Abîmes

So, should you give up a couple of hours and watch this film. If you're one of those people that are happy to chat with everyone around you while watching films or laugh at parts that are meant to be touching or scary, then no. (Okay, don't get me started on that.) If not, you'll enjoy this film, you'll enjoy the acting and you'll enjoy the atmosphere and the tension. I think the 6.? score is to be honest down to people who'd rather watch a documentary on WW II. Yes the submarine seems a bit roomy at times but that doesn't spoil the drama for me. As for the plot, without giving anything away, the sin at the heart of the story grows larger and darker. I won't say any more, just that you'll see some good actors here that have popped up and become more famous 10 years after this film.

Its's a bit weird that after all these years the overall rating is 6.1. I am no movie critic but I have watched this movie in my younger years and just did it again. And I can tell that nothing is fundamentally is wrong with it :/ . Acting is OK, story is enticing, effects are decent and soundtrack is befitting the vibe of the movie. Story is quite good too. I have watched every horror movie rated above 7 except black and white oldies and I rate it 6.5 easily.

Director David Twohy's BELOW is a gem of paranoia, claustrophobia, conspiracy, and deep sea creepiness.

The USS Tiger Shark submarine rescues 3 members of a doomed British ship, only to be hunted by Germans from above and haunted by ghostly visions, strange sounds, and otherworldly occurrences below. Unexplained malfunctions and tragedies keep happening in seemingly supernatural ways.

Has a dead crewmember returned, or is the lowering oxygen level causing everyone to go insane?

As the story unfolds, we find that not everyone is what they appear to be. As in all of the best of these underwater thrillers, the action takes place in corridors and quarters so tight that movement is severely restricted. This adds to the tense feeling of suffocation, and makes us feel trapped along with the crew.

The Director and cast are flawless in creating a thick atmosphere of terror and madness. Bruce Greenwood and Olivia Williams are especially good in their roles.

Highly recommended...

I don't recall this one being released, but it didn't do very well. However it had a very tidy story, some more or less decent acting, and was a visual treat.

The story seems pretty simple - WWII sub picks up a couple survivor, is pursed by a German ship, and then strange things start to happen and some secrets about various crew members are slowly revealed.

This is more of a thriller than a horror movie. While it does contain some jump scenes in it and some spooky goings on, one is left with a feeling of "was it just cabin fever?" As said, visually, this movie looked nice. It somewhat captured the cramped life on a sub and the tense moments they go through. However, some liberties were taken on the set design to provide more room. The class of sub they are on are not nearly as comfy as this would make one think.

Bruce Greenwood gives what I though was a very good performance. The movie can even stand up to a little bit of rewatch as well.

The relatively low 6-ish average rating might lead you believe this is a poor movie that's not worth your time, and that would be both doing the movie a disservice, and potentially cause you to miss out on something you would enjoy.

There is something of a limit to possible plots with submarine movies to be honest. The elements of anxiety and tension and some of the more obvious risks of being in a submarine at combat are well defined to anyone who has worked as, or with, a submariner or is well versed on those aspects of naval warfare pertaining to submarines. There ARE going to be some aspects of things you've seen in other submarine movies , it's unavoidable.

Nevertheless I feel that this movie, with it's undercurrent of something weird and disturbing going on introduces something to a submarine movie I've not seen before.

If you like movies that put you in tense, creepy situations with no obvious way to escape then this might be your movie.

Overall the acting and script were fine. I watched this again for the second time so I perhaps was left feeling that the tension would have benefitted from being ramped up even more, but I do remember being suitably chilled the first time I watched it.

This is a tense chiller, not really a horror, imo so it's important to set ones' expectations accordingly.

Definitely worth a watch if you like this style of movie. I would rate 7.5/10.