-eerie looking scene where the main characters' hallucinations take on the shape of zombie troops. And there's a vague parallel drawn between the actions of the bunker's supernatural spirits and the Nazis themselves, but it is framed in such a woolly manner that it's almost entirely lost in the mire of mediocrity.