Beneath

My quick rating 4,9/10. The trapped in the coal mine flick is back. Being trapped with "something" is a common theme for horror/thriller movies to use so can't go anywhere really on originality. Ther are a few good things about this movie even though it is straight formula. The most important is the way the focus is back and forth between something being down there (demon, spirit, etc.) or just hallucinations due to lack of oxygen and the miners losing it mentally. Throughout he whole movie you will be wondering which it is (and no i am not saying). The other plus is the fact that the use of lighting is well done to only allow the lights the characters have illuminate the scene. That being said the movie spends a solid 10 minutes of an 80 minute film in complete darkness. Literally. This doesn't mix too well with often entirely to shaky footage when you can see. This major distraction is unbearable at some parts and takes away greatly from what could've been a good flick. Still worth seeing but I suggest on cable.

Never was a big fan of the underground/descent style movies. This one was pretty good. I think the creepiest movies are the ones that draw upon natural fears. Claustrophobia is one of mine and the thought of being underground when freaky stuff happens, and the possibility of running out of light and/or oxygen makes for a tense movie. To the people that poo-poo on the "inspired by actual events": That is way different than "Based on a true story". There have been plenty of cave-ins and plenty of miners dead and some where miners survive. So who knows which one "inspired" the writers of this film. Chill out and enjoy a good movie.

About a decade ago, "The Descent" debuted. This film was about a group of cave explorers who became trapped and were picked off one by one by an unknown entity. Or, it is possible that they THOUGHT such creatures existed and they killed each other off in the process. A few years later, they made a sequel. Well, if you really, really love these films, Beneath is almost like seeing "The Descent Part III".

Beneath begins at a retirement party for a coal miner. At this party, in addition to everyone getting drunk, the man's daughter (who is a college student) is invited down into the mine in the morning--to see if she's brave enough to go there. Well, she shows up but soon the unexpected occurs--there's an accident and a group of miners (including the lady) are trapped. If this isn't claustrophobic and scary enough, soon they start seeing and hearing things. Are these the ghosts of other miners who died here decades ago, is there some evil presence or are they just letting their imaginations run wild? Well, the viewer isn't 100% certain and although you see some scary looking stuff, you cannot be sure that it is or isn't real. Could it just be a form of mass hysteria? All you know for certain is that the film soon becomes a violent bloodbath, as the survivors start attacking each other and soon, perhaps, none of them will be left alive.

If you like scary films, Beneath creates a nice atmosphere. It's very scary and dark and plays on many of our worst fears. The director, Ben Ketai, does a good job of building the tension and keeping the tension going. As for the script, it is a bit derivative since it is so much like the Descent films. Additionally, I didn't really like the female character, as you're expected to believe that a person who has never been in the mines might be tougher and have greater survival skills than the men who have been working there for years. Simply, she seemed more like a plot device than a real person*. Plus, I find it hard to imagine that the coal mine would let a visitor go into the shafts to hang out with the workers. Still, if you like a film with thrills and scary stuff, it does have plenty of that. Familiar but I must admit it's still pretty horrifying.

*Please do NOT get angry because of this comment. My wife is an engineer and I have been a stay at home dad for many years. I love women and appreciate their hard work--but the character seemed underdeveloped and not exactly logical. Had she been a guy invited into the mines, I STILL would have thought this character would have been the first one to die simply because he was out of his element.

The scariest aspect of "The Descent" (2005) wasn't the monsters (or even the backstabbing female-empowerment politics) but the narrow cave crevices the characters managed to squeeze through, the endless maze of tunnels they could so easily get lost in, the darkness that hid unseen dangers. "Beneath" has a lot of the same feel--the claustrophobia of the mine itself is as bad as whatever else is down there. And no, the crew isn't simply trapped underground, running out of oxygen and waiting to die. Worse yet, there's something else in there. What was in the unmapped cavern the miners accidentally breached, causing the cave-in in the first place? Many of the miners were buried by the cave-in--or were they? The survivors can wait for rescue, right? Or can they? It's not clear what the miners should be scared of, but it's clear they should be scared, and the audience along with them. As a haunted house movie, this mine is one hell of a haunted house. And whatever's going on in that house, it's not good!

Beneath starts off slow and steady but the ride is worth it. It's not your typical dumb for the masses movies. It creeps in on you, the slow pace will deter a few viewers same goes for the unfairly low ratings and review, but it will reward the ones that stick with it.

Reminiscent of other claustro-horror like "The Descent" or "The Cave", it manages to create it's own thing without just blatantly copying what others did before.

Some the the actors performances where disappointing but the story, script and good photography makes up for it. The carefully crafted mixture of light, shadows and darkness sets an incredible claustrophobic mood. The ambiance audio is also gteatly contributing to the eeriness vibe this movie warps you in.

The only other disappointing element of this movie is a redundant jump scare that is overused and isn't actually needed that much. Can't go in more details without spoilers but you will understand when you see it.